Budapest for The Night Owls: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Street-food trucks in a courtyard in the party district: a smoky burger, langoş or chimney cake before the night begins.

A proper listening room with live jazz nightly; arrive early for a table near the stage and a glass of Hungarian wine.

The original ruin bar: dozens of rooms, a Trabant, bathtub sofas and a crowd that thickens after midnight. Go in a group and keep your bag close.

A late lunch on the café square: a rich goulash or fried chicken and a Hungarian beer, ideal for a day that starts at noon.

Soak in the steaming outdoor pools as the lights come on, a good reset before the evening; bring flip-flops and a towel.

A cocktail bar where the menu is a booklet and the bartenders have opinions; reserve a table for the weekend and ask for something off-menu.

A 3,500 square metre ruin-bar mansion with a dozen rooms and several dance floors, open until dawn; drinks are cheap and queues vanish by midnight.

Sunday brunch among the farmers' market stalls, when the ruin bar is calm and you can see the junk; coffee, a sandwich and a rest.

A Cold War hospital and nuclear bunker beneath Castle Hill, preserved with wax patients and surgical kit; tours are in English and run hourly.

A concert hall and club under a pool in the centre of town; check the listing for the night's gig and join the queue early.

A recovery brunch in an old literary coffeehouse: eggs, strong coffee and a newspaper, quiet on a Monday morning.

A short walk along the river to sixty iron shoes, a memorial to the people shot here in 1944-45; it is sombre, and worth a quiet minute.