Highlights
Budapest
The Danube divides hilly Buda, with its castle district and Fisherman's Bastion, from flat Pest, home to the Hungarian Parliament, St Stephen's Basilica and the grand boulevards. The riverbanks and Andrássy Avenue are UNESCO-listed.
Budapest's thermal baths
The city sits on natural hot springs. The neo-baroque Széchenyi Baths in City Park, the art nouveau Gellért Baths and the Ottoman-era Rudas Baths each offer a different experience.
Ruin bars and the Jewish Quarter
In Budapest's seventh district, bars have been created in courtyards of old buildings, filled with mismatched furniture. The same area has the Dohány Street Synagogue, one of the largest in the world.
Lake Balaton
Central Europe's largest lake is Hungary's summer playground, with shallow, warm water on the south shore, and wine villages, volcanic hills and the Tihany peninsula with its abbey on the north shore.
Hévíz
Near the western end of Balaton, Hévíz has a large natural thermal lake where people swim year-round in warm water among water lilies.
The Danube Bend
North of Budapest, the river turns sharply between hills. Szentendre is an artists' town of narrow lanes, Visegrád has a hilltop citadel, and Esztergom has Hungary's largest basilica.
Eger and Tokaj
Eger has a castle famous for resisting an Ottoman siege, baroque streets and wine cellars in the Valley of the Beautiful Women. The UNESCO-listed Tokaj region produces sweet Tokaji Aszú wine.
Hortobágy National Park
A UNESCO-listed area of the puszta, Hungary's open grassland, with grey cattle, horse shows by traditional herdsmen and migrating cranes in autumn.
Interesting facts about Hungary
- Budapest's Line 1 metro, opened in 1896, is the oldest underground railway in continental Europe.
- The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian architecture professor.
- Hungarian is not related to most European languages; it belongs to the Uralic family, distantly related to Finnish and Estonian.
- Budapest was formed in 1873 when the towns of Buda, Óbuda and Pest were united.
- Hungarians put the family name first, so the composer known abroad as Franz Liszt is Liszt Ferenc at home.
Best time to visit
Spring (April to June) and early autumn (September to October) offer pleasant temperatures and are good for walking around Budapest and visiting wine regions during the harvest. July and August are hot and are peak season at Lake Balaton, with festivals including the large Sziget Festival in Budapest in August. Winter is cold, but the thermal baths are at their best when there is steam rising into the cold air, and Christmas markets run in December.
Practical information
| Capital | Budapest |
|---|---|
| Currency | Hungarian forint (HUF) |
| Languages | Hungarian |
| Plugs | Type C, F |
| Voltage | 230 V, 50 Hz |
| Emergency | 112 for all emergencies; also 104 ambulance, 105 fire, 107 police |
| Driving | On the right |
| Tipping | Around 10 percent in restaurants is customary unless a service charge is already on the bill, which is common in Budapest; check before adding more. |
Getting around
Budapest has an extensive network of metro lines, trams, buses and suburban trains, and many sights are walkable. Tram 2 along the Pest riverbank is a sightseeing route in itself. Trains from Budapest's main stations reach Lake Balaton, Eger, Pécs and neighbouring capitals such as Vienna. Long-distance buses fill the gaps. Driving on motorways requires an electronic vignette, usually bought online. Taxis in Budapest have regulated fares, and ride-hailing is available.
Staying connected in Hungary
Mobile coverage is good throughout Budapest, other cities and along main roads and railways, with 4G widely available and 5G in larger cities. Coverage can be patchier in hilly rural areas and some parts of the Great Plain. Free Wi-Fi is common in cafés, hotels and many restaurants. Hungary is in the EU, so EU roaming rules apply for visitors from other EU countries. Install an eSIM before you fly and switch it on when you land.
See Hungary eSIM plans · How to install an eSIM
Useful apps for Hungary
- BudapestGO: Journey planning and tickets for Budapest's metro, trams and buses.
- MÁV: Timetables and tickets for Hungarian State Railways trains around the country.
- Bolt: Ride-hailing in Budapest, with fares shown before you book.
- Google Translate: Hungarian is hard to guess; use camera translation for menus and signs, and download Hungarian for offline use.