Tennis-ing in Budapest: 5 easily accessible courts for ex-pats

I've been living in Budapest for over 5 years now and one of my biggest struggles over this time has been figuring out everything Tennis related. So I decided to start a series of blog posts related to "Tennis-ing" around in the city that almost home to me. 

I've even decided to have all these upcoming posts with the starting label "Tennis-ing in Budapest". In Hungarian, the verb form of playing tennis is "teniszezni". This is similar to how we make a verb out of a noun in English (for example, coloring). Hence, I hope you find these posts helpful to go about tennis-ing in Budapest. 

In this post, I'll be discussing 5 Tennis clubs that are easily accessible for ex-pats. For the purpose of this post, I've defined accessibility as the following: 

  1. Accessibility via public transport - I've chosen these places because they are either close to the city center or are accessible via a mode of public transport that runs frequently.  
  2. Accessibility in English - These places are accessible in terms of language as well. This means that either the staff at these clubs will speak English or will have all the necessary information available in English for customers.   
I would like to mention from the start that cost is NOT a factor that I've considered while compiling this list. However, most of these places charge prices that are around the average price of a tennis court in Budapest. Additionally, this post is NOT ENDORSED/PAID FOR by any of these clubs and the list is purely my personal advice for ex-pats who are looking to get started. So let's get started. 

BME Tennis Courts/ELTE Tennis courts

These are 2 separate tennis clubs, run by the BME and ELTE universities respectively. However, they're located next to each other and in an extremely accessible part of Budapest. The clubs are in Bogdanfyi utca, which is easily accessible via Tram 4/6. Since they're run by universities the prices aren't too high. 

I frequently play at BME during the winter season. They are super responsive to e-mail. I send an e-mail about the time and day I want to play, along with my name and phone number. They get back to me if there's no court available along with the time slots available that day and then I pick the time slot I like. They have 3 courts that are available throughout the year and 2 additional courts for the outdoor season only.

ELTE has 5 outdoor clay courts. Unfortunately, they are only available during the open season i.e. spring, summer, and early autumn. This makes it nearly impossible to play there during rainy autumn and winter. Additionally, they have some indoor hard courts but I haven't managed to ever play there. I believe they also have some additional courts in Mernok utca which is a bit further away from the city center. I've never played there so I can't say anything about them either. However, just like BME, the courts in Bogdanfyi utca are easily accessible and relatively affordable as well. 

Website: 
Pros: Easily accessible via Public Transport
Cons: The showers aren't the best, to put it politely.

Marczibanyi Sport Centrum/Matchpoint Tennis club

Another couple of tennis clubs that are different but next to each other. Someone once told me that they were one club in the past, and then due to some disagreements, decided to split up into two. These 2 clubs are located near Mammut mall on the Buda side and are easily accessible via M2 and Tram 4/6. 

Marczibanyi is my personal favorite club to go to for tennis in the winter. The facilities are super clean, the staff speaks English at the reception, they provide free towels and you can even get a sauna for free. Additionally, their website also shows availability for each of the 3 courts over the next week. So you can always just look at the website, find the free time slot that suits you, and book it by calling them. 

Website: 
Pros: Amazing facilities at Marczibanyi. Good merchandise store at Match-point, and another Head tennis store very close by as well. 
Cons: You might have to book significantly in advance. 


Park Tennis Club

Park tennis club is another tennis club located in Buda. It is located close to Moricz Zsigmond Korter. It is easily accessible via Metro #4, Trams 4/6 as well as Trams 47/49 that starts from Deak Ferenc Ter. I usually go there for amateur tournaments over the weekends in winter. The facilities are really nice, the staff is friendly and speaks English. They do have a mini tennis merchandise store and stringing service there as well but I've never really bothered to browse the shelves to be honest. 


Pros: Easily accessible and good service. 
Cons: Probably the most expensive tennis club in Budapest that I've played at. 

Pillango Tennis Club 

Until recently, I had only played there a couple of times but I've started going there more often now. It's just a short walk from Pillango Utca Metro station on the M2 line. It's a small club in a primarily residential area. One of my American-Hungarian friends is also a trainer there. So it's even possible to get an English-speaking tennis coach in this club. 


Pros: You can get an English speaking Tennis coach here
Cons: A bit away from the city center. 

Varosmajor Tennis Club

This is one of the few hard courts in Budapest that you can find. If you're someone who prefers hard courts over clay courts, then this is for you. It's probably the least accessible of the clubs on the list via public transport, but it might be worth a trip for some of the hardcourt enthusiasts. 


Pros: Hard courts
Cons: A bit outside the city center. 

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