When I travelled to Budapest for the first time, I knew I wanted to experience a ‘ruin bar’–
a unique part of the city’s nightlife.
Even if you’re not someone who generally likes to go out when you’re travelling,
I promise a ruin bar is well worth a visit.
So what is a ruin bar?
Well the accepted origin story seems to go that around the early 2000s
a bunch of young people were on the look out for cheap places to go out and have a drink.
The solution was abandoned buildings and empty lots being furnished with random odds and ends
and turned into bars where you could go and enjoy yourself without spending a fortune.
Now ruin bars are super popular
and, while these establishments might look dilapidated on the exterior,
inside they are a tangle of antiques,
graffiti,
art,
and treasures you might discover in a junkyard or your great aunt’s attic.
Each ruin bar has its own vibe and some feel more authentic than others.
Marc and I visited 7 of them and in this video I’m going to show you around.
These are in no particular order EXCEPT that I’m saving the best (and first-ever ruin bar) for last.
Let’s work our way up to that, shall we?
The first ruin bar we visited is called Kuplung
and the name – which means ‘clutch’ in Hungarian –
reveals the building’s history: it’s a repurposed automotive repair shop.
The entrance off the street is down a long tunnel.
The jellyfish-like lanterns
and huge whale hanging from the ceiling
are your first clues that the theme here is under the sea.
There’s a large room in the back for dancing
plus a foosball table where I played an imaginary opponent.
We headed to the main bar area to order drinks and food
and, as you’ll know if you’ve seen my past videos, I don’t usually like beer
but the bartender offered to give me a sample of a fruit flavoured brew.
Where's this one from?
It's a Belgian.
Belgian, okay.
Something that tastes less like beer and more like cherry
is pretty much the perfect beer for me.
Oh that's good.
Yeah, it's good.
It doesn't taste like beer.
One of the most popular Hungarian beers is called Soproni and a small costs about $1.30USD
and a large is just $2USD.
And, of course, you always have to have a cheers.
How do you say cheers in your country?
Let me know and let’s raise a glass down in the comment section.
After looking over the menu and each deciding what we wanted,
we went to the courtyard because the food is prepared at a kitchen there.
Do you need this...or?
Thank you.
So we picked up our order and I managed to carry it back without incident.
Marc got the Kuplung burger with onion rings
and I ordered goulash that came with bread
which was great for slurping up extra soup.
Kuplung was uncrowded with friendly people –
a great introduction to Budapest ruin bars.
Next up is Udvar Rom.
This ruin bar is connected to a hostel which means it’s full of travellers
so if you want to meet other people visiting the city, this is a good place to look.
The main space is the courtyard of the building that has long wooden tables
and a gigantic pair of lips sucking on a straw.
I loved the newspapers all over the ceiling of one of the smaller rooms
where you’ll also find games.
This bar is simple and basic
in exactly the way ruin bars are intended to be.
If Udvar Rom is paired back then the next place is at the complete other end of the spectrum.
It's called Instant and it has more than 20 rooms spread between two former tenement buildings.
It’s so big that it doesn’t feel right to just call it a ruin bar:
it has multiple bars,
lounges,
dance floors with different DJs,
game rooms,
indoor and outdoor spaces,
and even its own pizza bar.
It’s suuuuper popular and it’s easy to see
why people are lined up around the block to get in here.
Instant is the kind of club where you can come with a group of friends, split up,
and then all have a totally different night to talk about when you meet up again later.
If you and your friends can’t decide where to go, go to Instant and I think you’ll all be happy.
There are tons of fun details everywhere you look
and different themes all over.
I especially love the circus area
and the woman flying endlessly on the trapeze.
I also like the Budapest Room,
the huge wall of international postage stamps,
and, of course, the globe lamps.
Another favourite are the screens that feel like you’re looking out airplane windows
passing by random things.
Instant is a great spot all around but especially if you want to dance.
For dancing this is my top pick.
One of the ruin bars I was most excited for initially is called Corvin.
It sits at the top of the former Corvin department store
and I thought it looked so cool from the outside
because I was imagining that the club would take up the entire building
and be full of old mannequins and cash registers or something.
Once we got inside, however, I realized that it’s only the top floor
which used to be a storage area before being turned into a club.
We climbed a bunch of stairs and discovered that Corvin was almost completely dead.
As in we were literally some of the only people there other than staff.
We weren’t there that early so I have no idea why it was so quiet
but it’s not what we were hoping for.
We climbed more stairs up to the roof and found it equally as empty.
Apparently they do rooftop cinema nights here, though, which would be wonderful.
It’s a bit spooky in a way being in a deserted club
so we didn’t stay very long.
But when it’s full, I bet it’s a really fun place to go dancing.
If you’re more into arcade games than dancing then Füge Udvar is the ruin bar for you.
It’s super laid back and unpretentious with long tables full of people chatting.
There are lots of different games here like Power Pong
and – one of my personal favourites – pinball.
Lots of pinball machines to choose from actually.
We didn’t have any money for the games
but that didn’t stop Marc from hopping into the driver’s seat of a racing game.
Füge Udvar also has the cheapest drinks we saw: a small beer here was just over $1USD.
The most modern-feeling ruin bar I went is called Doboz
and, for whatever reason,
there weren’t many people there this night either.
This used to be a residential building
and the modern-feeling interior is a surprising contrast to the more beat up looking exterior.
The best part is the courtyard where lights change colour and the crowning glory
is a giant sculpture that looks like a robot or a gorilla hugging a tree
that is apparently 320 years old.
There are lots of food and drink options here
but it wasn’t as unique feeling as some of the other ruin bars we visited.
In a way, the interior rooms feel more like they could be at any club anywhere in the world
if you know what I mean.
I loved the big sculpture, though, and I’m sure that in warm weather
when there are loads of people in the courtyard it’d be a great space to hang out.
I promised to show you my favourite ruin bar so here it is – I’ve saved the best for last.
It’s an old stove factory called Szimpla Kert
and it’s Budapest’s first ruin bar –
the original, the genuine article,
and the one credited with starting the whole ruin bar scene.
You’ll find all sorts of people here –
lots of travellers, some locals, younger people, older people (there’s even a senior’s discount!) –
but mostly you’ll just find A LOT of people.
Szimpla Kert is contained chaos and it’s shoulder to shoulder throughout most of the space.
There are lots of different areas and rooms and each one has its own character.
Everywhere you look are random, unexpected things to rest your eyes on:
old school computer monitors suspended from the ceiling,
welding masks that light up,
gigantic bunny rabbits,
graffiti,
live fish swimming in a tank,
random art everywhere AND a mannequin!
I finally found my mannequin after being disappointed
that Corvin, that former department store, didn’t have any.
Clearly I watched too much Today’s Special as a kid –
by the way, if you don’t know that show
it’s about a mannequin that comes to life in a store after hours and it’s amazing.
Google it!
Anyway there are different bars around Szimpla Kert
like a wine bar,
a hookah bar,
and a bar that feels like a chemistry lab or a pharmacy.
In one of the outdoor spaces an amazing animated movie about mice
was being projected onto the wall from up on the second floor.
If you know where this film is from please tell me!
I thought it was adorable and I have no idea what it is.
There are different DJs around as well as live music.
It doesn’t feel overly curated or art directed which is exactly why people love it
and it’s easy to understand how this was the ruin bar that started it all.
You can just go inside and wander around if you feel like it
and if you only visit one ruin bar – just to see what it’s like – then this should be it.
It feels unique but, as a point of reference, it did remind me a bit of going out in Berlin
to places that are crumbling and weird in the best way.
Ruin bars are definitely part of Budapest culture now
and it’s really fun to see how the city changes and comes to life after dark.
I hope you enjoyed this video and seeing how the need for cheap places to have a drink
has evolved into different styles of ruin bars that are now the cornerstone of Budapest nightlife.
I’d love to hear what you guys think
so let me know your thoughts on the concept of ruin bars,
which one in this video you liked the best,
and whether you like to go out at night in general when you’re travelling.
I made a whole series of videos in Budapest so I’ll link those as well.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel and like this video, if you enjoyed it.
Thanks for watching!