Record Store Day in Budapest, Hungary
Two dates to know: Record Store Day Black Friday is Friday, November 29, 2026, and the next main Record Store Day is Saturday, April 17, 2027.
What is Record Store Day?
Record Store Day is an annual event built around independent record stores. The main event traditionally lands on the third Saturday of April each year; Record Store Day Black Friday is traditionally held the day after US Thanksgiving. Both days bring exclusive, limited-run vinyl and CD releases sold only at participating independent shops — not big-box retailers, and not mail order until the in-store exclusives sell through. Because pressings are limited, popular titles can sell out within the first hour, which is why a line-early culture has grown up around the day even at shops that are otherwise quiet on a weekday morning.
Tips for the day
- Arrive early. At busy shops, lines for popular titles can start well before opening.
- Bring cash. A cash line often moves faster than card on a shop's highest-volume day of the year.
- Check each shop's own site or Instagram in the week before the date — participating shops post their own opening time, line policy, and which exclusive titles they've ordered in.
- Release lists are first-come, first-served and vary store to store. A title in stock at one shop may not show up at another, even across town.
- Expect one-per-customer or per-household limits on the most in-demand titles.
- Not every independent record store participates every year, and allocations vary shop to shop — confirm directly with the shop rather than assuming based on a past year.
Shops to check in Budapest, Hungary
Independent record shops open in Budapest, Hungary right now. We don't yet track which specific shops participate in Record Store Day or what they've ordered in for a given year — check each shop's own site or Instagram close to the date for their exclusive-release list, opening time, and line policy.
- AktRecords
Airy Ó utca techno/house specialist with turntables for previewing before you buy, a secondhand crate, and a sideline in Carhartt and New Balance clothing; run by DJ and techno enthusiast Isu for over two decades.
2 sources
- Beat On The Brat Vinyl & Bar
Buda-side record store by day, pub by night on Frankel Leó út near Margaret Bridge -- secondhand vinyl (heavy on the 1980s-90s), a few CDs and cassettes, bins pushed back after sunset for a lively bar crowd.
2 sources
- CD Pince
Cellar shop on Erzsébet körút built around rock and metal -- vinyl, CDs, shirts and merch, with the odd pop/rap crossover find; a long-running two-owner operation loved for its old-school crate-digging atmosphere.
2 sources
- Concerto Records
Small classical-music specialist on Hollán Ernő utca, well below online prices per reviewers; new and used classical vinyl curated by owners who know the catalogue inside out.
1 source
- Deep
Aradi utca electronic-music specialist relocated from Sopron in 1999, focused on house, techno, drum'n'bass, hip-hop, funk and soul; DJ staff, listening stations and a following of crate-diggers who rate it among Budapest's best.
3 sources
- Headbanger Ltd.
One of Hungary's best-known metal shops, on Múzeum körút for over 30 years -- vinyl, CDs and Blu-rays from Metallica, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath down, plus a full wall of band merch and shirts.
2 sources
- Joker CD-DVD Bolt
XIII. kerület walk-in and mail-order CD/DVD shop (operated by Pop 2006 Kft.) with a dedicated VINYL/LP section covering Hungarian, foreign, classical, children's and holiday releases, plus buy/sell of used discs.
3 sources
- Kalóz Records
District VIII secondhand specialist behind the National Museum on Bródy Sándor utca, curating classic rock, jazz, disco, new wave, hip-hop, world/folk, 45s and cassettes; a Financial Times-listed favourite among collectors.
2 sources
- Laci Bácsi lemezboltja
Kertész utca institution rated among Eastern Europe's best secondhand vinyl shops -- thousands of LPs filed alphabetically rather than by genre, strong in classical, jazz, prog and Hungarian pressings; actively buys collections.
2 sources
- Lemezkuckó CD Store
Open since 1986, one of Budapest's oldest surviving record shops -- vinyl, CDs, DVDs and cassettes across every genre with a strong secondhand Hungarian-music selection on Király utca, organised alphabetically by artist.
3 sources
- Média Pont A Lemezbolt
Small Újlipótváros record cabin on Hollán Ernő utca near the river and Parliament, specialising in Hungarian 1960s beat and 1970s prog finds; best pieces are posted to social media first, and card payment isn't always accepted.
2 sources
- Metro-Nom Hanglemezbolt
District XIII shop open since 1985 on Kresz Géza utca with a particular focus on Depeche Mode and other electronic/alternative acts, alongside a broad general secondhand stock.
2 sources
- MG Records Vinyl Shop
Eye-catching cellar shop on Üllői út trading for around six years, with (per its own marketing) the largest selection in Hungary across vinyl, CD and DVD, plus a small no-alcohol coffee corner.
3 sources
- musicland
Cavernous Tivadar utca store on 160 square metres of new and secondhand CDs, DVDs and vinyl LPs, sister operation to neighbouring Neon Music; strong classics-and-new-release LP wall plus a large used-CD room.
2 sources
- Neon Music
Official Hungarian partner of Warp, Ninja Tune and !K7 on Almássy tér, stocking thousands of new electronic vinyl and CDs with a strong rare/archive selection; LGBTQ+-friendly, sharing a building with sister shop musicland.
3 sources
- Premium Vinyl Record Shop
Ring-the-bell shop on Báthory utca in the Ruin Bar district, showing on Google under two names (Premium Vinyl Record Shop / Vintage Records Hanglemezbolt) at the same address; Hungarian and international pop, rock, folk, jazz and electronic.
2 sources
- Rock Discount
Király utca shop devoted almost entirely to Hungarian rock and pop music on vinyl and CD; a deep catalogue of domestic pressings, though service is Hungarian-language only.
3 sources
- Rock's New & Used CDs, LPs Deal
Below-ground Vas utca shop specialising in rare Hungarian and Polish jazz pressings alongside new and used CDs/LPs; cash only. Reviewers flag an idiosyncratic owner but repeatedly praise the crate-digging.
2 sources
- Rózsavölgyi és Társa Zeneműbolt
Pest's oldest continuously operating music shop (est. 1850) on Szervita tér; alongside sheet music, books and instruments it stocks new and antique vinyl records, and absorbed Kodály Zoltán Zeneműbolt's antique-record trade when that shop closed for good in June 2026.
4 sources
- Solaris hanglemez és CD bolt
33-year-old rock specialist tucked in a courtyard on Szent István körút near Vígszínház, run by the same owner ('Peti') since opening; vinyl and CD stock with an old-school walk-up-and-ring-the-bell atmosphere.
2 sources
- Soul Cure Records
Hidden-gem secondhand specialist on Rózsa utca curating soul, funk, house, electronic and jazz; a small, tightly edited stock favouring quality over quantity, well known to Budapest's jazz-vinyl hunters.
2 sources
- Vintage Shop (hanglemez vinyl)
Small streetside kiosk on Baross utca -- the kind of stand usually selling newspapers or snacks -- devoted to old Hungarian vinyl; one of the best prices reviewers found in Budapest, though at least one visitor mistook it for a jewellery stall.
1 source
- Vinyl To Go Hanglemezbolt Record Store
Beautifully organised Erzsébet körút shop with vinyl, CDs and cassettes across genres including strong local Hungarian pressings; consistently the highest-rated record store in the city on Google.
2 sources
- Wave music
District VI institution and Hungary's longest-running independent record shop -- the mecca for Hungarian alternative music since the early 1990s, with new Hungarian releases, jazz, folk and international indie/rock. Closed Sundays.
2 sources
See the full record store listing for Budapest, Hungary.