Alternative places in Budapest’s eighth district if you are tired of ruin pubs

The inner part of the seventh district of Budapest, famous for its ruin pubs and also known as the “party district”, has become the top 1 destination of tourists looking to taste the atmosphere of Budapest’s nightlife. But if you go to these places today which were once hubs of the urban scene, you can see how exorbitant prices and hordes of drunk stag-doers have virtually pushed out all locals. Learn from this article where to go these days if you want a more authentic taste of the local alternative scene of Budapest.

It was more than a decade ago that the first ruin pub, Szimpla Kert, was established as space for a newly emerging liberal subculture. It inspired others, with similar places opening up all over the seventh district, like Fogas ház, Ellátó, Rácskert, etc. As tourists started displacing the “core local audience” of these pubs, its patrons retreated too quickly gentrificating areas of the eighth district, once considered a notorious neighbourhood that has been undergoing an interesting transformation. Here are some tips if you want to see what that looks like.

Cultural spaces

Gólya

Gólya ( “stork”) describes itself as a co-operative bar and community house with a garden and a large interior that gives a home to community daycare, workshops and activities all day long, with a kitchen providing a daily lunch menu (with vegetarian options, too). They host film clubs, presentations, lectures, and even board game playing. Having inner-city roots, too, Gólya moved to where it is today in 2013. But be quick if you want to check it out – it is about to move soon again.