Introduction
The first EFC cadet event that we ever went to and in my opinion, this is by far and away the best of them all.
Commonly attracting around 300 entries in each category and with participants travelling from all over the world, this is undoubtably a competition that attracts a very high standard of fencer. Combine this with an excellent level of organisation, a great venue (the Gerevich Aladár National Sports Hall – see below), a slick weapons control and registration process, good on-site facilities and being easily accessible from Budapest International Airport (a quick 25 minute transfer) this event has so many positives.
Years attended – 2016, 2017, 2019 & 2021
Venue
Gerevich Aladár National Sports Hall
This historic sports facilty used to host the competition before it moved in 2021 to it’s current home at the BOK Sports and Conference Centre. Full of character and a real labyrinth of a building – in 2016 space was so tight some of the DE’s took place in what appeared to be a storage room deep in the bowels of the building! This was easily one of my personal favourite venues to visit on the cadet circuit.
BOK Sports and Conference Centre
Situated right next to the Puskás Aréna and only a couple of minutes walk from the Danubius Hotel and just a 10 minute walk from the Gerevich Aladár National Sports Hall, this arena complex has been used since 2021 as the new venue for the competition. It’s a purpose built event space, and unfortunately in my opinion, it lacks the character and charm of the previous venue.
Event Videos
Hotels
The Danubius Hotel Arena was normally the recommended accommodation by the organisers (and quite possibly still is), and it is literally next door to the venue making it very convenient. It was relatively cheap to stay there, however, it is a very dated hotel and could be described as at best, functional. Personally I would always choose to stay at the Royal Park Boutique Hotel, which is around a 15 to 20 minute walk to the venue. We also stayed at the Lion’s Garden Hotel which is also worth considering especially as it has a restaurant on site.
Shops & Places To Eat
A lot of places had unfortunately closed down when we last attended this event in 2021, so best to check everything in advance. The supermarket in the Récsei Center is a 15 minute walk from the venue and the Danubius Hotel. If you’re staying in the Royal Park Boutique there was a great Spar supermarket almost directly opposite.
There are not so many restaurants in this area but we did have some great meals at Asian Street Food on Thököly Way. Em oi pho on Rottenbiller St was also really nice and is a must visit if you like Vietnamese food. We also tried the restuarants in the Danubius and Lion’s Garden, both served tradditional Hungarian dishes and were generally OK.
