Ruin bars in Budapest are a one-of-a-kind nightlife experience. These trendy establishments sprung up in abandoned buildings and are often decorated with quirky items, like garden gnomes or bicycles hanging from the ceiling. The grungy-underground vibe and the mismatched decor makes these bars truly unique eye candy.
Are you looking for the best ruin pub? We’ve listed the most popular and eccentric ruin bars in Budapest that are definitely worth a visit.
These bars are cultural icons, blending history with a vibrant, Bohemian atmosphere. People love them for their drinks, diverse customers, and their role in revitalising Budapest’s abandoned urban areas. Make your stay in Budapest unforgettable, with a visit to one or more of these pubs.
Our top 5 Ruin Bars in Budapest
When you do a city trip to Budapest, there is so much to see and do. And usually, your trip feels too short to fit all the cool attractions, cultural highlights, thermal baths and ruin bars on one visit.
We visited Budapest in 3 days, so unfortunately, we couldn’t visit all cool ruin bars in that short time. That’s why we made a ruin pub top 5. So, we can share our personal experience of these pubs with you.
Beneath that list, we make another list of other cool ruin bars you can visit, but we didn’t have the chance to visit them ourselves just yet.
Szimpla Kert Ruin Bar
Szimpla Kert is the most popular and most visited ruin bar in Budapest. The “mother of all ruin bars” boasts impressive decorations, and it is quite large. It’s a vibrant labyrinth of rooms and courtyards, featuring live music, art, and an array of bars.
Everyone who travels to Budapest goes to Szimpla Kert. And they’re right to do so! This ruin pub is simply amazing.
During the day, you can stroll around the rooms and soak in the eclectic atmosphere, enjoy the artwork and vibe while sipping a coffee or cocktail. It functions as a cultural space, offering a variety of events and activities.
On Sunday you can shop at the bustling farmer’s market, where you can find fresh produce, local products and artisanal goods. You can also enjoy a good brunch.
At night, this place converts into a huge party zone with live music, DJ sets and dancing. It actually gets so crowded that you can hardly get inside. Security guards frisk every guest before they enter the busy nightlife scene.
Next door, you’ll find a cool vintage shop where you can buy nice trinkets and souvenirs.
Check this cool ruin bar out for yourself and see what the fuss is all about.
Address: District VII – Kazinczy utca 14, 1075 Budapest
Púder
At Púder, you’ll find the perfect mix of culture, gastronomy, and hospitality. This ruin bar is a bar & theatre all in one. It’s not only a superb restaurant and eclectic bar but also a place for music, fine arts, studio theatre, movement arts and literature.
You can come here to enjoy events, quizzes, music and so much more. The restaurant is well known for its world cuisine and authentic flavours, served to you in a unique and colourful setting. It’s cosy, and it’s the perfect location for a delicious, romantic candlelit dinner with your love. You can also sit outside when the weather is nice.
Go check out this one-of-a-kind ruin bar in Budapest. Púder bar & theatre is located at the beginning of Radaj Utca, only 2 blocks away from the Hungarian National Museum.
Address: Ráday u. 8, 1092 Budapest
Csendes Létterem - Vintage Bar & Café
Csendes Létterem is a vintage bar & café which differs totally from all the other ruin pubs.
The decoration is so quirky, unique and fascinating. The writing is literally on the wall in this cool café. You can find baby dolls glued to the walls, a mishmash of stickers, drawings, coloured lampshades and more weird ornaments all over the place. You can choose to sit on a chair or in a bathtub that is split in two. Whatever you fancy the most.
Go and experience its quirky atmosphere and don’t forget to leave a message on the wall!
Address: District V – Ferenczy István u. 5
Most Bisztro
Most is one of the ruin bars in the Jewish District. This bright ruin pub is dominated by a big skylight which opens up the space and lets a lot of natural light in. The building is nearly 90 years old. In 1928, it was the shop and workshop of Mihály Majláth. He was an industrialist who built his own motorcycles.
Most started in 2012 as a pub with a minimal menu. Today, it is a well-established bistro with an Asian-based cuisine. You can even book wine-tastings here.
At this ruin bar, there are no loud parties for youngsters. Most Bisztro has a relaxed atmosphere. The perfect setting to catch up with your friends, enjoy a tasteful meal and spend an evening with family or a loved one.
Address: District VII – Zichy Jenő Utca 17
Lampas Basement Bar
Lampas Ruin Bar is one of these bars we stumbled upon coincidentally. It’s near the Goszdu Gallery and the weekend market.
This place is more of a basement bar, but it resembles a ruin a lot. The walls of this basement bar are naked and decayed, but the atmosphere is very pleasant.
This is a student bar with a chill vibe and attractive prizes for draft beers and wine. At Lampas, you can enjoy regular live performances while getting a few beers. Even though the walls are naked, the vibe is warm.
Address: District VII – Dob Utca 15
5 Popular ruin bars in Budapest
There are a lot of ruin bars that are worth a visit. These popular ruin bars are on our radar for our next trip to Budapest.
Kőleves
Kőleves is one place that is high on our list to visit on our next trip to Budapest. Why? Because it’s so much more than a bar. They started out lots of years ago with a simple garden area. Now, it’s a whole concept.
In the Kert, which means garden, you can enjoy drinks and grilled dishes at reasonable prices and in a relaxed atmosphere.
Next door, you can find the Kőleves restaurant, where you can eat very delicious dishes. They produce and prepare almost all the ingredients at Kőleves. They also have a store, where you can buy their self-made pasta, bread, sauces and more.
This place is very popular. So it’s wise to make reservations for the restaurant. For the Kert, the only thing to do is to arrive early, so you can get a seat in the enormous garden. Seats fill up quickly.
Address: Kazinczy Street 41, 1075 Budapest
Mazel Tov Ruin Bar
At Mazel Tov, they bring culture and gastronomy together. This beautiful ruin bar with its cosy urban gardens has a very relaxed atmosphere. You can find it in the Jewish Quarter and it is open all seasons. The open plan gardens even have heating during the winter months. So you can enjoy sitting outside.
The restaurant serves Middle Eastern fusion cuisine with a Mediterranean twist. As well as in the restaurant as at the bar, they strive for innovation and quality. So they update the à la carte menu every six weeks.
Also, the list of cocktails and other drinks gets an update every month. Their sommelier finds it important to offer the most outstanding wines from domestic regions. At Mazel Tov, you can take part in special wine events and tastings or visit a wine fair.
Address: District VII – Acákfa Utca 47, 1073 Budapest
Dürer Kert
Dürer Kert is an open air beer garden and a live music venue near the city park. It’s a place where you can attend a concert and listen to live music. But it’s just as well a cosy place with a garden where you can play table tennis, play board games or just chill with your friends.
This ruin pub in Budapest park is dog-friendly, so you can bring your well-behaved pet with you in the gardens. For a fee, The Dürer Kert provides grills and skewers, so you can cook your own food. This really creates a relaxed chill-out vibe, a get-together in a very relaxed atmosphere.
Check the Dürer Kert website to see if there are interesting concerts coming up during your time of visit.
Address: Öböl utca 1, 1117 Budapest
Béla bar
At Béla bar, you find yourself transported in time to an era of writers and poets. You find this special ruin bar in the up-scale Castle District on the Buda side of the city.
The atmosphere at Béla is fancy and relaxed. This bar is also an arboretum, so you can find yourself a seat between plants and a lot of greenery. The antique furniture decor, quirky lampshades and other decorations work well together and make this ruin pub unique.
They offer a diverse Middle-Eastern menu and a wide selection of special drinks.
This bar doesn’t transform in to a wild party scene at night. People love Béla for its charm, unique setting, good food and relaxed vibe.
Address: Bartók Béla út 23, 1114 Budapest
Doboz - (the box)
This legendary party scene is more than a ruin bar or disco. It’s the place to be for an unforgettable party in a surreal ambiance. Dance the night away in a reddish glow and on the beats of top-dj’s and resident mix masters.
Doboz has an incredible setting. They have a mega King Kong and a 320-year-old wisdom tree.
The walls of the dance floor can open, merging the inside with the outside patios. This creates one big, breezy dance floor. Even in winter, they heat the outside garden, allowing the party to continue all year round.
Address: Klauzál street 10, 1072 Budapest
Ruin Bars that closed their doors
Unfortunately, businesses may close because of personal, economic, or other challenges. Also well-established ruin bars, such as Anker’t, made the decision to close up shop.
We summed up a few of the best ruin bars that aren’t open currently. You might look for them online or IRL, because they were popular pubs. Now you know why you can’t find them.
Anker't
Anker’t was, along with Szimpla Kert, one of the oldest and most established ruined bars in Budapest. The place looked amazing and on Sunday, you could stroll around the vegan market inside.
This ruin bar was among the largest in the entire city, and they organised parties or music almost every night of the week.
During the day, Anker’t was a cool and interesting ruin bar with a large beer-garden and a cool interior.
At night, this place transformed into a place of music and dance.
Address: District VI – Paulay Ede Utca 33
Ellato Kert
This garden ruin bar, which also served Mexican tacos and other food, was quite colourful and playful. Online information tells us this bar closed in 2019.
This place definitely qualified as a ruin pub, with its painted walls and tables. It was located in a busy and central part of Budapest, so you could easily include it in your evening itinerary.
Address: District VII – Kazinczy u. 48
Kuplung Ruin Bar
After searching for Kuplung ruin bar for a little while, we had to conclude that it no longer exists. The address mentioned in other blogs and even the address mentioned in Google Search Results. None of it exists.
Kuplung might have been a ruin bar before. Today it’s only a ruin. Metal fences block the way into it, and there is no way of visiting the closed Kuplung Ruin Bar in Budapest.
Ruin bars Budapest Map
Ruin bar pub crawls
These are our favourite ruin bars in Budapest, and a few that are on our list for our next visit to the capital.
If you want to experience Budapest’s ruin bars to the fullest, join a ruin pub crawl. This way, you visit multiple pubs together with other people who want to have a good time. They guide you to the best partying and chill-out spots of the city, and you have the chance to experience how it is to visit a ruin bar with a group.
Usefull links for your trip to Budapest
What to do in Budapest next to visiting ruin bars?
Planning on visiting soon? Check out our 3 days in Budapest itinerary and find out what to see and do in the capital of Hungary. Don’t miss out and visit all the big attractions, parks and thermal baths.
Where to stay in Budapest
The city is filled with hotels, Airbnb’s, hostels and other type of accommodation options. The place you choose, can really make a big difference in how you experience your stay.
Upgrade your trip and stay in a quirky boutique hotel. Enjoy luxury in an intimate surrounding.
Budapest also has many excellent spa & wellness hotels, that can make you help relax and unwind after a busy day of sightseeing.
Do you still need to decide which District suits you best? Have a look at our guide about Districts in Budapest. See what each District has to offer and make an informed decision.
You also find tons of beautiful photography spots around the city.
And finally, Budapest is voted to be one of the best summer destinations in Europe. But don’t let that scare you away from a winter or spring visit to this stunning city!
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