Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Best Programs Between Christmas and New Year's Eve

Best Programs Between Christmas and New Year's Eve

Hungary, and especially Budapest, offers a wide range of holiday programs between Christmas and New Year’s Eve for those who wish to get out with their family or friends.
Theater


Those who are interested can see perhaps the most famous Christmas ballet performance, The Nutcracker with Tchaikovsky’s music in Erkel Theater until January 8, 2022. More information about this year’s performance, including tickets, can be found here.




Circus


Theater is not the only kind of performance one can enjoy. From October 29 to December 31, the Capital Circus of Budapest awaits children and adults with a circus show called Sky Dance. They promise a real Christmas atmosphere. This season, the stage belongs to foreign world stars but the circus also has its own stars: heroic artists and charming dancers, jugglers, funny clowns, and acrobats, according to their website.



Moreover, Szilvia Kárászy provided the Budapest Grand Circus with a special instrument using bells, unique in Europe, created by the pianist and composer with masters of instrument making. The sixteen metal bells are played by metal hammers controlled and guided by an electric piano. It is an innovative experiment to put such a special instrument in the nine-member functional orchestra of the Budapest Grand Circus. The special atmosphere of the bells evokes the spirit of Christmas.

Ice skating


The inevitable winter activity can be enjoyed in many places in the Hungarian capital. The most famous is the City Park Ice Rink, which reopened this year after taking a break last year due to the pandemic. The rink’s history goes back to 1870. It began to receive the first masses of skaters on January 29, 1870, when it was ceremonially inaugurated by Crown Prince Rudolph.

A new spot that skaters can try for the first time is Budapest Park. Previously used as a large dance floor, the area now caters to skating and winter enthusiasts with a monumental ice rink of over 1,200 square meters, open seven days a week.

Those who want to sip a hot beverage and slide on the ice above the city can try WestEnd’s Winter Wonderland on the rooftop of the shopping center until December 31.


But ice skating rinks are not exclusive to Budapest. For example, a new one has been built in Szigliget. There, visitors can enjoy the view of Lake Balaton from the castle courtyard of Szigliget.



For more ice skating spots, click here.

Christmas Markets


Another must when it comes to winter programs is visiting Christmas Markets and there is no shortage of them in Hungary. We have already collected the most beautiful ones outside of Budapest. In the capital, the biggest and most popular are the ones in Vörösmarty Square and at St Stephen’s Basilica. The latter has been voted as the best in Europe for yet another year, after already being first in 2019 and second in 2020. The 11th annual Advent Feast at the Basilica is open to visitors until Jan. 1. It features a photo exhibition, an ice rink, a selfie spot, a 3D light show projected onto the facade of the Basilica, and around 100 arts and crafts and culinary exhibitors.

Christmas trams


While going from one program to another, people can hop on a tram, and if they are lucky, it might just be one that is decorated with Christmas lights. As every year for 13 years now, trams are decorated with lights, but “this year, even more Budapest citizens will be able to see the vehicles decorated in this way, as they will travel to even more places in the capital than in previous years,” said Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest. As we also reported before, not only did trams receive the LED lights, but some trains and even one cogwheel train did as well.

Hiking


The most popular hiking spot in Budapest, especially in the winter, is Normafa. For the residents of the capital, winter in Normafa means skiing, sledding, and even cross-country skiing, so it is not surprising that the high attendance on snowy weekends multiplies. A first-aid service is also provided on snowy weekend days for the safety of visitors.


The website of Normafa recommends using public transport, as unfortunately there are often not enough parking spaces for visitors on weekdays, and on weekends visitors can find the parking lot already full at 10 am.

Thermal baths


As we also reported before, an article from The Guardian suggesting 10 new winter holidays in Europe for skiers and non-skiers also lists Budapest as one of the possible destinations. They suggest that a three-day visit “is enough to pack in the city’s thermal spa baths, Buda Castle, clubbing in the Jewish Quarter, and the Christmas markets.”


There may not be anything as relaxing as visiting the thermal baths, especially after spending the days before skating, walking around a Christmas market, or hiking. A list of Budapest’s baths can be found here. The most famous ones are Széchenyi, Gellért, and the Rudas baths. One can even choose to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Rudas with a DJ set all night, with champagne, and dinner at midnight. Tickets for the event are available here.

While there are exceptions, especially in the case of programs that are held outside, most of them require a Covid-19 immunization certificate and a face mask too, so it is important to check what applies to each event before heading out.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “The Current Welfare State Can No Longer Be Financed”
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
Wizz Air passengers screamed as storm-battered flight diverts to Bologna
European postal services halt U.S. deliveries after Trump imposes new tariffs
Urban explorer finds abandoned luxury restaurant left to decay
Fidesz leader labels Péter Magyar a ‘bluffer’ amid escalating political spat
French rope park operator arrested for denying entry to Israeli children
Újpest thrashes Zalaegerszeg 4-1 to secure first win in five matches
Profit-margin cap costs retailers 13 billion forints a month, warns trade group
Curiosity rover finds coral-like rock on Mars hinting at watery past
U.S. green policy rollback drives investors to Europe’s sustainable finance market
Special funerals rise in Hungary: boat, aerial and forest burials gain popularity
Hungary’s Kiskunság region turning into semi-desert after extreme drought
Kopasz Bálint wins world kayak 1000 m title in Milan, making him triple world champion
Budapest’s Keleti railway station to close for four weeks for track overhaul
Balaton could be unfit for swimming by 2035 and dry by 2050, scientists warn
Leaked guidelines show Meta’s AI allowed flirty and racist interactions with children
Filming of ‘Emily in Paris’ halted after assistant director dies on set
Filipino guest workers sue after Hungary moves to deport them for pregnancy
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
×