The 5 best venues for live jazz music in Budapest

‘You will like iF, iff you come in’, says their slogan. They also boast that they are the place where you’ll hear the best jazz in town. You’ll find this pleasant split-level place in Budapest Soho’s main street. In any case they offer the most chances to up-and-coming young artists nobody has heard about – yet.

Housed in a former cinema off Grand Boulevard, near Margaret Bridge, this is one of the most important venues of the expanding Budapest jazz scene. The cafe is open from 10 am onwards, and the concerts start at 8 pm. Check the website for the free jam sessions at 10.30 pm. Bistro food available.

In the unique Budapest Music Center complex you’ll find this quality restaurant-and-club-in-one. It’s thé place to hear local and visiting jazz bands, with occasional free concerts by up-and-coming ensembles. If you arrive early, ask the receptionist for a peek into the concert hall – it’s the covered courtyard of a spice merchant’s warehouse from the 1880s.

This cafe and informal jazz concert venue is on the ground floor of the Goethe Institut Budapest: they moved here after rising rents forced them out of Andrássy út. Usually there is a small entrance fee. Every Monday, at 8 pm, Kristóf Darvas plays the piano. He is an unclassifiable Budapest music sensation with phenomenal improvisation skills.

Located in a basement on a small street, this place is a cross between a jazz club and an informal gourmet bistro, camouflaged as a speakeasy. There is a concert every evening at 8 pm, usually by the in-house band, for native patrons and passing travellers. Possibly the oldest permanent jazz place in town.