Pest's chic Vaci utca and its surrounding avenues tempt the tourists with a familiar high-street designer names but bargain buy are to be found at Vasarcsarnok Nagy Vasarcsarnok (Great Market Hall), IX Fovam ter, an imposing three-story structure that first opened in 1897 and now draws 30,000 shoppers daily. On the ground floor are strings of paprika-like red coral necklaces, pots of pickles, goose liver & salami. There is also a supermarket to stock up on Tokaj wines, Palinka (cherry and apricot brandy) and bitter, black Zwack unicum. Upstairs, there is a choice of Kalocsa Matyo hand-embroidered tablecloths, Zsolnay and a Herendi porcelains, glittering beaded necklaces and traditional folk costumes.

Perhaps the best place for shoppers to haggle for folk costumes and a communist relics is Ecseri Piac market, X Nagykorosi ut 156, open Monday to Saturday 0700-1400.

Budapest's antiques largely consist of the Hapsburg-style furniture but are cheaper than in Vienna.The traditional antiques quarter lies around Falk Miksa utca. Antique shops can also be found in a Castle District and on the Vaci utca. Hungarian music is a another good buy. Classical records label Hungaroton offers CDs of the great Hungarian musicians for at least half the price.

Standard shop opening hours are Monday to Friday 0900-1800 and Saturday 0900-1300. Department stores usually open from 1000, while of the grocers, an bakeries supermarkets are opens 0700-2000. Many shops are opens untils 2000 or 2100 on Thursdays.Each district has at least a one 24-hour store. Many small shops close for summer in late July and August a almost everything shuts on public holidays. Sales tax (ÁFA) of 25% (12% for food,some medical supplies, books and newspapers and hotel rooms) is included in the price and can be a reclaimed by visitors purchasing goods worth Ft50,000 or more. A receipt and VAT-refund application form must be presented to customs on leaving the country.

Standard shop opening hours are Monday to Friday 10001800 and Saturday 10001300. Department stores usually open from 1000, while grocers, bakeries and supermarkets are open 07002000. Many shops open until 2000 or 2100 on Thursdays. Shops are closed on Sundays, except shopping malls. Each district has at least one 24 hour store. Many small shops close for summer in late July and August and almost everything shuts on public holidays. Sales tax (ÁFA) of 25% (12% for food, some medical supplies, books and newspapers and hotel rooms) is included in the price and can be reclaimed by visitors purchasing goods worth Ft50,000 or more. A receipt and VATrefund application form must be presented to customs on leaving the country.

Pest’s chic Vaci utca and its surrounding avenues tempt the tourists with familiar highstreet and designer names but bargain buys are to be found at Nagy Vasarcsarnok (the Great Market Hall), IX Fovam ter, an imposing threestorey structure that first opened in 1897 and now draws 30,000 shoppers daily. On the ground floor are strings of paprikalike red coral necklaces, pots of pickles, goose liver and salami. There is also a supermarket to stock up on Tokaj wines, Palinka (cherry and apricot brandy) and bitter, black Zwack unicum. Upstairs, there is a choice of Kalocsa and Matyo handembroidered tablecloths, Zsolnay and Herendi porcelain, glittering beaded necklaces and traditional folk costumes. The Great Market Hall is open MonFri 07001700 and Sat 06001400 (closed Sun).

Long before the openness of Glasnost descended upon Eastern Europe, shopping was one of the great pleasures of Budapest. Today, the pedestrian zone around Vaci utca and its side streets are full of ornate shops selling everything from dolls to wine.

Apollo - Gallery featuring sculpture, paintings and especially fine glassware. Addr: 2 Blvd. Balcescu.

Unirea - City's main department store with a good souvenir selection and good prices. Addr: 1 Piata Natiunile Unite.

Folk Art Centrum - Large folk-art supermarket including furnishings, toys and ceramics. Addr: Vaci u. 14

Markets - The huge indoor/outdoor Amzei Market sells everything from farm produce to crafts. Addr: behind the Bucuresti Hotel. Ecseri Flea Market is best on Saturday and offers everything from coins to car parts. The earlier the better. Addr: Nagykorosti ut 156.

Budapest's range of shops has expanded massively in recent years, as big international names such as Mango and Benetton have appeared in its streets, and more especially in its malls. Most shops are open Monday to Friday 10am-6pm, and Saturday until 1pm, with most foodstores opening from 8am to 6 or 7pm. Recently some shops in the centre of the city have been staying open later on Saturdays. The new shopping malls on the edge of the city also tend to have longer opening hours, and are open on Sundays as well. You can usually find a 24-hour - non-stop - shop serving alcohol, cigarettes and some food in the centre of town, though in the residential parts of Buda they may be harder to find.

Modern shopping malls, combining major shopping centres with entertainment facilities under one roof, have now spread right across the city - though with prices high by Hungarian standards, it's a mystery how they survive. Two of the closest to the centre are the Mammut by Moszkva ter, which has recently doubled in size with the opening of Mammut II, and WestEnd, by Nyugati Station. Further out are Duna Plaza, XIII, Vaci ut 178 (Gyongyos utca metro), and Polus Center, XV, Szentmihalyi ut 131 (special buses run from Keleti Station).

Main shopping areas are located to south of Vorosmarty ter in central Pest, in particular in and around pedestrianized Vaci utca and Petofi Sandor utca, which have the biggest concentration of glamorous and expensive shops. The main streets radiating out from the centre - Bajcsy-Zsilinszky, Andrassy and Rakoczi ut - are other major shopping focuses, as are the two ring boulevards, the Great Boulevard (especially from Margit Bridge to Blaha Lujza ter) and the Kiskorut, while the small streets inside the Nagykorut are also worth exploring.

Budapest has three flea markets : Petofi Csarnok (Sat & Sun 7am-2pm) in the Varosliget, which has expanded fast and is probably the best in town; the expensive Ecseri piac at XIX, Nagykorosi utca 156 (Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat 7am-noon; take bus #54 from Boraros ter in Pest near the Petofi bridge), where sellers are aware of the money to be made from rich foreign tourists, but where there also are bargains to be found, either early on a Saturday or at closing time; and the newcomer on the flea market scene, the Nowak piac at Dozsa Gy. utca 1-3, behind Keleti Station (head up Verseny utca), which has excellent bargains and shady characters, although it is still weak in the snack department The most popular souvenirs to bring home are wine, porcelain, foodstuffs (such as paprika, salami and goose liver) and CDs. The emergence of a thriving wine industry is reflected in the number of new wine shops in the city. The Budapest Wine Society at I, Batthyany utca 59, near Moszkva ter, has a good selection and the English-speaking staff know their wines (Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-6pm, free wine tastings on Sat afternoons; tel 1/202-2569). Another good outlet is La Boutique des Vins at V, Jozsef Attila utca 12, near Deak ter (Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-3pm; tel 1/317-5919). Outlets for the main porcelain makers are Haas & Czjzek, at VI, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky ut 23, opposite the Arany Janos metro station, which stocks all the main brands, or the shops of the producers, such as Herend at V, Jozsef nador ter 11, or Zsolnay at V, Kigyo utca 4. For rock, pop and jazz records and CDs (including bootlegs), try DOB Records, VII, Dob utca 71, Indiego in the courtyard at VIII, Krudy Gyula utca 7 or Lemezkucko, VI, Kiraly utca 67. The best place for folk CDs is the shop in the Fono concert hall (Tues-Sat 10am-11pm). For classical music, try Hungaroton at V, Vorosmarty ter 1, Fotex Records at V, Szervita ter 2, or the Amadeus CD shop by the Danube behind the Inter-Continental Hotel .

The friendly Rozsavolgyi at V, Szervita ter 5, has an excellent selection of classical music, with pop and folk downstairs, plus sheet music. The best selection of second-hand classical records is at Concerto Records, VII, Dob utca 31 (Mon-Fri noon-7pm, Sun noon-4pm). Budapest's Antiques Row is Falk Miksa utca, at the Pest end of the Margit Bridge. Shops in the Var are almost exclusively given over to providing foreign tourists with folksy souvenirs, embroidered tablecloths, hussar pots, fancy bottles of Tokaji wine and so forth. Another good source of presents are the market halls in Pest: the spectacular Great Market Hall (Nagycsarnok), or smaller ones on Hold utca (behind the American Embassy) and on Rakoczi ter. Other interesting shops include Hephaistos, at V, Molnar utca 27, which sells beautiful wrought iron items, from candle holders to bookshelves; Lekvarium, VII, Dohany utca 39, which has a range of locally made and unusual jams and preserves, as well as delicious elderflower syrup; and the puppet shop in the courtyard at V, Haris koz 2, which has marvellous glove puppets.

There is plenty of expensive boutiques, folk-art and souvenir shops, foreign-language bookstores, and classical-record shops on or around touristy Vaci utca, Budapest's famous, upscale, pedestrian-only promenade. While a stroll along Vaci utca is integral to a Budapest visit, browsing among some of the smaller, less touristy, more typically Hungarian shops in Pest -- on the Kis korut (Small Ring Road) and Nagy korut (Great Ring Road) -- may prove more interesting and less pricey. Falk Miksa utca, in the fifth district, running south from Szent Istvan korut, is one of the city's best antiques districts, lined on both sides with atmospheric little shops and galleries. Hungary is famous for its age-old Herend porcelain, which is hand-painted in the village of Herend near Lake Balaton. Hungarian and Czech crystal is considerably less expensive Handmade articles, such as embroidered tablecloths and painted plates, are sold all over the city by Transylvanian women. One can usually find them standing at Moszkva ter, Jaszai Mari ter, outside the Kossuth ter metro, around Vaci utca, and in the larger metro stations. Recordings of Hungarian folk music are available on compact discs, though cassettes and records are cheaper and are sold throughout the city.