Budapest Datasheet
I spend approximately 5 months in Budapest last year. I really developed a love for this city. It feels like a mix of the fast-paced living of New York without too much jadedness, and the architecture and history of an old European city.
Daygame
Go between april and june, when the university is open.
There's a nice street between the city center and the university where all the college girls walk by. You can just stand there and have a hot girl pass you by every 20 seconds. It's the best location for daygame I ever encountered.
You don't want to be there after september or before april as the weather can be pretty bad. But during the other months the weather is comfortable and it's a nice way to get to know some girls.
An other good location is the mall near the central station (Nyugati). Although the traffic isn't filled with the super-hot college girls from all over the world - lots of exchange students here - you find more working class girls.
Also just walking around the city will do a lot. Friends of mine had a lot of success approaching girls at night (but they come accross as super friendly).
If you decide to walk around the city center in non-university / tourist areas during the day, realise that the young professional girls you'll talk to have "made it". If they are in Budapest, this means they have something going for them, otherwise it's hard to stay in this city. In one hour I'd number close a circus artist on cruise ships, waterpark manager and an attorney who were similar ages to me. So expect ambitious girls here who have their shit together.
Nightgame
Even though Budapest is a big city, it's nightlife is quite limited compared to other Eastern Europe cities I've been to. Before I dive into specific venues, I want to give you some general info.
Budapest is a town that's attractive for travellers. In the month of august, there are quite a lot of tourists and backpackers. This is good if you like hook-ups, as most of these tourists aren't there to become a nun. This is bad if you don't like British dudes vormiting in front of your favourite picturesque bar, or annoying girls throwing pizza on you because you had the nerve to say hi to them.
If you want to boink different nationalities without leaving a few square kilometers, this is it. In an example week I did the following nationalities: French, Swedish, American and Indian.
If you happen to like Dutch and Belgian girls, the Sziget week is great. You don't go to the festival itself, just hang out in bars before, during and after the week.
Although july isn't as crowded as august, this is when the flow of tourists start and a lot of college kids and young professionals are going out less. My favourite club would lack the Hungarian stuck-up girls I've come to know and love and changed in a revolving door of tourists having a good time.
The general vibe of picking up in the nightlife is less spontaneous then in other cities. Local people here are more reserved in public. Acting up isn't rewarded. You could call it boring or even a bit jaded. Expect a lot of shit-tests from Hungarian girls.
Speaking of making friends, because of all the options in the city there are a lot of expats. Poker players, digital nomads but also washed out American musicians. I've met them all and they are all there to have a good time. Not as much criminals as in SEA. Me likey.
Drugs are available if you are into that sort of thing. i don't have an idea about the laws, but if there are any, I have never seen them reinforced in the clubs I went to:
Instant
I hate this place. I can't stand it. It sucks the soul out of the body of the people who come there. However, it's always open, it's where you have to go after 3 or 4 and I've had quite some fun there party-wise, just because my friends and all the other crazy people go there.
To elaborate a bit: it's a hostel meets club with about 6 rooms with all kinds of music. Meet a mix of locals and tourists. It's where the regulars go, but also attracts a lot of travellers. Want boring girls who want to act slutty for a night? Go here.
Hellobaby
This is my favourite place in Budapest. It's high-end, at least for Budapest standards, but the people are approachable. Fridays has a too young crowd but saturday is a great night because the young professionals (and the occasional expat groups) are there to have fun. It's an open-air club in a very old building. Highly recommended.
Vodka-clubs go for around 3 euros.
Szimpla
Structurally named as one of Europe's best bars, this attracts a mainly tourist crowd. This is where you go for easy tourist pussy. I had my fair share of enjoyable nights there. My friends and me met there to start the night.
Realise that this is a ruin bar, so it's more focussed on conversation then on dancing. If you have that one guy in your group (or if you are that guy) that opens smoothly, just open groups and you are set for the night.
Good on every night of the week.
Otkert
This is where the young, jaded fashionada's go. The club looks good and it has a nice EDM atmosphere but status is very important there. If you can the fashion look off, go here. The girls are not super-hot though. The vibe is good on thursday.
Doboz
This club looks amazing. With a purple dance floor, an open-air area with trees where you can chill out, several lounge bars, this is a club I enjoy mainly because of the way it looks. The club is more friendly then most so approaches are a bit more warm. Heck, I had a few girls open (and close) me there. Quite a few Scandinavians and overall a good atmosphere. Open on friday and saturday.
Other places:
Romkert - Open air bar that has an ESN party on wednesday.
Badgirlz - have heard mainly bad things.
Parties in the bathhouses - if you want to pay 40 bucks to swim in a hot pool filled with used condoms
Players
After a few months I had a great group of friends around me who were doing the same thing I was. A mixed group of expats just having a good time and partying.
However, there are quite a lot of pick-up guys moving to Budapest nowadays. This has to do with several authors doing workshops there. This does something with the reputation of the town and you shouldn't expect that moving there will cause a tsunami of horny women to smack you in the face.
Where to stay
There are plenty of options on AirBnB, but I'd recommend getting an apartment there on a 3-month lease. It's the more economical way to spend your money. For about 1000 USD for 3 months (or 1000 USD for one month on AirBnB), you get a one bed room on walking distance of the bars and clubs. The best options you'll find on Facebook. For bonus points, join a cool house with other guys.
The best part of town is the 5th district, but it's also the most expensive. You can also choose to live in the 6th or the 7th which aren't necessarily further away from the nightlife or the right daygame spots.
How to move around
If you stay in the 5th, everything is atwalking distance. If you are a lazy bastard, trams, metros, Ubers and taxis are abundant and cost next to nothing.
Where to eat
Budapest has great value when it comes to restaurants. I used to have a great place just outside the 5th where'd I eat 1-2 times a day for anything between 6-12 USD. And then we're talking good quality/quantity meals. A friend of mine hired a private chef who'd cook 2 paleo squares a day for less then 50 USD a week.
Gyms
I enjoy lying in a sauna after a workout, so I mainly use Oxygen. Check out the website to see 13 saunas, a hot tub and an awesome looking pool. Life1 is way cheaper, good equipment but lousy vibe. Around the city there are smaller gyms which are nice to do your workout.
What is missing from this sheet? Let me know down below and I'll update it.
I spend approximately 5 months in Budapest last year. I really developed a love for this city. It feels like a mix of the fast-paced living of New York without too much jadedness, and the architecture and history of an old European city.
Daygame
Go between april and june, when the university is open.
There's a nice street between the city center and the university where all the college girls walk by. You can just stand there and have a hot girl pass you by every 20 seconds. It's the best location for daygame I ever encountered.
You don't want to be there after september or before april as the weather can be pretty bad. But during the other months the weather is comfortable and it's a nice way to get to know some girls.
An other good location is the mall near the central station (Nyugati). Although the traffic isn't filled with the super-hot college girls from all over the world - lots of exchange students here - you find more working class girls.
Also just walking around the city will do a lot. Friends of mine had a lot of success approaching girls at night (but they come accross as super friendly).
If you decide to walk around the city center in non-university / tourist areas during the day, realise that the young professional girls you'll talk to have "made it". If they are in Budapest, this means they have something going for them, otherwise it's hard to stay in this city. In one hour I'd number close a circus artist on cruise ships, waterpark manager and an attorney who were similar ages to me. So expect ambitious girls here who have their shit together.
Nightgame
Even though Budapest is a big city, it's nightlife is quite limited compared to other Eastern Europe cities I've been to. Before I dive into specific venues, I want to give you some general info.
Budapest is a town that's attractive for travellers. In the month of august, there are quite a lot of tourists and backpackers. This is good if you like hook-ups, as most of these tourists aren't there to become a nun. This is bad if you don't like British dudes vormiting in front of your favourite picturesque bar, or annoying girls throwing pizza on you because you had the nerve to say hi to them.
If you want to boink different nationalities without leaving a few square kilometers, this is it. In an example week I did the following nationalities: French, Swedish, American and Indian.
If you happen to like Dutch and Belgian girls, the Sziget week is great. You don't go to the festival itself, just hang out in bars before, during and after the week.
Although july isn't as crowded as august, this is when the flow of tourists start and a lot of college kids and young professionals are going out less. My favourite club would lack the Hungarian stuck-up girls I've come to know and love and changed in a revolving door of tourists having a good time.
The general vibe of picking up in the nightlife is less spontaneous then in other cities. Local people here are more reserved in public. Acting up isn't rewarded. You could call it boring or even a bit jaded. Expect a lot of shit-tests from Hungarian girls.
Speaking of making friends, because of all the options in the city there are a lot of expats. Poker players, digital nomads but also washed out American musicians. I've met them all and they are all there to have a good time. Not as much criminals as in SEA. Me likey.
Drugs are available if you are into that sort of thing. i don't have an idea about the laws, but if there are any, I have never seen them reinforced in the clubs I went to:
Instant
I hate this place. I can't stand it. It sucks the soul out of the body of the people who come there. However, it's always open, it's where you have to go after 3 or 4 and I've had quite some fun there party-wise, just because my friends and all the other crazy people go there.
To elaborate a bit: it's a hostel meets club with about 6 rooms with all kinds of music. Meet a mix of locals and tourists. It's where the regulars go, but also attracts a lot of travellers. Want boring girls who want to act slutty for a night? Go here.
Hellobaby
This is my favourite place in Budapest. It's high-end, at least for Budapest standards, but the people are approachable. Fridays has a too young crowd but saturday is a great night because the young professionals (and the occasional expat groups) are there to have fun. It's an open-air club in a very old building. Highly recommended.
Vodka-clubs go for around 3 euros.
Szimpla
Structurally named as one of Europe's best bars, this attracts a mainly tourist crowd. This is where you go for easy tourist pussy. I had my fair share of enjoyable nights there. My friends and me met there to start the night.
Realise that this is a ruin bar, so it's more focussed on conversation then on dancing. If you have that one guy in your group (or if you are that guy) that opens smoothly, just open groups and you are set for the night.
Good on every night of the week.
Otkert
This is where the young, jaded fashionada's go. The club looks good and it has a nice EDM atmosphere but status is very important there. If you can the fashion look off, go here. The girls are not super-hot though. The vibe is good on thursday.
Doboz
This club looks amazing. With a purple dance floor, an open-air area with trees where you can chill out, several lounge bars, this is a club I enjoy mainly because of the way it looks. The club is more friendly then most so approaches are a bit more warm. Heck, I had a few girls open (and close) me there. Quite a few Scandinavians and overall a good atmosphere. Open on friday and saturday.
Other places:
Romkert - Open air bar that has an ESN party on wednesday.
Badgirlz - have heard mainly bad things.
Parties in the bathhouses - if you want to pay 40 bucks to swim in a hot pool filled with used condoms
Players
After a few months I had a great group of friends around me who were doing the same thing I was. A mixed group of expats just having a good time and partying.
However, there are quite a lot of pick-up guys moving to Budapest nowadays. This has to do with several authors doing workshops there. This does something with the reputation of the town and you shouldn't expect that moving there will cause a tsunami of horny women to smack you in the face.
Where to stay
There are plenty of options on AirBnB, but I'd recommend getting an apartment there on a 3-month lease. It's the more economical way to spend your money. For about 1000 USD for 3 months (or 1000 USD for one month on AirBnB), you get a one bed room on walking distance of the bars and clubs. The best options you'll find on Facebook. For bonus points, join a cool house with other guys.
The best part of town is the 5th district, but it's also the most expensive. You can also choose to live in the 6th or the 7th which aren't necessarily further away from the nightlife or the right daygame spots.
How to move around
If you stay in the 5th, everything is atwalking distance. If you are a lazy bastard, trams, metros, Ubers and taxis are abundant and cost next to nothing.
Where to eat
Budapest has great value when it comes to restaurants. I used to have a great place just outside the 5th where'd I eat 1-2 times a day for anything between 6-12 USD. And then we're talking good quality/quantity meals. A friend of mine hired a private chef who'd cook 2 paleo squares a day for less then 50 USD a week.
Gyms
I enjoy lying in a sauna after a workout, so I mainly use Oxygen. Check out the website to see 13 saunas, a hot tub and an awesome looking pool. Life1 is way cheaper, good equipment but lousy vibe. Around the city there are smaller gyms which are nice to do your workout.
What is missing from this sheet? Let me know down below and I'll update it.