"Only praise for those who invented, created, created this!" – Millions enjoy the renewed City Park

This summer set a record, with 2 million visitors to the City Park. Yet recently, Budapest's city administration prevented the renovation of the capital's second largest public park tooth and nail.

The Városliget has been transformed into a family adventure park, the majority of those interviewed are fans of the well-kept and demanding green space, the cleanliness of the air and the area, and the fact that, unlike many other parks maintained by the capital city, there are many trash cans here, and the environment is child and animal friendly. The exhibitions and other programs are attractive, the playgrounds are special and modern, even the dog runs are more like adventure parks. The Metropol staff visited the iconic institutions and spaces and asked the visitors' opinions.

The renewed Városliget closed this summer with an incredible number of visitors, the Liget Budapest Project exceeded even the initial ideas of the renovation that started 10 years ago, even though the development has not yet been completed. As many people as Metropol asked, they came to the Liget from as many different countries or domestic cities, with different purposes. However, everyone agreed on one thing: the area is Budapest's number one family adventure park, or a slice of Europe in the heart of the city. Here, from the smallest to the oldest, from culture lovers to nature lovers, everyone will find what they are looking for.

This summer, 400,000 people visited the House of Hungarian Music alone

The House of Music, which is also architecturally special, overtook all domestic cultural institutions in popularity in a very short time and became a key player in the capital's cultural life. In addition to the high number of visitors, the house is also one of the most posted buildings in Hungary, its iconic glass walls and perforated roof echo in countless photos and videos both at home and abroad. Most of the visitors we interviewed came to the Liget to see and photograph this. While most of the foreigners who came here traveled to Hungary specifically for the building of the House of Hungarian Music or the concert organized there, the target for the Hungarians was the rock history exhibition.

It's beautiful, I really enjoy it. We are coming from the House of Music, a wonderful experience in itself! We looked at the exhibition, but decided to dedicate the whole day to Liget. There is so much more here and the whole environment is amazing! Now we are going to the Museum of Ethnography, I heard that you can see 4,000 objects on display, with innovative, interactive solutions. We also go up to the roof terrace, because we really like that the green area has not been damaged and has even become bigger. I feel that the air here is very good, much better than it was

- says a Hungarian lady living abroad who came to the City Park specifically for the exhibition. Another Hungarian visitor simply says:

"Only praise for those who invented, created, created this!" 

The Great Playground has become a real children's paradise

The Great Playground became a real children's paradise, which was packed all summer long. 500,000 visitors came here in the summer. Not by chance, as it is the most complex and modern playground in Hungary. Nearly 50 special play elements have been set up in the 13,000-square-meter park area, the central attraction being a 16-meter-high climbing structure inspired by Pál Szinyei Merse's painting Airship.

A mother talked about how they go to the Park two or three times every week: "We come from Újpest and it is the environment of the new City Park that makes us come so far. Of course, my son and I always spend a few hours on the playground," he answered enthusiastically to Metropol.

Another visitor came from Tatabánya with his dog:

I send an awful lot of likes to the designers of Városliget! I'm all for it! The design of the space, the way the roads are, means that there are a lot of trash cans. The dogs are also different here, somehow they are much more responsible, the dogs are well-behaved

- He told. Incidentally, the Liget also has two themed adventure parks for dogs, one of them in an area of ​​half a hectare.

Order, cleanliness and green environment everywhere. The Liget really offers relaxation even if we did not come specifically for a cultural program.

It is interesting that at the beginning of the development of the Liget, the left and the civil organizations under its influence shouted that there would be less green in the City Park. There were those who chained themselves directly to the trees to protect them, so to speak. Now you can see with the naked eye that the number of trees has not decreased, but has increased, and the green spaces are also larger.

There are many foreign tourists among the visitors. The roof terrace of the new Museum of Ethnography provides visitors with an extra green area and a wonderful panorama of the entire Liget. By the way, the museum has thousands of objects on display and a giant model exhibition showing the golden age of Budapest is also on display here. 200,000 people were curious about all of this this summer.

Where Chopin plays from the fountain

Leaving the Museum of Ethnography, you can rest in the area above the Deep Garage, decorated with the works of Hungarian artists, next to a cozy fountain that is illuminated and plays music in the evenings. A real treat for lovers of classical music is sitting by the well, even with a book in hand. Every hour at full time, music is played, for example Brahms: Hungarian Dances No. 5 or Chopin's Nocturne No. 7 in C sharp minor.

Interestingly, even though there are a lot of people in the City Park in autumn, you don't have the feeling that there is a crowd, because the well-maintained area is so large and the Park offers such a rich variety of attractions and programs that everyone can comfortably fit in and have fun.

Source: Metropol

Cover photo: Nagyjátszótér / MTI/Zoltán Máthé