Vörösmarty tér has had a Christmas fair since 1998, and for most visitors it is the Budapest Christmas market. It fills the square at the top of Váci utca, in front of the Gerbeaud café, and runs as Vörösmarty Classic Xmas from 13 November 2026 to New Year’s Eve. Entry is free.
It is the bigger shopping fair of the two central markets, not the prettier one, and the better of the two for children. The reasons to come are the Hungarian makers’ stalls and the free train, and both leave the square after 28 December.
Vörösmarty Christmas market opening hours 2026
The market is open every day from Friday 13 November 2026. These are the organiser’s hours for the market and for the children’s train, which keeps shorter hours of its own.
| Days | Market | Children’s train |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | 11am to 9pm | 2pm to 8pm |
| Friday | 11am to 10pm | 2pm to 8pm |
| Saturday | 11am to 10pm | 11am to 8pm |
| Sunday | 11am to 9pm | 11am to 8pm |
Christmas and New Year have hours of their own.
| Date | Market | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 24 December | 10am to 2pm | The train runs the same hours |
| Friday 25 December | Noon to 6pm | No train hours published |
| Saturday 26 December | Noon to 6pm | The train opens at 2pm |
| Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December | 11am to 9pm | 28 December is the last day for the craft stalls and the train |
| Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 December | 11am to 9pm | No craft stalls and no train |
| Thursday 31 December | 11am to 3am | New Year’s Eve on the square |
| Friday 1 January | Closed | The season ends at 3am |
Advent Bazilika, the market in front of St Stephen’s Basilica, stays open for one more day, on 1 January. Its hours, and those of the other markets, are in our guide to the Budapest Christmas markets.
What to see and do at the Vörösmarty tér Christmas market
The fair fills the whole square around the poet’s statue, with the craft stalls, the food kitchens and the train’s track sharing the space.
Start at the snow globe over the statue
The statue of Mihály Vörösmarty, the poet the square is named after, stands in the middle of the fair. Since 2023 it has spent the season inside a giant transparent dome, a snow globe with the poet in it, and it is now the fair’s main photo stop.
In 2025 the globe was lit from inside, and an LED wall beside it showed animations that visitors moved by gesturing in front of the sensors. The 2026 decorations have not been announced, but the globe has been the centrepiece in recent seasons. See it after dark. The fair’s live Christmas tree is lit then too, and in 2025 every tree on the square had a light installation of its own.
Ride the free children's train
A little train runs a loop of the square, past the Lion Fountain, which is decorated for the season, and rides are free. It is the main reason this is the better of the two central markets for families, and in 2025 it got a proper stop of its own, a lit arch named “Vörösmarty tér”, in front of Gerbeaud.
On weekdays it only starts at 2pm, so a morning visit with small children misses it. At weekends it runs from 11am. The train leaves with the craft stalls after 28 December.
Shop the craft stalls, not the souvenir ones
Many of the food and souvenir stalls look the same as those at every other market in the centre. The Hungarian makers are what make this fair worth a special trip, and some are family firms that go back generations.
Makers who have had stalls here in recent seasons include Bartha Fésű, whose horn combs come from a company founded in 1923, the Garay furriers, in the trade since 1868, and Parti Szőrme, a family of sheepskin makers working since 1946. Look too for glass, ceramics, felt, leather, enamel and gingerbread. The 2026 line-up has not been published, so treat these names as a guide to the kind of maker, not a promise.
Warm up inside Gerbeaud
The big cream building on the north side of the square is Gerbeaud, one of the city’s grand old cafés. Henrik Kugler moved his confectionery onto the square in 1870, and the confectioner Émile Gerbeaud joined him in the 1880s. The café was renamed Vörösmarty from 1948 to 1984 and has been Gerbeaud again since.
It is the place on the square to sit down somewhere warm with a proper cake rather than a paper plate. Gerbeaud takes no reservations, and tables go in order of arrival, so expect a wait at busy times in December. Its hours over Christmas have not been published.
Eating at the Vörösmarty Christmas market without overpaying
Food is where Vörösmarty tér gets its bad press. The prices on the square are the most complained-about part of Christmas in Budapest, and the usual story is a bill bigger than the board suggested, because sides, sauces and toppings are priced on top. Portions are big, and the food is not always hot.
The fair has rules that help, if you use them. In recent seasons every big kitchen has had to offer one fixed-price dish every day, so ask for it. The food stalls have taken cards only, and the terminal has shown the items and prices before you approve the payment, so read the screen before you tap and keep your card in your hand. Mulled wine has come in a ceramic mug you can take home, so ask before you pay whether the mug is in the price.
Lángos and chimney cake are the stall food visitors rate most. For a proper sit-down meal, you will do better a street or two away from the square. The organiser publishes some kitchens’ menus with prices on its website, which is worth a look before you go.
Vörösmarty Christmas market tours
No ticket is needed for the market itself. A tour earns its place if you would like the food chosen for you and the Hungarian Christmas traditions explained, and both of these include the drinks and something sweet.
Christmas Market Guided Walking Tour with Tastings
Best for: Tasting the Christmas food with a guide who explains it
- 2.5 hours
- Live guide in English
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Chimney cake, mulled wine and marzipan
- Coffee at a historic coffee house
- A walking tour with a local guide
- Markets
- The operator lists Vörösmarty tér and the Basilica market
- Meeting point
- In front of the Hungarian State Opera House
- Options
- Pickup and a private group are available
- Not included
- Tips
- Also
- Wheelchair accessible. Reserve now and pay later
Christmas Walking Tour and Basilica Priority Entry
Best for: Fashion Street, this market and a guided visit inside the Basilica
- 2.5 hours
- Live guide in English
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- A licensed English-speaking guide
- One mulled wine and a chimney cake
- Skip-the-line entry and a guided tour of St Stephen's Basilica
- Route
- City Hall courtyard, Fashion Street, Vörösmarty tér, the Danube Corso, then St Stephen's Basilica
- Group size
- Up to 10
- Meeting point
- In front of the Hungarian State Opera House
- Ends
- At the Basilica Christmas market
- Not suitable for
- Children under 6 and anyone with limited mobility
- Bring
- Comfortable shoes and warm clothes. It runs in all weather
- The tasting tour runs every day of the season. In mid-October the Basilica tour was on sale for only eight dates, between 4 and 26 December 2026, so book that one first if you want it
- Both meet in front of the Opera House on Andrássy út, not at the market, and both last two and a half hours on foot
- Guests under 18 on the Basilica tour get a hot non-alcoholic drink instead of the mulled wine
Fashion Street, Váci utca and the walk to the Basilica market
The fair sits where two of the city’s shopping streets meet, and both are lit for Christmas. Váci utca, the long pedestrian street that runs south from the square to the Great Market Hall, is hung with lights for the season. Fashion Street is Deák Ferenc utca, the short street of brand shops running from the north-east corner of the square to Deák Ferenc tér, and in December 2025 it had a giant Christmas tree of its own, with a tunnel of lights in the streets around it.
Walk up Fashion Street and on through Erzsébet tér, under the Budapest Eye, and you reach Advent Bazilika on Szent István tér in less than ten minutes. The market there is the one with the light show on the façade of St Stephen’s Basilica.
A mulled wine cruise from Dock 11
If the squares get too crowded, take a mulled wine onto the river. Dock 11 is about a 12-minute walk away, down to the Danube and south along the embankment, by the Pest end of Elizabeth Bridge, where a heated boat with big windows does a one-hour sightseeing cruise with as much mulled wine as you like, and hot non-alcoholic drinks too. Go after dark, when the city is lit up.
It is not bookable on 15 December or from 24 to 26 December. Show the ticket on your phone to the staff on the embankment.
Getting to Vörösmarty tér
- Metro M1, Vörösmarty tér. The station is on the square itself, at the southern end of the line that runs under Andrássy Avenue
- Deák Ferenc tér, where metro lines M1, M2 and M3 meet, about seven minutes’ walk away up Fashion Street. Trams 47, 48 and 49 stop there too
- Tram 2, Vigadó tér, on the Danube embankment, about four minutes’ walk west
- Buses stop at Hild tér, by Deák Ferenc tér, a few minutes’ walk north
Before you go
- It is free. Entry to the market is free for everyone, and so is the children’s train
- Leave the bike and the scooter. Cycling is banned in the market, and so are electric scooters, Segways and anything with an engine
- No fireworks. The house rules ban them, and anything else that could be a danger to the crowd. The square is covered by CCTV
- Step-free, up to a point. The square is level and pedestrianised, but the M1 station on it has stairs only. The nearest lift is at the M3 entrance on Deák Ferenc tér, and the Hild tér bus stop is step-free
- Expect crowds after dark. Evenings and weekends are packed, which makes the stalls hard to reach with a pushchair
New Year’s Eve on Vörösmarty tér
After the craft stalls and the train leave on 28 December, the square gets ready for a New Year’s Eve party, and the market stays open from 11am on 31 December until 3am. The organiser has not said yet what the 2026 party will be or who will play, so do not book a trip around it.
Insider tips
Shop on a weekday, in daylight
The square is at its busiest after dark and at weekends, when you queue to reach the craft counters. Locals do their shopping on weekday lunchtimes, ideally in the first week, and come back after dark for the lights.
Do both big markets in one evening
Start here in the late afternoon, while you can still see what you are buying, then walk up Fashion Street to Szent István tér for the light show on the Basilica, which starts at 5.30pm.
Pick the right Vörösmarty on the metro
The market’s station is Vörösmarty tér, the southern end of the M1. Vörösmarty utca is a different station five stops up the line under Andrássy út, an easy slip in a journey planner and a long way from the market.
Nearby attractions
St. Stephen's Basilica
Less than ten minutes on foot through Erzsébet tér, with Advent Bazilika on the square in front.
Budapest Eye
About four minutes’ walk north up Fashion Street, on Erzsébet tér.
Great Market Hall
About 18 minutes’ walk south, straight down Váci utca.
History of Vörösmarty tér and its Christmas fair
The fair is young next to the square around it, which had its confectioner by 1870 and its metro station by 1896.
- 1812
The square is laid out, first called Színház tér. It is renamed Gizella tér in 1874 and Vörösmarty tér in 1926.
- 1870
Henrik Kugler moves his confectionery onto the square, the café later known as Gerbeaud.
- 1896
The Millennium Underground, today’s M1, opens with its terminus on the square.
- 1908
The statue of Mihály Vörösmarty, by Ede Kallós and Ede Telcs, is unveiled.
- 1998
The first Christmas fair is held on the square.
- 2022
The fair is renamed Vörösmarty Classic Xmas.
- 2023
The statue is shown inside a giant snow globe for the first time.