We will be in Budapest May 6-11, 2003. I read the Ecseri Flea Market is open Fridays from mid-May until mid-October. Does anyone know if this market will be open Friday, 9 May? <BR><BR>Also, does anyone have a favorite store or market for handicrafts or 'antiques' in Budapest? (We will be travelling with 2 small children, so we don't have the luxury of browsing all day). There are too many from which to choose! Thanks for your help!

You might have some fun at the bustling market by the Freedom Bridge on the Pest side of the Danube River. It looks like an old train station. On the first floor you will find primarily food items - salamis, sausages, cheese, vegetables, breads and paprika. On the second floor, merchants sell embroidered linens and souvenirs.

We went a couple of years ago and we thought it was terrible. We LOVE markets and try to go to one (or more) on every trip.<BR><BR>This one did not have the antiques or household goods like we had found at Portobello, or the market in Madrid, or the (many) markets in Paris, etc. This one had rusty, dirty tools, farm equipment parts.<BR><BR>We did see some military uniforms, medals, patches but nothing was a bargain and we didn't see much of interest at all.<BR><BR>I would not return to this market, we saw much more interesting &quot;stuff&quot; on the streets and by the Freedom Bridge.<BR><BR>Hope this helps,<BR>Sandy

For folk art, Fodor's suggests Folkart Hazilpar, where most things are handmade--tableclothes, mini dolls, ceramic dishes, sheepskin vests, etc. <BR><BR>Try Fodor's Destinations, Budapest, and then check shopping. I'm doing research for Budapest for our trip in May and found lots of good info.

On the Vaci Utca, you'll find a wonderful shop that sells many handmade items. You'll find a full assortment of eggs that are beautifully designed, some are ceramic, wood, or even covered in beautiful fabrics. The store has a nice selection of pottery. Although I don't remember the name of the store, its fairly unique and obvious - its located closer to the Freedom Bridge than it is to the Elizabeth Bridge. There's also a store on the same side of the street that sells beautiful ceramic dishware - lots of bright colors, and the paint does not have lead in it, so the items can be used. Prices in both stores were very reasonable. You'll also find a lot of boutiques, souvenir shops and antique stores on Vaci Utca.

Thanks for the great info!! We'll save ourselves a wasted trip to Ecseri &amp; head to the area around the Freedom Bridge--the food market is an added bonus as we're renting an apartment for a few days. <BR><BR>I had already checked out Fodors shopping info &amp; highlighted Folkart Haziipar. Fodors shopping info is very detailed, &amp; I need help narrowing the many choices.<BR><BR>Keep those tips coming in! Thanks!!!

gypsyatheart, there's a supermarket on the lowest floor of the market. <BR><BR>Also, there's a restaurant on Vaci Utca called Fatal. The restaurant looks like a rathskellar. Its in an alley, but there's a sign on Vaci Utca. Portions are large, its very casual, and the prices are more than reasonable.

Dear gypsyatheart!<BR><BR>As a tour guide and a big lover and collector of antiques I can reassure you, you will find zillions of antiques at the Ecseri flea-market.<BR>The market is opened ALL YEAR-ROUND, Every single day, even on Sundays. Absolutely the best day to go there is Saturday, early in the morning before the tourist crowds.<BR>You can find everything over there: China, silver, porcelain, old carpets, lamps, vases, beautiful glass, old books, prints, 1000-s of paintings, militaria, post cards, coins, watches, old toys, furniture, you name it. Absolutely everything. During weekdays you find mostly dealers but on Saturdays there are 100-s of people selling their stuff. Hungarian and Romanian gypsies, old women selling embroidery, people of different classes and cultures all trying to find a bargain of a lifetime or just trying to earn some extra money to pay for their communities at the end of the month..<BR>All the Hungarian antiques dealers in Vaci street or Szentendre buy at least 50% of their merchandise at the Ecseri market. Every Saturday you can meet most of the shopkeepers eagerly running up and around from 5 o’clock in the morning in search of bargains rain or shine.<BR>Being an antiques collector and a frequent visitor to flea-markets in Austria, Germany, Italy, USA, Ukraine etc., I think that probably someone who says that the Ecseri it doesn’t look like the Portobello (by the way I personally know a couple of dealers from there who use to come to the Ecseri 2-3 times a year for buying trunk loads of old stuff for reselling it with a very nice profit back home)or Rome or any other big European flea-market, probably haven’t been there personally. By the way a significant quantity of the antiques you can buy at the Vienna flea-market (and some shops on the Graben as well) are being bought up by former Yugoslavians (now residents of Austria) every 1st Saturday of the month.<BR>As for the City Market near the Freedom Bridge, well it definitely has a gorgeous architectural look and worth visiting in terms of a sightseeing spot and stockpiling some food. Otherwise it is a REAL Tourist Trap. Most of the quiet expensive souvenirs are imported. All the nestling Dolls, Easter Eggs and Lacquer Boxes are from Russia, most of the lace and embroidery are from Hungarians populated parts of Romania, same applies for wooden souvenirs etc. This market is extremely popular among pensioners from Austria, Germany especially the Eastern provinces, Spain and France. You can see them buy bus loads every afternoon but Monday all happily carrying a Hungarian smoked sausage in one and a string of paprika in the other hand.<BR>This is strictly my personal opinion as a resident of Budapest and if you find it different at the end, so please enjoy yourself and forget my comments.<BR>Happy sightseeing and shopping to All!<BR>Take care.<BR>

Gypsyatheart,<BR>I agree 100% with Bela. We used to live in Budapest and visit the Esceri on a periodic basis. Saturday morning by 7:30 AM is the best time to go. We have found wonderful armoires, herend porcelain and other goodies.<BR><BR>If you are interested in antiques (as in furniture) there is another group of shops on Falk Miksa, right across from the Parliament. They have some beautiful things that are not over restored.<BR>Cheers,<BR>Jan

Thank you for the really great info! We very much appreciate the 'been there, done that' advice!