Rockhoppers

A walking Tour in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest, where Jews live in loose symbiosis with the Gypsy/Romani people today.

We shall visit the known synagogues like the Great Dohány Synagogue, Rumbach Street Status Quo Ante Synagogue, the Orthodox Synagogue in Kazinczy Street and also smaller and hidden but active ones with real Jewish life, the ones that are known only by the local religious Jews and even local people do not have access.

The „musts”, i.e. Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park, Graveyard of the Martyrs, the beautiful old and special houses with funny or sad stories, the former market square that during World War II served as a cemetery in the ghetto, and the last section of the wall of the ghetto wall be also in the itinerary. We shall stroll on the old streets that once witnessed the vivid life of the Jewry here. And then came the Shoa … After all, you can learn about Jewish history in Hungary.

Depending on the time of the day you may have opportunity to talk to rabbis or bochers (rabbi students) in the yeshiva.
During the tour you can taste the delicious Hungarian Jewish cake called ’flódni’ of 3 or 4 layers filled with walnut, apple and poppy-seed – and sometimes supplemented even with plum jam. We can recommend or take you to some kosher restaurants to taste local Jewish food.

You can also get information about actual Jewish religious and cultural events.

Although the basic tour lasts 3 – 3,5 hours possibly with a short break for a ‘flódni’ and coffee, you may also ask for longer tours, even a whole-day-long program, that include some very special synagogues that most people do not even know about, and also visit Neolog cemeteries with beautiful Art Nouveau crypts, or also the Shoes Monument on the riverside. We can take you to the smallest working synagogue on Earth. From spring to autumn, we can also include a medieval prayer house in the program.
You can join me or my colleagues to Friday night ‘kiddush’ at some synagogues and meet members of the local Jewish community.

Leave the guidebook behind, join us and let us explore everything together.
The itinerary is always different; tours will be tailored to your personal needs.