Wekerletelep, the fairy-tale garden suburb in Budapest's 19th district

To the south-east of Budapest, in the 19th district (Kispest), there's a neighbourhood that looks like a Transylvanian village transplanted to the outskirts of the capital. It's called Wekerletelep, after prime minister Sándor Wekerle, who at the start of the twentieth century wanted a public-housing project inspired by the garden cities. Work began in 1908 and continued until 1925, when the economic difficulties of the early post-war years halted it: in those seventeen years 1,007 houses were built with 4,412 apartments, designed for workers and clerks, with schools and nurseries completed between 1911 and 1914.

The central square

The heart of the neighbourhood is Kós Károly tér, the central square designed by the architect Károly Kós, one of the most recognisable names in Hungarian architecture of the period. Kós laid out a radial street plan, a kind of spider's web converging on the central square-park, and the wooden gateways that serve as a scenographic entrance (the eastern one is the most photographed). The style is what Hungarians call "Transylvanian": very high, steep roofs, abundant timber structures, decorations drawing on folklore. Around Kós other designers worked, such as Dezső Zrumeczky, Lajos Schodits, Béla Eberling, Dénes Györgyi and Gyula Wälder, so that each block has its own variations while remaining coherent with the whole.

Life in the neighbourhood

Walking around, you understand why the place stays residential and quiet: it's a neighbourhood where people actually live, not a set. Around 50,000 trees were planted and every apartment was assigned fruit trees, so in spring there are blossoms everywhere and in summer plenty of shade. The central square is overlooked by the church of St Joseph (Szent József), and several buildings here have become familiar to Hungarian viewers because they serve as the backdrop to the soap opera Barátok közt. There are no museums or tickets: the visit is simply a slow stroll among the houses, taking in the details of the roofs, the wooden gables and the little private gardens.

How to get there

It stays off the centre's tourist radar for a plain, concrete reason: it's far from the great tourist axes (castle, Parliament, Andrássy avenue) and nobody ends up here by chance. You have to go there on purpose, but it's easy. By metro you take line M3 (the blue one) to the Határ út stop: from there it's about fifteen minutes on foot towards the neighbourhood. Alternatively, bus 99 leaves from Blaha Lujza tér, right in the centre, and in about twenty minutes arrives directly at Kós Károly tér, that is, at the most interesting spot. The tram to Corvin körút also drops you a few minutes from the square. All urban transport uses the same BKK ticket system, so a single ticket is all you need for metro, tram and bus.

When to go

The best period is the shoulder season: from April to June for the blossoms and greenery, or September and October, when the tree-lined streets change colour. Reckon on a couple of hours of aimless walking: the beauty of Wekerletelep is precisely wandering it street by street, noticing how every corner of the radial grid always leads, sooner or later, back to the central square.