Best outdoor bars in Budapest

Guess who is back! Yes, it's me, your favorite blogger. You know me, I like to take every opportunity to be narcissistic and this wasn’t an exception. I hope you guys are well and enjoying your summer. I know I haven’t written anything for the past two months but I’ll have you now that I have successfully finished the first year of medical school and I'm enjoying my break to the fullest now. That being said I'm back on time for the competition and this is going to be my third and last time taking part in it. I hope that we have a good run because I have promised myself to move on right after this.

Anyhow I will be exploring Budapest to the fullest this summer or as much as my student budget allows! Apart from that I have been travelling for quite a bit and I'm dying to share the details and tips with you guys; so that’s something to look forward too. Let’s begin and as usual if you read any of my articles, let me know what you think and let’s become friends. I promise I'm nice (not really).

I thought of starting it all out with something dedicated to summer. As the temperatures rise, we put on our sundresses and sunglasses and slide out for a cold drink, that’s what summer is all about isn’t it? Well at least that’s how we do it here in Budapest and for that let’s take a look at some of my favorite out door bars here in Budapest for this summer.

These places vary in style and prices, but are all top notch places to have a cocktail or two (or any other alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink that you may desire), we will get into details in regards to them one by one. I’ll mention that whether they are a casual place or a high class one as we go through them one by one.

1) Bálna Terasz

Address: Budapest, Fővám tér 11-12, 1093

You can check their website on this link.

Bálna Terasz is one of those places that you stumble across when you were out for an evening stroll. The place in itself isn’t so special but what makes it a popular bar is the view. Budapest is quite blessed when it comes to breath taking views. The Bálna Terasz is located next to Danube River so you can enjoy the breath taking view of the river, the ships and the nearby bridges as you sit back and relax with an ice cold cocktail. Yes, you can see that I'm always talking about cocktails but that’s because I'm not a beer fan.

I went here on week day afternoon and it was quite packed, but I guess that’s the thing about summer, everywhere is always packed. The service wasn’t the best if I'm being honest, they took extremely long to take our orders, they weren’t the nicest but they certainly weren’t rude. And the most embarrassing thing that happened to me was that I mistook this guy for a waiter and it didn’t turn out well. Anyhow the tale of my embarrassing moments can wait, I should write a memoir or something about them. The prices are average, and slightly above average but you’re pretty much paying for the view. The lemonade tasted really good and I absolutely loved it, it was about 850 or 900 forint. The alcoholic drinks were of course pricier.

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As for the food I didn’t try anything special we just had some nachos and salsa dip and that’s pretty standard anywhere you go but I wouldn’t recommend eating here since the food prices were kinda expensive for Budapest standards; I mean there are a ton of places nearby there where you can get good and proper meals for that price.

Anyhow if you are sightseeing around the neighborhood, especially if you are seeing the central market hall, this place is less than a 5 minute walk away from you. There are also some other bars right next to it with pretty similar views so if this one was full you can always try the other ones.

2) 360 bar

Address: Budapest, Andrássy út 39, 1061

You can find their website on this link.

Awee, this one is one of my favorites so this entry is going to be a little biased. Just kidding, that would taint my writer’s integrity. 360 bar is a little posh, it's good for those of us that want to let out their inner fanciness once in a while. It's also more expensive than regular bars, but as it is with the majority of bars in Budapest, you’re paying for the view.

The location is near the city center so you can just walk up to the place, it is usually crowded so if you’re going there for a special occasion make a reservation and if not just be prepared to wait a little bit in line. The bar is spacious, and the drinks are very diverse. The prices are again higher than a regular bar, understandingly so. You can check out their entire menu on their website before popping up there (find the website address above). I know that their cocktails are around 2000 forints, but if you drink hard core alcohol check out their variety. Yes, I know I'm always talking about cocktails like what is it with me? I don’t know either, I don’t even drink them that much, it's just that I don’t know much about the world of alcohol and so cocktails are like my safe space.

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Anyhow, the view up there is quite nice, I wouldn’t say it's spectacular, because spectacular is reserved for views from the Buda castle or the citadella (I’ll write more about the both of them in details later). But you can still get a pretty decent view of Budapest, I like it late in the afternoon before that it would be too hot.

3) High Note Sky Bar

Address: Budapest, Hercegprímás u. 5, 1051

You can check their website on this link.

I know I said the 360 bar was my favorite but I think I lied, because it’s the sky bar that is my favorite. This one is the most famous outdoor bar in all of Budapest, like I'm serious man; I was there about a month ago and then a few days later I saw that Will Smith was there with his wife and family. I couldn’t believe it, I was like couldn’t I have went at a better time. Anyhow, I will go and fan girl somewhere else over Will Smith and Jaden Smith. So yeah if anything what I just said is an advertisement for them since so many people are going to be like, oh Will Smith was there? It must be a good place then. So they are welcome. I wish I could get free drinks or something from there now.

The bar is located on the roof top of Aria Hotel in Budapest. Aria hotel is quite fancy and so I would suggest you guys to dress accordingly. The first time we went here was right after an exam and so I wasn’t dressed quite fancy or chic, I was just wearing jeans and a T- shirt. We entered the hotel and the concierge asked us how he could help, we then waited in the waiting hall so they would call upstairs and prepare a table for us. I don’t remember if it was on the 7th floor but I think it was, I can’t stress on how nice the staff here are. They are so well-spoken, kind, attentive and well-mannered that I just wanted to talk to them over and over again. This place definitely deserves more and more recognition.

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I don’t completely remember the menu, but you can check it out on their website; I remember having lemonade here for about 1500 forints, that is very expensive for lemonade but it was also one of the highest quality lemonades I had in a long time.

As for the view, it's fantastic, it's right next to Basilica, which is one the most famous churches in Budapest and literally every tourist should visit it. The view for this one is spectacular, I like it a lot and even though it's not staring at the skyline, the church view can be quite mesmerizing. I would definitely suggest this place if you are in the mood to spice it up a little bit and be fancy at the same time.

4) Pontoon

Address: Budapest, 1054

You can check their website by clickin on this link.

Ahhh this is the perfect place to chill man. I don’t need to put it better than this. It is just the place to kick back and have a couple of beers with your mates. It is located right next to the chain bridge so the view is magnificent, more at nights when all the lights on the bridge are turned on. This is definitely a place that every tourist should go, at least just to check it out. It’s neither super fancy nor expensive; it's just a chilled place with good music and good vibes. It can be super crowded at nights and there might be no space to sit but you can even stand and enjoy the vibe.

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The drinks are okay ish, not the cheapest but not too expensive that you can’t afford. A lot of people bring their own drinks because the staffs there really don’t check your bags or anything. It's like an open air space so you can enter from any side. I don’t take my own drinks there; I usually just order a beer or something from the bar. The bartenders are nice and they’ve been trained well to handle the huge of line customers.

Hmm what else, yea make sure to check this place out when you’re sightseeing the chain bridge and go back later at night. Since it's next to the water it can get quite chilly at night but don’t forget about the mosquitos!

5) Raqpart

Address: Budapest, Jane Haining rkp., 1052

You can find their website on this link.

Raqpart is right next to Pontoon, the two are on the sides of the Chain Bridge. The difference between them is that Pontoon is an open space, people can come in from any direction but Raqpart is a bar, and a really good bar. It has an entrance, and an upper VIP floor which I haven’t been to. It's basically for private events and those who had reservations from long ago. Anyhow I first went to Raqpart for a friend’s birthday party and fell in love. The dj is super good and I definitely approve of the music they play, it's something you can dance to for sure. Hmm what else, a bunch of times I just went here when the party was all heated up and danced my worries away. The space isn’t so large and so not that many people can fit, but the music can be heard even from 200 meters away. This place also does get super crowded but that goes without saying as usual.

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There is also a shisha bar in Raqpart for those of you smokers. But definitely not me!

6) DiVino Wine Bar

I'm one of those annoying people that don’t like to go to touristy places, especially when I live in the place. But DiVino Wine Bar turned out to be an exception. I went here because my friend suggested it and I was like hmm I'm not sure but I didn’t have any other place in mind so we ended up here anyway. It is a very touristy experience, located right in the middle of one of the most touristy places in all of Budapest, it's right in front of Basilica church which we earlier spoke about, with the whole High Note Sky Bar being there and all. It's a chill place, it’s got magnificent view and I’d say it's a good place to try some Hungarian wine, as you can guess I'm not a wine person so I didn’t have wine here but given it is a wine bar you should probably try the wine.

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Hope you enjoy this article. I have put a lot of effort into it, so you guys can enjoy the perfect list.

Cheers!

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