From Wikitravel

Hungary (Magyarország) [1] is a country in Central Europe. Member of the European Union since 1 May 2004. The country offers many diverse destinations: relatively low mountains in the north-west, the Great Plain in the east, lakes and rivers of all sorts, and many beautiful small villages and hidden gems of cities. Top this off with Hungary's great accessibility in the middle of Europe, a vibrant culture and economy, and you get a destination absolutely not worth missing if you're in the region.

Contents 1 Cities 2 Other destinations 3 Understand 4 Get in 4.1 By plane 4.2 By train 4.3 By car 4.4 By bus 4.5 By ship 5 Get around 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By bus 5.4 By boat 5.5 By car 5.5.1 Highways 6 Talk 7 See 8 Buy 9 Eat 9.1 Vegetarian food 10 Drink 10.1 Wine 10.2 Liquor 10.3 Beer 10.4 Coffee 10.5 Tea 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay Safe 15 Stay Healthy

Cities

• Budapest — the capital
• Debrecen
• Eger — famous for its wines, especially Bull's Blood (Bikavér)
• Esztergom
• Érd
• Gyöngyös
• Győr
• Kecskemét a town famous for its vibrant music scene
• Kőszeg — near the Austrian border and famous for the defeat of the Turks by Jurisics Miklós
• Miskolc — with the unique cave bath in Miskolc-Tapolca
• Pécs — a pleasant university town known for its champagne
• Sopron — near the Austrian border
• Szeged
• Szekszárd
• Szentendre

Other destinations

• Aggtelek — beautiful caves with dripstones and stalagmites
• Hollókő — a beautiful old preserved village
• Lake Balaton — the major lake of Hungary and the biggest lake in Central Europe.
• Tokaj — a famous wine town producing high quality white wines
• Szépasszonyvölgy — Another great place for wine tasting in Eger
• More destinations

Understand

The country is not very different from most other European countries: you can expect to find safe food and water, good safety and generally political stability. Hungary doesn't attract terrorists and keeps drug and crime levels moderate.

Some people think that this country is "red" (communist), some other think it's the "country of gypsies". It isn't. Hungary had probably the softest socialist regime, and in its last 20-30 years there wasn't much "redness" in the country apart from the Russians, who left the country a bit late, in June 1991. Since then the country has elected governments, and it is considered a market economy. Recent years have even seen a conservative backlash. In some areas there is a significant Roma population ("gypsy" is considered a slur for these people) which reaches 5% according to some census. However, Hungary has been ethnically diverse since its inception, and while over 90% of the population are ethnically Hungarian, pockets of ethnic and cultural Slovaks, Romanians, Germans and others dot the country. Due to the frequent border shifts in Eastern European history, many ethnic and cultural Hungarians live in bordering countries, as well.

Get in

Hungary is now a part of the European Union, which means that entering from other member countries (Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia) has become easier, while a rather more thorough check awaits those entering from elsewhere (Ukraine, Romania, Serbia). Citizens of Croatia can enter the country by showing their idenitity card. Citizens of most countries, inluding the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, are free to enter without a visa. The usual length of stay is 30 days without any additional permit.

By plane

Hungary's international airports are Budapest Ferihegy Airport in Budapest, Airport Debrecen in Debrecen and FlyBalaton Airport in Sármellék. The Hungarian national carrier is Malév (Hungarian Airlines). There are also several low cost carriers operating to Budapest: for example SkyEurope, Wizzair, Easyjet.

By train

There are direct connections to Hungary from all the immediate neighbors: Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Ukraine.

There are also direct trains from countries slightly further afield: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia and even Switzerland.

On http://www.elvira.hu/ you can search for train connections.

By car

When driving into Hungary, ensure that the border crossing on the route you choose allows the passage of foreigners; a number of smaller crossings are only open to local residents. Also some smaller crossings close in the afternoon for the night.

By bus

Several international bus lines go in or through Hungary. You can find timetables and book tickets on the homepage of Volánbusz, which is the national bus company and also the local Eurolines representation. On the southern border with Serbia you shouldn't be surprised when there in the bus a collection is being held for a donation to the border-guards, to let the bus pass faster.

By ship

It is possible to enter Hungary by international shipping lines on Danube (Duna) or Tisza rivers.

Get around

By plane

Hungary presently has no scheduled domestic flights. As of May 2006 there will be a flight between Budapest and Debrecen operated jointly by Malév and OLT. As Budapest lies in the center of the country and pretty much any point can be reached within three hours by train or bus, there isn't much need for scheduled domestic flights. However there are many oppourtunities for people with a valid pilot's licence to rent a plane and explore by air.

By train

The Hungarian national train company is MÁV and GYSEV (some lines in the west of the country). The train network is star-shaped, fanning out from the centre at Budapest. This is caused by history because half of the once complete train system went to the neighbor countries after World War I. If none of the start or endpoint is Budapest, expect to travel for a long time often with change in Budapest.

Intercity (IC) trains are the fastest, and they're well maintained and cleaned. They link the major cities with Budapest. For these trains usually you pay 520 Forints (= 2 EUR) extra fee independently from the distance which includes a seat reservation (not in international ICs, ECs). In some cases the extra charge can be lower. At the weekends many students use these IC trains to commute between Budapest and other cities, so an early advance booking is recommended on Friday afternoons for the trains leaving Budapest and on Sunday evenings for trains towards Budapest.

Other train lines usually are not that fast, and not always cleaned up to the high standards, and often vandalised (mostly in Budapest region) however quality standards are considerably raising. During summer period trains linking Balaton to Budapest are sometimes overcrowded. Pricing depends only on the distance. Compared to the majority of Western European ticket prices, Hungary's IC trains are amongst the cheapest with an excellent record of speed and comfort. In almost all cases they also have a restaurant car.

Young people (under 26 years) may travel with 33 % reduction at the weekends (Friday afternoon included). Children (under 6 years) and citizens from EU countries over 65 years can travel free except on InterCity trains where the extra fee must be paid.

MÁV has a useful online schedule and pricing site called Elvira. An online booking system is not available yet but is under development and soon can be used.

It is possible to buy EuroDomino pass for Hungary with which you can travel free during up to 8 days. However buying ticket for each journey is seem to be much cheaper in most of the cases.

By bus

Bus lines often are more complete than train lines, the prices and the speed is quite similar. Buses are often clean but they're not always in top quality: many lines don't have (working) air conditioning in the summer (sometimes the central information can help you knowing that beforehand).

There are several companies that provide coach services. Most of them belong to the Volán (http://www.volan.hu/) conglomerate. You can search for connections at http://www.menetrendek.hu/cgi-bin/menetrend/html.cgi .

By boat

These are not used very often (since Hungary has limited amount of waterways). Although from April to October there is a good hydrofoil boat connection between Vienna and Budapest. There are some ferries on Danube and Tisza but you're advised to avoid them due to the undetermined working hours. You can trust the ferry on Lake Balaton, though, for a modest price.

By car

Roads of Hungary are mostly in good shape, but in big cities, and especially in Budapest, prepare for the opposite: cracks and potholes in the street surfaces are common, though they are constantly being repaired. Usually you can travel by using a map and the road signs.

Highways are not free, but there are no other toll roads or tunnels.

Don't count on Western European travel times though: if you travel by normal roads the speed limit is 90 km/h between cities and 50 km/h inside, which slows you to the average around 60km/h. Roads often have high traffic (especially main roads like #8 to the west, #6 to the south and #4 to the east).

When you cross the country from the west to the east (or vice versa), take into account that there are only a few bridges crossing the Danube outside Budapest. There are some ferries available though.

It is a legal requirement to drive with headlights on, even during the day -- a requirement that is becoming more common across the EU.

Highways

There is a fast growing highway network in Hungary. Each highway starts at Budapest.

• M0 - ring around Budapest. The eastern and northern section are under construction, planned to be ready at the end of 2007
• M1 - connection to Győr and Austria (west)
• M2 - connection to Vác, planned to reach the border to Slovakia by 2015 (north)
• M3/M30/M35 - connection to Miskolc, planned to reach Debrecen and Nyíregyháza in 2006 (east)
• M4 - Planned, will provide connection to Romania via Szolnok by the year 2015 (east)
• M44 - Planned, will provide connection between the M5 at Kecskemét and the Romanian border via Békéscsaba (east)
• M5 - connection to Serbia, via Kecskemét and Szeged (south-east)
• M6/M56 - Connection to Dunaújváros, section to the center of Budapest planned to be ready in 2006, and further sections to Pécs are planned to be ready in 2007 (south)
• M7 - connection to Lake Balaton, planned to reach Croatia and Slovenia in 2007 (south-west)
• M8/M9 - Planned, will cross the country east-west by 2015

A single vignette is required to use all highways, except for M0 and short sections around major cities, which are free. Vignettes can be purchased at filling stations and at ÁAK (State Motorway Management Co.) offices. A 4-day vignette for a passenger car costs HUF 1520 (~EUR 6) during summertime. Vignettes are controlled automatically through a camera system. See http://www.motorway.hu/ or http://www.nart.hu/ for details.

Talk

The metro and tram systems in Budapest are easy to negotiate, but the language is not. Hungarian (Magyar) is unrelated to any European language other than Finnish, Estonian, and the far northern Sámi — it belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group, so cheating with high school Romance or Germanic languages isn't possible here. On the plus side, Hungarian is written with the familiar Latin alphabet, with the addition of some accented characters (ŐőŰű, which are the same sound as ÖöÜü but longer, plus áéíóú, which are long vowels).

In the west of the country many people understand German, and English is usually handled with more or less success. The younger population usually speaks either English, German, French or some other major language. While the entire population took mandatory Russian language classes under the socialist system, very few bothered to keep up with their studies after the Iron Curtain fell, and attempts to use Russian may meet an icy reception. Have no fears though if visiting the major tourist areas in Hungary as these regions (Budapest and Balaton) will, in almost all cases, be very familiar with both English and German.

It must also be said that any effort made by a visitor to use Hungarian will be welcomed. So it is worth trying to pick up a few basic phrases to make your visit more pleasant.

See

Hungary has several World Heritage sites. These are

• Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
• Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings
• Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst
• Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment
• Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta
• Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae)
• Fertő/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape
• Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape

Other major tourist destination is Lake Balaton, with winehills, thermal spa in Hévíz around.

There are also some amazing things to see.

• Tiszavirágzás. In mid-June the Tisza produces swarms of mayflies which are likened to flowers. Once decimated by pollution, the population is rebounding. (They're famous for living only for 1-2 days.)

Buy

The unit of Hungarian currency is known as the forint (HUF). The Hungarian "cent" (fillér) is long since obsolete. Bills come in 20000, 10000, 5000, 2000, 1000, 500 and 200 HUF denominations, coins are 100 (two colored, similar to €2), 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1 HUF.

There are 224 forint to the US dollar and 280 forint to the euro (24 June 2006).

A lunch in Budapest is from 1000 to 8000 HUF per person, and half or third of that outside Budapest (Chinese fast food menu is around 500 HUF). You can use major credit cards (EuroCard, Visa) in major shops and larger restaurants, but never expect that without checking first. Small places cannot afford to handle cards. ATMs are available even in small cities, the coverage is good.

Eat

Hungarians are quite proud of their cuisine (Magyar konyha), and most of the time not without a reason. Food are usually spicy (but not hot by general standards), and it's rather tasty than healthy — many dishes are prepared with lard or deep-fried. The national spice is paprika, made from ground sweet bell peppers and which actually has some flavor when fresh. The national dish is, of course, goulash, but Hungarians call the thick paprika-laden stew known as goulash elsewhere by the term pörkölt and reserve the term gulyás for a lighter paprika-flavored soup.

Less well known in the rest of the world are csirkepaprikás, chicken in paprika sauce, and halászlé, paprika fish soup often made from carp. Goose is also quite popular in Hungary. While tourists gorge on goose liver (libamáj), still cheap by Western standards, probably the most common dish is sült libacomb, roast goose leg. Stuffed (töltött) vegetables of all kinds are also popular, and Hungarian pancakes (palacsinta), both savoury and sweet, are a treat. Common snacks include kolbász, a Hungarianized version of the Polish kielbasa sausage, and lángos, deep-fried dough with a variety of toppings.

A Hungarian meal is almost always — even at breakfast — accompanied by Hungarian pickles called savanyúság, literally "sourness". These are often dubbed saláta on menus, so order a vitamin saláta if you want fresh veggies. Starch is most often served as potatoes, rice or dumplings (galuska or nokedli), the primary Hungarian contribution in this field being an unusual type of small couscous-like pasta called tarhonya.

In major cities and next to the highways you also can find restaurants of the major international chains such as KFC, McDonald's, Burger King, Subway or Pizza Hut.

Vegetarian food

Vegetarians will have a tough time in Hungary and strict vegans will starve to death. Budapest is not a problem, as there is a wide variety of restaurants to choose from, but in an ordinary Hungarian restaurant the non-meat mains on the menu are pretty much limited to rántott sajt (fried cheese) and gombafejek rántva (fried mushrooms).

However, in recent years, Italian food as become a lot more popular, so as long as you don't mind a pasta heavy diet as a vegetarian you will find a wider choice.

If one self-caters from supermarkets or local shops and markets, however, the selection of fruits and vegetables is quite good, especially in summer.

Drink

Wine

Hungary has several famous vine regions, most known are Villány, Eger, Badacsony, Tokaj, Szekszárd. Prices are reasonable.

• Egri Bikavér (Bull's Blood of Eger) is a strong red Hungarian wine which supposedly saved a clever Hungarian girl from her fate with a Turkish sultan. During the time of the Turkish occupation, it is said a young girl was summoned to become a member of the local sultan's harem. Not wanting this fate for his daughter, her father gave her a bottle of Egri Bikavér to take to the sultan. He told her to tell the ruler it was bull's blood, and would make him invincible. The sultan, being Muslim, was unaccustomed to alcohol, and proceeded to pass out, leaving the daughter unharmed. That's a story - but in real life, be careful with Egri Bikavér. It's excellent, but strong stuff!

• Tokaj is known for its sweet dessert wines (Tokaji aszú), which acquire their distinctive taste from grapes infected by the "noble rot" Botrytis cinerea. The favorite tipple of aristocracy, past fans of Tokaji include Louis XIV (who called Tokaj as "The king of the wines, the wine of the kings"), Beethoven, Napoleon III and Peter the Great — which is still reflected in the steep pricing of the best varieties. Almost uniquely among white wines, tokaj keeps very well for long periods.

Liquor

In Hungarian, pálinka denotes any strong brandy-like liquor distilled from fruit, wine, corn or pretty much anything. Perhaps the best known is barackpálinka, made from apricots and "szilvapálinka" made from plums, many Hungarians make this at legal distillation plants with apricots and plums that they have grown that year, this will be served from wine bottles, medicine bottles and anything without the original label, this drink is not for the feint hearted, if you are a beginner stick to the "Zwack" Kosher or other similar mass produced version.

• Unicum is a strong digestif made from a secret mix of over 40 herbs. It comes in a round-shaped bottles and has a very strong and unusual taste. Drink it slowly and taste it in your mouth. Eventually accompany with a glass of bier. Try it at your own risk.

Beer

Hungarian beer is average compared to other Central European countries like Germany and the Czech Republic as it has long been a wine culture. The most common beers are Dreher, Borsodi, Soproni Ászok and Arany Ászok, available in the styles világos (lager) and barna (brown). Imported beers like Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen and Budweiser (the Czech variety) are widely available in bars and markets for not much more than the ubiquitous Hungarian brands which cost about 150-200 Forints at a store and 300-500 at a bar.

Coffee

Cafe culture is alive and well in Hungary, although it may never recover the romance of its turn-of-the-century intellectual heyday. The coffee is strong and espresso-based, and one drink will buy you hours of time at the table.

Tea

Hungarians usually do not drink much tea and most of them will use tea bags for making it. They will probably drink it with sugar and lemon juice. The situation is getting better and there are already several tea houses, mainly in Budapest and some bigger cities where people can buy several types of loose tea. As it is quite fashionable to spend time in a tea house, more and more people will be able to serve good tea even at home. Be aware though that tea is not drunk with milk in Hungary and asking for it will earn you some surprised looks. The best teas to go for are the herbal and fruit varieties.

In a restaurant, cafe or confectionery however you will probably not find very good teas.

Sleep

Prices vary greatly. For the cheapest room in a youth hostel in Budapest expect to pay between 10 and 12 Euros, but the normal rate is 20-22 EURO per person.

Learn

Hungarian universities are open to all foreign students. Many European exchange students come through the EU's Erasmus program. There are quite a lot students from Asia and the Middle East as well, particularly because despite the high standard of education, fees are still considerably lower than in the more developed Western European countries. Interested should visit Study in Hungary homepage.

Work

It would be very inadvisable for an individual to seek (legal) employment in Hungary because of the complexity, cost and time involved. Most foreign workers in Hungary have received their visas and other necessary documents through the company they are employed by. It is hoped, however, that the joining of Hungary to the EU will force a reduction in the amount of red tape involved.

Many students (usually on a gap year) enjoy working as second language teachers at one of Budapest's many language schools. Be advised that a qualification is required (ESL/TEFL/TESOL)and that experience is preferred.

Stay Safe

Watch your baggage and pockets, especially when you travel by public transports. In large cities (especially Budapest) avoid walking in the night outside main, well-lit roads. There is the danger of pickpockets, and some even slash bags on crowded buses and trains.

Beware of money changers that operate in the train stations, these guys normally stand alone nearby an official money changing booth offering their services. These independent money changers are a throw back from Hungary's old times, their rates are not favourable and their service is still illegal, stick to the main offices in the shopping centres or better still a large bank or exchange office. Also be aware: it's not the first exchange rate that's the best - on large train stations you can pop into exchange offices offering an unabashedly low exchange rate (keep in mind that 1 EUR = ~270 HUF).

Inspect the change that taxi drivers give you. Cabbies commonly rip off tourists by giving them change in outdated Romanian currency, which looks similar to Hungarian currency, but is worthless and cannot be redeemed.

Stay Healthy

Food and water is almost always safe.

Private health care providers are good quality but relatively expensive and limited in scope. Public health care is free for qualifying (insured) people but cheap in quality, inefficient and often corrupt. The country joined the EU, so basic coverage is present for EU citizens, but check before entering the country how far are you insured and what you have to pay for. Do not expect that the local doctor knows the EU rules, prepare to provide info. The European Health Insurance Card is required from EU citizens applying for free treatment under this regulation. European health card for 1 June 2004

Pharmacies are everywhere, you may expect high prices (compared to local incomes) but good pharmaceutical coverage. The only problem might be communicating with the pharmacist as most of them speak only Hungarian. Even some rusty Latin might come handy quite unexpectedly.

This is a usable article. It has information about the country and for getting in, as well as links to several destinations. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!