Rapidly becoming one of our favourite European destinations, Budapest is turning out must-visit entertainment venues quicker than you can name the last three Hungarian presidents. It’s hard to believe there are any vacant and abandoned old buildings left for the city’s entrepreneurs to weave their renovation magic on, but here’s another that gets a gold star from us – Iskola.
The building was a former school, but it’s a dead cert none of the pupils who attended in its former life had anything like as good a time as the party-goers queuing up for detention these days. Aside from a few little nods to the past use, Iskola has retired the classrooms and now uses the sprawling 3,000m² space to host a multitude of decidedly less scholarly enterprises.
Along with the expected hedonistic pursuits (eating, drinking, dancing) Iskola hosts film nights, karaoke warblings, gallery exhibitions, rents rooms to artists for studio work, and puts its charming collection of vintage furniture and fixtures to use for private retro theme parties. Top class.