Ferencváros & the Great Market Hall

What it is

District IX, running south along the Pest bank from the Central Market Hall. An old working district that has been rebuilt in stages since the 1990s, and one of the clearer successes of that kind of renewal in the city.

What is here

The Central Market Hall at its northern tip. Ráday utca, a long street of restaurants and bars that was pedestrianised and has been through several cycles of fashion. The Bálna, a glass-and-steel structure grafted onto old riverside warehouses. Further south, the Müpa concert complex, the National Theatre and the Ludwig Museum of contemporary art sit together on the redeveloped bank.

What it is like

Mixed, in the useful sense. The inner streets are residential and ordinary; the riverside is new and cultural; Ráday utca is the eating strip.

It has less that a first-time visitor must see than the districts north of it, and correspondingly fewer visitors — which is the argument for staying here rather than visiting.

Practical

Trams 4 and 6 clip its northern edge; the M4 metro runs through it; tram 2 along the embankment connects the riverside institutions to the centre in a few minutes.

Prices are noticeably below District V for a location that is still a comfortable walk from the market hall and the river. Worth a look if the central districts price you out.