In the time between July 14th and July 30th Budapest and Hungary will be invaded by the worlds best swimmers and lots of supports.
The FINA World Championships were not actually supposed to be arranged in Budapest, but after the winning bid which was made by Mexico, didn’t want to arrange the event after all, then the sport-loving Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban said that Hungary could fix it instead. Since then a brand new arena has been built, the Danube Arena, just a bit to the north of the Arpad Bridge, and together with the Hajos Alfred arena at the Margaret Island and the Balaton Lake, these will be the venues in use during the event.
Just like during the Summer Olympics, the water events will be divided into two periods. The water polo competitions will be running all the time at the Margaret Island, but in the Danube Arena the World Championship will start with synchronized swimming and diving, and then followed by swimming in the end.
Who will the Hungarians cheer for?
The most popular Hungarian swimmer at the moment is Katinka Hosszu. She won three gold medals during the Summer Olympics in Rio, and the chances are great that she wants to win even more as she competes at home in Hungary. There are even more Hungarian swimmers capable of winning medals during the event, for example Laszlo Cseh.
Be aware of this!
You should be aware of the fact that there will be loads of traffic in Budapest during this event, and this summer the Chain Bridge will also be closed down due to maintenance work. We therefore expect there to be a sort of traffic chaos in town, not only during the FINA World Championship, but throughout the entire summer. If you want to buy tickets for the event, then you should hurry up, at least if you want to grab some good seats for your favorite events. For those who want to stream the event online, the following guide can help you out.
What else to do in Budapest?
Have you thought about what you are going to do in Budapest when there is nothing happening in the arenas? Are you looking for some cool activities? Here are some of our suggestions:
- If you like sports (and the FINA World Championship), you might be an athlete yourself. Go for a run around the Margaret Island and enjoy the nice weather and the beautiful running track.
- Feel thirsty after cheering for your favorite athlete? Join us on our brewery visit where you can taste Hungarian beers, get lots of local food and taste the Hungarian fruit spirit.
- If you want to enjoy a good dinner an evening, then visit a wine cellar restaurant where we arrange a five course dinner with six glasses of wine. This is in the center of Budapest, and is available every single day.
- Discover Budapest on one of our guided tours with a private English speaking guide.
You can read more about these and lots of other Budapest activities here in our Budapest Guide. If you have any comments or questions, use the comment field beneath!
On May 2nd the fantastic singer Natalie Imbruglia will perform in Budapest in the center of the city, at the Akvarium Klub. Would you like to be there?
