Updated November 2026. What changed this year: both big markets open on 13 November, a day earlier than in 2025. Advent Bazilika adds a light tunnel and a new entrance gate, and it just won a Europe-wide best market vote. Andrew and I are absolutely crazy for...
Every August 20, central Budapest turns into a pedestrian island for one evening. Here is the short version. August 20 Budapest transport runs on a holiday timetable, the metros stay open until roughly 02:30, and from about 21:00 the riverside core inside the Margit...
Updated August 2026. What changed this year: the state celebration has been scaled back sharply, and the fireworks budget cut to roughly a quarter of the near 5 billion forint originally contracted in December 2025. August 20 is Hungary's national holiday, Szent...
New Year’s Eve in Hungary always sounds simpler than it is. But after eight of them here, Andrew and I have learned that Szilveszter rarely follows a script. We’ve done it all. Properly dressed-up nights out. Quiet evenings at home. Loud Karaoke nights. Plans changed...
No Santa in Hungary? That line still makes people blink when they visit in December. Technically it is true for Christmas Eve, but the story is much better than that. Growing up in Canada, I managed to get both Mikulás on December 6 and Santa on the 25th, which meant...
It’s the first week of December and Budapest is slipping into Christmas-party mode. Between the Irish-Hungarian Business Circle’s glittering celebration and XpatLoop’s big charity event this weekend, my calendar already looks like it’s had a confetti cannon fired at...
The fog has settled thick over our little patch of western Hungary, the kind that makes the morning feel half-finished. Andrew and I are closing down the cottage for the season and preparing to migrate back to Budapest, where the Christmas markets are already in full...
It’s only mid-November, but Budapest has already given in to Christmas - and so have we. The air is sharp, barely six degrees today, and the lights are strung across Andrássy Avenue like a promise. The Budapest Christmas Markets 2025 open tomorrow, and Andrew and I...
When Pumpkins Arrived in Budapest When Andrew and I first moved to Hungary eight years ago, Halloween barely registered on the cultural calendar. You might find a small display of plastic bats in a supermarket or a lonely pumpkin or two at the market, but that was...
I’m Anikó Woods, a Canadian-Hungarian who’s been knee-deep in life here since 2017 - bureaucracy, culture, and everything in between.
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