TravelDay buddy

Anselm Brandt

@stillopen · he/him · Berlin, Germany

Most of these lists are lists of what was destroyed. Mine is mostly of what is still open.

  • Working synagogues
  • Archives
  • Long lunches
  • Medium pace
  • Mid range

Anselm Brandt is a drawn, fictional companion written by TravelDay. The places below are real entries in our catalogue, and each one names the guide it came from.

How Anselm Brandt travels

I plan my trips around buildings that still have a caretaker and a calendar. A synagogue with a congregation is a different visit from a synagogue that is a museum, and both are different again from a memorial. I try to keep those three things separate in my own head.

I am a records archivist by trade, which shows. I read the opening hours twice, I book Auschwitz and Yad Vashem weeks ahead because you have to, and I know that almost everything on this list closes on Saturdays and on holidays whose dates move each year.

I also eat very well, which surprises people. A heavy morning and a long lunch is a better shape for a day than four museums and a sandwich.

  • Heritage
  • History
  • Museums
  • Walking
  • Food

Cities Anselm Brandt keeps going back to

  • Prague

    Czech Republic

    Six sites on one ticket, in six streets, and the oldest of them has been in use since about 1270.

  • Kraków

    Poland

    Kazimierz is a real neighbourhood again, and the day out from here is one you only do once.

  • Budapest

    Hungary

    The largest synagogue in Europe, and the best market hall in it.

  • Amsterdam

    Netherlands

    The Portuguese synagogue is still lit by candles in winter and still holds services.

  • Jerusalem

    Israel

    Four days is not enough and I have never managed more.

  • Tel Aviv

    Israel

    Where I go afterwards, to sit by the sea and stop reading plaques.

Heritage journeys Anselm Brandt follows

Choosing a journey is an interest. It says nothing about who anyone is.

What Anselm Brandt recommends

Amsterdam

  • Jewish Museum · Museum

    Four old synagogues joined into one museum, and the ticket takes you across the road to the Portuguese synagogue too.

  • De Jaren · Restaurant

    A former bank with a terrace on the water. My reading room in this city, and they do not mind how long you stay.

    • Seen in Time Out Amsterdam. Listed among Amsterdam's best cafes; it occupies a former bank building on the Kloveniersburgwal

Budapest

  • Dohány Street Synagogue · Sight

    The Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest in Europe and still in use. Timed ticket, usually with a guide, closed Saturdays and holidays. Shoulders and knees covered.

  • Great Market Hall · Market

    The Great Market Hall. Ground floor for paprika and pickles, upstairs for lunch. Closed Sundays.

    • Seen in Time Out Budapest. Listed among Budapest's best markets as a restored two-storey neo-Gothic hall

  • Kádár Étkezde · Restaurant

    A lunch canteen in the old seventh district, back open after four years shut. Soda siphons on the tables, no menus in English.

    • Seen in Time Out Budapest. Listed among the best Hungarian restaurants in Budapest; reopened in autumn 2025 after a four-year closure

Jerusalem

  • Machneyuda · Restaurant

    Machneyuda, at the edge of the market. Loud, chaotic, and worth booking a month out.

    • Seen in Time Out Israel. Listed first on Time Out's best Jerusalem restaurants

Krakow

  • Galicia Jewish Museum · Museum

    The Galicia Jewish Museum. Photographs of what is left in the villages, rather than another list of the dead. Start your Kraków here.

  • Hamsa · Restaurant

    On Szeroka in Kazimierz. Israeli food, not the accordion-and-candles version of Jewish Kraków that some of the square still sells.

    • Seen in Wanderlog. Listed among the fifty best places to eat in Kraków

  • Cheder · Cafe

    A coffee house in Kazimierz that also runs as a small cultural centre. Coffee made in sand, books on the shelves.

    • Seen in Wanderlog. Listed among Kraków's best Middle Eastern places as a coffee house in the Jewish quarter

Prague

  • Jewish Museum · Museum

    The Jewish Museum in Prague is one ticket to six sites in a few streets. Closed Saturdays and on holidays, and the museum publishes the dates each year.

  • Spanish Synagogue · Sight

    The Spanish Synagogue. Moorish revival, gilded to the ceiling, and on the same ticket. Go last, when your eyes are tired.

  • Shelanu Kosher Restaurant · Restaurant

    Near the Old-New Synagogue, so it is where everyone ends up at one. Middle Eastern, quick, and reliable.

    • Seen in VisitCzechia. Listed by the Czech national tourism board as a kosher cafe and restaurant near the Old Town synagogue

  • Café Slavia · Cafe

    A window table facing the castle, one coffee, an hour. The best room in Prague to write up the day in.

    • Seen in Prague City Tourism. Listed by the official city tourism board as a traditional cafe in the historic centre

Tel Aviv

  • Anu - Museum of the Jewish People · Museum

    ANU, on the university campus. Living culture rather than only persecution, which is why I always send people here first. Closed Saturdays and holidays, short Fridays.

  • Hummus Abu Dubi · Restaurant

    Hummus, eaten at eleven in the morning, which is when it should be eaten. They run out and then they close.

    • Seen in Time Out Israel. Listed among Time Out's best hummus spots in Tel Aviv

Plans you can copy

Prague, Kraków and Budapest in six nights

6 nights · May, or September · Medium pace · Mid range

Two nights in each, by train. Working synagogues in the mornings, two memorial days built in with nothing after them, and one very good lunch a day.

  1. Day 1

    The Jewish Town, first half

    • Jewish Museum · Morning · Museum

      Buy the combined ticket here. Closed Saturdays and on Jewish holidays, and the dates move.

    • Old Jewish Cemetery · Midday · Sight

      Twelve thousand stones on a plot that was never allowed to grow. Walk it slowly and keep to the path.

    • Café Slavia · Evening · Meal

      A window seat and a long dinner. You will want the quiet after this morning.

      • Seen in Prague City Tourism. Listed by the official city tourism board as a traditional cafe in the historic centre

  2. Day 2

    The Jewish Town, second half

    • Pinkas Synagogue · Morning · Journey stop

      The names of about 78,000 people are painted on the walls. No photography inside. Go early and go alone if you can.

    • Ceremonial Hall · Midday · Museum

      The old ceremonial hall by the cemetery gate, on the same ticket. Small, and it explains the burial society well.

    • Old-New Synagogue · Afternoon · Journey stop

      In use since about 1270 and still the community's. Heads covered inside. This is a working building, not the last room of a museum.

    • Shelanu Kosher Restaurant · Evening · Meal

      Two minutes away, which after a morning like that is the whole argument for it.

      • Seen in VisitCzechia. Listed by the Czech national tourism board as a kosher cafe and restaurant near the Old Town synagogue

  3. Day 3

    Kazimierz

    • Galicia Jewish Museum · Morning · Museum

      Photographs of what survives in the villages. It sets up everything else in this city.

    • Old Synagogue · Afternoon · Museum

      The oldest synagogue building in Poland, now a museum rather than a congregation. That difference is worth holding on to.

    • Hamsa · Evening · Meal

      On Szeroka. Eat well, sleep early, tomorrow is the hard day.

      • Seen in Wanderlog. Listed among the fifty best places to eat in Kraków

  4. Day 4

    Oświęcim, and nothing after it

  5. Day 5

    Dohány Street

    • Dohány Street Synagogue · Morning · Journey stop

      Timed ticket, usually with a guide, closed Saturdays and holidays. Shoulders and knees covered. The garden behind it is a cemetery and is not a photo stop.

    • Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives · Afternoon · Museum

      The museum and archive next door, on the same site. The archive is the part I came for.

    • Kádár Étkezde · Evening · Meal

      A canteen in the same district. No English menu, no fuss, and the soda siphon stays on the table.

      • Seen in Time Out Budapest. Listed among the best Hungarian restaurants in Budapest; reopened in autumn 2025 after a four-year closure

  6. Day 6

    The other two, and the market

    • Rumbach utcai zsinagóga · Morning · Sight

      Restored and reopened after decades of ruin. Much smaller than Dohány and I like it more.

    • Holocaust Memorial Center · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Closed on Mondays and it has been through periods of closure, so confirm before you travel.

    • Shoes on the Danube Bank · Evening · Sight

      Sixty pairs of iron shoes on the embankment. People leave flowers and candles in them. Do not stand in them for a photograph.

    • Great Market Hall · Evening · Market

      Ten minutes upstream, and open late enough on a weekday. Buy paprika to take home.

      • Seen in Time Out Budapest. Listed among Budapest's best markets as a restored two-storey neo-Gothic hall
  • Seen in Time Out Prague. Time Out's local-expert guide to the best restaurants in Prague

Amsterdam, Lisbon and Porto

5 nights · April to June · Medium pace · Mid range

The Atlantic port communities, in the order the ships went. Five nights, two flights, and one synagogue in Porto that only opens at set times.

  1. Day 1

    The Jewish Cultural Quarter

    • Jewish Museum · Morning · Museum

      Four synagogues joined into one museum. The ticket also gets you across the road.

    • Portuguese Synagogue · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Closed Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Still lit by candles in winter and still holding services. Nothing electric has ever been put in.

    • Albert Cuyp market · Evening · Market

      A long street market in the Pijp. Herring, stroopwafels, and a walk to shake the day off.

      • Seen in I amsterdam. The official city tourism site describes it as Europe's largest day market, with 260 stalls

  2. Day 2

    A harder morning

    • Anne Frank House · Morning · Journey stop

      Timed online ticket only and they sell out well ahead. Steep narrow stairs and no lift. Book the earliest slot there is.

    • Hollandsche Schouwburg · Afternoon · Museum

      A theatre used as a deportation point. It is kept nearly empty on purpose. Ten minutes is a full visit.

    • De Jaren · Evening · Meal

      The terrace on the water, and as long as you want at the table.

      • Seen in Time Out Amsterdam. Listed among Amsterdam's best cafes; it occupies a former bank building on the Kloveniersburgwal

  3. Day 3

    Fly south

    • A Brasileira · Afternoon · Meal

      A coffee in Chiado to change gear. It is a tourist stop and it is also where I always start in this city.

      • Seen in Time Out Lisbon. Named in Time Out Lisbon's top ten things to do in Chiado, beside the Fernando Pessoa statue

    • Shaare Tikva Synagogue · Afternoon · Sight

      Lisbon's main synagogue, opened 1904 and set back from the street because at the time it could not face it. Visits are arranged in advance with the community.

    • Tower of Belém · Evening · Sight

      The tower the ships left from. Which is the other half of why these communities ended up where they did.

  4. Day 4

    Porto

    • Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar · Morning · Walk

      Down to the river and over the top deck of the bridge. Do it before the synagogue slot so you are not rushing.

    • Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Run by the Jewish Community of Oporto. Visits at set times only, closed Saturdays and holidays, and identification is asked for at the door. Write ahead.

  5. Day 5

    Back to Lisbon, and one good table

    • Confeitaria Nacional · Morning · Coffee

      A pastry house in the Baixa from 1829. Stand at the counter like everyone else.

      • Seen in Time Out Lisbon. Listed by Time Out Lisbon as a Baixa pastry house founded in 1829

    • Belcanto · Evening · Meal

      One expensive dinner at the end of a trip that was otherwise about reading plaques. I think that is the right order.

      • Seen in Time Out Lisbon. Listed by Time Out Lisbon as chef José Avillez's two Michelin star flagship in Chiado
  • Seen in Time Out Lisbon. Time Out Lisbon's guide to the best restaurants in the city

Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, five nights

5 nights · March to May · Medium pace · Mid range

Three days in Jerusalem and two by the sea. Check your government's current travel advice before booking anything, and check each site's own page again the week you go.

  1. Day 1

    The Old City, gently

    • The Western Wall · Morning · Journey stop

      Open at all hours and free. The prayer area is divided into men's and women's sections and heads are covered. People are praying, so keep the camera down.

    • Tower of David · Afternoon · Museum

      The Tower of David museum, just inside Jaffa Gate. The best half day on how this city was built and rebuilt.

    • Machneyuda · Evening · Meal

      Machneyuda, by the market. Book it a month ahead and go hungry.

      • Seen in Time Out Israel. Listed first on Time Out's best Jerusalem restaurants

  2. Day 2

    The heavy day

    • Yad Va'Shem · Morning · Journey stop

      Entry is free and every visit must be booked in advance. Closed Saturdays and holidays, short Fridays. Give it four hours and then stop for the day.

    • Mount Herzl · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Next door, and the museum runs on timed guided tours booked ahead. If the morning was enough, leave it for another trip.

    • Azura · Evening · Meal

      Azura, in the market. Everything has been on the flame since breakfast. Go before four, they sell out.

      • Seen in Time Out Israel. Has a Time Out Israel venue entry, in Mahane Yehuda Market

  3. Day 3

    Scrolls and a lighter afternoon

    • Israel Museum · Morning · Museum

      The Israel Museum. Give the archaeology wing more time than you think.

    • Shrine of the Book · Afternoon · Journey stop

      The Shrine of the Book, inside the museum and on the same ticket. Short Fridays and closed on some holidays.

    • Aricha Sabich · Evening · Meal

      Sabich in a pita, standing up in the market. The best six shekels in the city.

      • Seen in Time Out Israel. Listed among the best eateries in Mahane Yehuda Market

  4. Day 4

    Down to the coast

    • Anu - Museum of the Jewish People · Morning · Journey stop

      ANU, on the university campus. Closed Saturdays and holidays, shorter Fridays. Living culture, which after Jerusalem is what you need.

    • Independence Hall · Afternoon · Journey stop

      The building has been through long restoration and its opening has changed more than once. Confirm before you go.

    • Hummus Abu Dubi · Midday · Meal

      Hummus at eleven, which is the correct hour for it. When the pot is empty they shut.

      • Seen in Time Out Israel. Listed among Time Out's best hummus spots in Tel Aviv

  5. Day 5

    Jaffa, and nothing much

    • Shuk HaPishpeshim · Morning · Market

      The Jaffa flea market. Junk, furniture, and four good places to sit down in it.

      • Seen in Time Out Israel. The subject of Time Out Israel's dedicated guide to the market

    • Jaffa Clock Tower · Afternoon · Sight

      The clock tower at the top of the market. Meet people here, it is the only thing everyone can find.

    • Anita Gelato · Evening · Coffee

      Ice cream and a walk on the sea wall, and then the flight home.

      • Seen in Wanderlog. Ranked first on Wanderlog's best gelato in Tel Aviv
  • Seen in Time Out Israel. Time Out's guide to eating in Mahane Yehuda Market

Anselm Brandt is a TravelDay buddy: drawn, fictional, and not an account in the network. Research edition 2026-09-17.