Shops
The renovated Nagycsarnok (central market hall) on Fővám tér (metro: Kálvin tér) is Budapest’s finest. There are some quite good food stalls on the upper level serving everything from Chinese spring rolls to enormous German sausages.
There are large supermarkets everywhere in Budapest including the Kaiser’s opposite Nyugati train station in Pest.
Shopping Tips If you do not have much time, it is best to go to the inner city though it may be expensive (Váci utca, Petőfi Sándor utca, Régiposta utca, Haris köz, Párizsi utca, Kigyó utca). If you have more time, walk along Kossuth Lajos utca, Rákóczi út, Károly kőrút, Múzeum körút, Szent István körút, Erzsébet and József körút. Recommended gifts and souvenirs are: folk art goods, ceramics, embroideries, dolls in folk costume, hand-painted "Herend" porcelain, "Halas" lace, Zsolnay porcelain, books, CDs, antiques, red paprika, goose liver, Pick salami, apricot, cherry brandy and wines.
Major folk art stores: V., Váci u. 14. and VIII., József krt. 78. Both sell high-quality articles made by folk artists only.
For records, musical scores, cassettes, CDs the best place to go is the Rózsavölgyi Music Store (V., Szervita tér 5.).
An excellent foreign language bookshop is in Párisi Arcade (V., Petőfi S. u. 2.), where you can also buy photo books about Budapest and Hungary, maps and CDs.
The exclusive Helikon Bookstore (VI., Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 37.) is also a pleasant place to relax, where you can browse foreign language publications, art books and foreign translations of Hungarian authors.
Speciality stores selling world-famous Herend porcelain: V., József nádor tér 11. and V., Kígyó u. 3.
On purchasing valuable paintings and works of art see Museums, galleries. If you like antiques, Budapest is the right place for you. Some tips: Antik Bazár (V., Váci u. 67.), Antik Diszkont (V., Falk Miksa u. 22.), Antik Udvar (V., Szent István krt. 1.), Enterieur Antikvitas (I., Országház u. 2.). When you are looking for gifts, don’t forget about wine shops: Borház (VI., Jókai tér 7.), Budapest Bortársaság (I., Batthyány u. 59. free tasting on Saturdays), Le Sommelier (V., Régiposta u. 14.), Magyar Borok Háza (I., Szentháromság tér 6. Full range of Hungarian quality wines.) Budapest Wine City (V., Párizsi u. 1.).
There are some huge brand-new shopping centres in Budapest.
The new shopping centres are open every day of the week until late.
Duna Plaza XIII. Váci út 178., Gyöngyösi Road metro station
Mamut II. Széna tér; Moszkva Square metro station
Europark XIX. Üllői út 201., Határ Road metro station
Lurdy Ház IX. Könyves Kálmán krt. 12-14.
Pólus Centre XV. Szentmihályi út 131, buses leave from the Western (Nyugati) Railway Station