Situated near the Danube river on the Pest side of the city, the Central Market Hall is one of Budapest’s landmarks. It is located in a gigantic building and filled with just about everything you could want. Most interestingly, it manages to cater to both locals and tourists, ensuring that it’s constantly filled with people doing business, running errands, or enjoying the sights.
The market has at least three floors, with fish located in the basement, fresh produce and most groceries on the first floor, and prepared food and tourist items on the second. Hungarian food is delicious, though heavy on the pork and cabbage, and this market is a pretty good location to try several local standbys, including gulyás, better known in the US as goulash (though the Hungarian version is much less of a soup), and töltöt káposzta, cabbage stuffed with pork and rice. The market is also a good place to pick up Hungarian paprika to take home. Finally, the Neo-Gothic building itself is beautiful, with a lovely tiled roof, a style you will see several times around Budapest.
