The best way to see and get immersed in the culture and history of this city is with a local historical guide that lives here.
Budapest Design Scene
3.5-Hour Tour
Discover Why UNESCO Named Budapest a “City of Design” in 2015
Locally-Designed Clothing, Eyewear, Sneakers, Jewelry, Tableware, Bags, Stationary
In 2015, Budapest was named by UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network as a “City of Design.” This 3.5-hour Budapest Design Scene tour, led by an urban historian guide, helps you to discover why contemporary Hungarian designers are known for cutting-edge sophistication and creativity, interlaced with diverse cultural influences.
Focusing on the 5th District, we will begin at Magma: a flagship for Hungarian-designed items, from jewelry to tableware, with the Je Suis Belle fashion duo’s workshop nearby on the floors of the beautiful Paris Courtyard.
Moving to the Danube, we’ll visit Tipton Eyeworks, with its eccentric glasses crafted from vinyl and celluloid film, before strolling through the smaller streets of the 5th District filled with intimate boutiques including the popular shop, In Situ.
Next, we take in Paloma, an elegant courtyard that opened its doors in 2015 to display the works of more than 40 local designers of all kinds. The café and pastry shop next door provide the perfect opportunity to take a break and enjoy a treat.
An essential further stop is Tisza shoe shop at Astoria. Once the iconic communist-era shoe brand, it’s been revived and rebranded by a new generation of designers as the emblem of Hungary’s hipster youth.
If we are lucky enough to tour with you during the weekend, we’ll make sure to end at one of Budapest’s two great weekend design markets: Gouba or Wamp!
Tour Details
Price
Private tours – $240 USD (1-10 persons)
*your guide all to yourself
Small groups – $45 USD per person
*still intimate with 8 persons or less
Departure time
Private tours: 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM Tuesday to Saturday
Small groups:
- Tuesday 10:30 AM
- Wednesday 2:00 PM
- Friday 10:30 AM
- Saturday 2:00 PM
Meeting point
Private tours include a pick-up at your central hotel or flat
Small groups: Menza Café, Liszt Ferenc tér 2, 1061 Budapest
Availability
Year-round
Duration
3.5 hours
Group size
Private tours: 1-10 persons
Groups of over 10 should contact us at info@insightcities.com in order to get a special rate for their party.
Small groups: 2-8 persons
Participation requirements
As this is a walking tour, please contact us if you have any mobility issues or concerns
Not included
Souvenirs: Your tour ticket does not include the price of your personal purchases of Budapest design items, although your guide can provide expert advice along the way.
What to bring
- Comfortable walking shoes
- Cash or credit card for design items and cafe treats
About your guide
Read about our Budapest guides
Cancellation policy
For cancellations 72 hours prior to your scheduled tour, Insight Cities offers a full refund. We cannot refund cancellations within 72 hours of a scheduled tour as we need to pay our guide.
Overview of Your Tour
In 2015, Budapest was named as a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network after an application submitted by the agency Design Terminal succeeded. The Hungarian capital is now the second city (Berlin was the first) in Central Europe to be awarded the “City of Design” title. This tour with one of our urban historian guides helps you to explore the sophistication, creativity, and diverse cultural influences that play through Budapest’s cutting-edge design scene.
We focus on the 5th District and vast warehouses such as Magma: a flagship for Hungarian design, from jewelry to tableware (only Hungarian-designed items). Nearby, high up on the floors of the Paris courtyard lies the workshop of Je Suis Belle duo: Tibi and Dalma, fashion designers who graduated from Moma (the prestigious Budapest applied design school) and started their own brand in 2005.
Closer to the Danube, we visit another great workshop: Tipton Eyeworks. Zachary, its founder, is a Hungarian who grew up in the USA and started by making glasses frames out of his father’s vinyl collection. Since then, he’s even created a line of frames out of celluloid film (the collection is now sold out but we can see them!). Heading east, we walk the delicious smaller streets of the 5th District to stop in front of In Situ, another popular Hungarian design shop and other intimate boutiques. From there, we move back to the boulevards to enter Paloma. Launched in 2015, this courtyard is now home to some 40 Hungarian designers of all kinds (jewelry, bag, shoes). The pastry shop-café next door is a wonderful place to have a break.
Our last stop is the Tisza shoe shop of Astoria. Although the logo was rebranded in 2000, Tisza was once the shoe brand of Hungary’s communist era. It is thus fascinating to see the come-back of Tisza on the quality shoe market and the brand’s re-emergence as an icon of Hungary’s hipster youth. If we are lucky enough to tour with you during the weekend, we’ll make sure to end at one of Budapest’s two great weekend design markets: Gouba or Wamp!
See Our FAQs for More Information
See What Our Guests are Saying
After engaging Insight Cities for unforgettable tours in Vienna and Prague, we ended our trip with 2 more from the company. After 5 tours, we can easily recommend this company. The guides are superb. Hope to see them in more cities in the future.
Despite the rather damp and coolish weather, we had a very good walking tour and overview of the downtown area. Henke is a good communicator. He accompanied the other 2 people on our tour back to their hotel using the tram – nice man and good tour. I feel I learned a lot about the city, and some of the recent history of Hungary, in a few hours. Very informative tour.
