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Disclosure: This website uses affiliate links. That means we may earn a small commission when you use the links on this site to book a hotel, book a tour, buy your travel insurance through a company like World Nomads or Allianz, shop for travel essentials, etc. You don’t pay anything extra. We’ve made an effort to ensure all information on this website is correct at the time of writing, but expect readers to double check before booking.
Read More About the Area
Introduction to Vörösmarty Square Budapest
Vörösmarty Square (Vörösmarty tér in Hungarian) sits in the heart of downtown Budapest. Located in the 5th District, in the neighborhood known as Belváros (which means downtown in Hungarian), Vörösmarty Square is a popular meeting spot for locals, and a magnet for tourists exploring Váci Utca, the attached shopping street.
Vörösmarty Square History
The square’s namesake is 19th-century Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty. Vörösmarty was a romanticist poet and playwright, and is well-known in Hungary for writing patriotic epics, including The Flight of Zalan (1825), Erlan (1825), Two Neighboring Castles (1831), and the song, Appeal, which is well-known in Hungary as a second national anthem, sung at the close of national celebrations.
The statue itself was created by Hungarian sculptor Ede Telcs. It features 23 limestone blocks, with Vörösmarty sitting atop them. Surrounding Vörösmarty are sculptures of different figures which represent different social classes: peasants, people in traditional dress, a student, and a family.
The Square has been previously known by a variety of names, including:
Károlyi Mihály tér
Gizella tér (Gisele Square)
Régi színház tér (Old Theatre Square)
Színház tér (Theatre Square)
Séta tér (Promenade Square)
Vörösmarty Square Today
Since the 1980s, Vörösmarty Square has been a popular pedestrian square. In 2019, it’s undergoing a HUF 1.6 billion renovation due to be completed in summer. The city plans to plant more trees and generally make the square greender and more welcoming to hang out on. The statue of Mihály Vörösmarty will remain a focal point, but the lion fountain will move closer to the Gerbeaud.
Just around the corner from nearby Elizabeth Square, Vörösmarty Square is considered the heart of downtown Budapest and is one of the best locations to stay in the city.
Book Your Trip to Budapest
Save Money in Budapest
The Budapest Card includes free, unlimited public transportation for the duration of the card, and is available as a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5-day card. In addition to free public transport, the card includes free entry to many museums, a complimentary tour, discounts throughout the city, and more. Click for prices and details.
Book Your Flight to Budapest
CheapOair is our current favorite when it comes to searching for flight deals. It’s a meta aggregator, and will find the best deals and routes for you by searching airline websites and other aggregators.
Book Your Budapest Hotel in Advance
We use Booking.com when making hotel reservations in Europe. In our experience, it has the best inventory/selection of hotels and holiday apartments, and we’ve had good experiences with their customer service team when things go wrong (which has been a rarity for us, thank goodness!). TripAdvisor is also trying to get into the hotel booking game, and may be worth checking out.
Skip the Line in Budapest
Budapest is getting busier by the year, meaning you should expect to wait in line at the most popular attractions, especially in high season. If you only have a short vacation, consider getting a Skip-the-Line ticket for the most popular attractions: The Great Synagogue, Széchenyi Thermal Baths, and the Parliament. If you want to visit the interior of the Parliament, you have to pre-book. You can either use an international tour aggregator like Get Your Guide or use the Hungarian website Jegymester.hu.
Book Your Budapest Tour
We tend to book tours via an aggregator like Get Your Guide (a company out of Berlin with great selection of tours in Europe, in particular) or Viator (a TripAdvisor company).
Why use an aggregator instead of going direct? Personally, we like to compare the different tours available for each attraction, as well as read reviews. Both Get Your Guide and Viator let us see multiple, similar tours, and compare prices and past reviews before making a booking.
Getting from Budapest Airport to the City Center
Budapest’s public transportation system is generally excellent, and this extends to the airport. For a detailed post about getting from Budapest Airport to the City Center via public transit, shared shuttle, or airport taxi, read our guide here.
If you’re arriving late at night, coming in on a long-haul and expect to be exhausted, or would rather have the peace of mind of a private transfer, you can book one here.
Buy Travel Insurance (Just in Case)
We can’t actually recommend a travel insurance provider. Apparently it’s against the law.
However, we can say this: we know several people who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses during separate, life-or-death situations while traveling. They were both insured by Allianz, they both received life-saving care, and they both made a successful claim.
No one wants to need travel insurance, but you’ll certainly be glad you have it if something goes wrong. And if something does go wrong in Budapest, we personally go to FirstMed for our healthcare. Staff and doctors speak English.
Make Restaurant Reservations in Advance
If you visit Budapest in winter, you’ll probably be okay if you don’t make restaurant reservations, although we’d still recommend you reserve in advance Thursday to Saturday evenings where possible.
In summer, things fill up pretty quickly, although capacity at many restaurants increases when the city’s terraces open, usually sometime in May. It’s worth noting Budapest’s restaurants are all non-smoking inside, but get quite smoky on the terraces.
Things to Do at Vörösmarty Square
Grab a Fancy Coffee and Cake at Café Gerbeaud
Perched on the northern edge of Vörösmarty Square since 1870, Café Gerbeaud is a Budapest institution. To be honest, these days it’s mostly tourists in Café Gerbeaud, and the prices are astronomical by Budapest standards. But if you’re spending the Dollar, Pound, or Euro, it’s a relatively affordable spot for a fancy coffee and cake in a gorgeous setting. Try the Gerbeaud Coffee (black coffee with apricot sauce, apricot liqueur, hot chocolate, vanilla foam, and walnut sprinkle) for HUF 2590 paired with a Gerbeaud Slice (cake with ground walnut and apricot jam between pastry layers and covered in chocolate) for HUF 2250.
Find Out What 2 Michelin Stars Taste Like at Onyx
If you’re still hungry, hit up Onyx (reservations required). Onyx is the only Budapest restaurant with 2 Michelin stars (the other Michelin-starred restaurants in Budapest are all 1-stars). For the most affordable experience, Onyx offers set menu lunches starting at HUF 19,900 per person, plus service, for a 3-course menu.
Ride the Millennium Underground – M1 Metro
This is one of my favorite things to do with out-of-towners, because it’s so darn cute. The M1 is the oldest electric underground on continental Europe (London’s is the oldest in the world, and in Europe at large).
It looks its age, but in a good way. The stations are beautiful, with gorgeous tilework and metalwork you won’t see in modern stations. It’s also not too far underground – a mere meter down.
For the price of a ticket on Budapest’s public transit, you can head along on a piece of history. The M1 runs under Andrassy Avenue in the 6th District, heading straight up to Heroes Square and City Park (Városliget).
Hit the Shops on Váci Utca
Váci is Budapest’s main shopping street. It stretches for just over a kilometer, from Vörösmarty Square to Fővám Square and the Central Market Hall in the 9th District. Váci Street is always busy, although the stretch between Ferenciek tere and Fővám tér isn’t as busy as the stretch between Vörösmarty tér and Ferenciek tere. Along here, you’ll find a combo of high street shops, souvenir shops, and restaurants that mostly cater to tourists.
Stroll the Danube Promenade
Walk two blocks to the river, and you’ll find yourself on the lovely Danube Promenade, a stretch of riverfront with a wide walkway, a few statues, and nice restaurants lining the path. You’ll get some great views along here of Budapest’s iconic yellow #2 tram chugging along the river. The Danube Promenade also offers nice views of the Chain Bridge and Budapest Castle District, including Buda Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion, and Matthias Church.
Get Festival at a Budapest Christmas Market or Spring Market
Vörösmarty Square has been home to one of Budapest’s main Christmas markets since 1998. These days, it’s also home to a spring market which takes place in the weeks around Easter. Both the Christmas Market and Easter Market have stalls where local craftspeople sell handmade goods, an entertainment stage with live music, and plenty of food. If you find yourself in Budapest during either, make a point of stopping by.
Budapest Hotels Near Vörösmarty Square
The Ritz-Carlton and Kempinski Hotel Corvinus are the closest hotels to Vörösmarty Square, sitting half-a-block off the square on Fashion Street (Deák Ferenc utca). There are plenty of other great Budapest hotel options in the areas, as well.
| Hotel | Guest Rating | Star Rating | Price & Availability | Distance from Elizabeth Square |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kempinski Hotel Corvinus | 9.1/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 1-minute walk |
| Ritz-Carlton Budapest | 9.3/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 1-minute walk |
| Hotel Zenit Budapest Palace | 8.9/10 | 4-star | Check Now | 3-minute walk |
| Budapest Marriott Hotel | 8.7/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 3-minute walk |
| InterContinental Budapest | 9.0/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 3-minute walk |
| Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge | 8.7/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 5-minute walk |
| Four Seasons Gresham Palace | 9.3/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 7-minute walk |
| Hotel Moments Budapest | 9.6/10 | 4-star | Check Now | 11-minute walk |
| Prestige Hotel Budapest | 9.4/10 | 4-star | Check Now | 11-minute walk |
| Carat Boutique Hotel Budapest | 8.7/10 | 4-star | Check Now | 8-minute walk |
| La Prima Fashion Hotel | 8.6/10 | 4-star | Check Now | 6-minute walk |
| Mercure Budapest City Centre | 8.7/10 | 4-star | Check Now | 4-minute walk |
| Aria Hotel by Library Collection | 9.6/10 | 5-star | Check Now | 8-minute walk |
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