Christmas Market at Vörösmarty tér

Why it's worth going

The one with the food. Stalls are vetted rather than rented to anyone, so the lángos and the mulled wine are better than the setting would suggest — and it is walkable from almost any central hotel.

What to expect

Wooden stalls filling the whole square, split between food and Hungarian craft. Expect mulled wine, chimney cake, lángos and grilled things you eat standing up; on the craft side, ceramics, felt and woodwork from makers who are usually there in person. Weekend evenings in December are shoulder to shoulder — a weekday afternoon is a different and much better experience.

This is the market that has run longest and it sets the tone for the rest. Vörösmarty tér sits at the top of Váci utca, so it is unavoidable if you are walking the centre at all, and it stays open through the turn of the year rather than closing on Christmas Eve like some of the smaller ones. Prices are tourist-facing but the food quality is genuinely controlled, which is not true everywhere.