Hungary

For the best balance of weather and crowds, come in April–June or September–October — warm and pleasant, with September frequently named the single best month. The July–August peak is hot, it’s when Lake Balaton’s beach season and Budapest’s vast Sziget festival pack the country, and the capital’s sights are busiest.

Winter is cold, but it has a strong case of its own: the thermal baths are at their most magical steaming in the frosty air, and the Christmas markets at Vörösmarty tér and in front of St Stephen’s Basilica run from mid-November. Budapest genuinely rewards a visit year-round — only the dead of summer is a compromise.

• you want Budapest at its bestSkipthe hot, crowded July–August peakGoApril–June or September–October (September is the pick)
• you’re drawing cash or paying by cardSkipEuronet ATMs and “charge in your home currency”Gobank ATMs, and always choosing forint (DCC costs you)
• you had the famous Gellért Baths on your listSkipplanning around itGoSzéchenyi or the Ottoman-era Rudas — Gellért is closed to ~2028

Entry is ordinary Schengen — 90 days visa-free, passport valid three months beyond departure, and the EU’s biometric EES fully in operation since April 2026 (expect fingerprint-and-photo registration on arrival; the separate ETIAS authorisation, €20, is expected in 2027). The things to internalise are about money. Hungary is in the EU but not the eurozone: it uses the forint, and although some tourist spots quote euros, paying in forint is better value.

Two money traps are worth avoiding. Use bank ATMs rather than the standalone Euronet machines that cluster in tourist areas (poor rates, high fees), and always decline dynamic currency conversion — the “charge in GBP/EUR?” prompt — in favour of being charged in forint. Hungary is otherwise good value by Western-European standards, with cards widely accepted; tipping is around 10%, so check whether a service charge has already been added.

The money mistakes compound: a Euronet ATM with a poor rate, a DCC prompt that bills you in pounds or euros, and a tourist-trap bar with no visible price list. The fix is simple — a Hungarian-bank ATM inside a branch, “forint” every time a machine asks, and the menu in hand before you order.

If you hire a car, buy the electronic e-vignette before using the motorways — it’s plate-linked and bought online, by app or at fuel stations (about 6,900 HUF for the car “weekly”, valid 10 days), with automatic camera enforcement and a fine for going without. Hungary drives on the right. Between cities, the MÁV trains are serviceable.

In Budapest you don’t need a car: the BKK network — the metro (including the century-old Line 1), trams and buses — is excellent, provided you buy and validate a ticket and keep it, as plain-clothes inspectors issue on-the-spot fines. The one catch is the airport: there’s no train, so the budget route into town is the 100E Airport Express bus (2,500 HUF) to Deák Ferenc tér, which requires its own dedicated ticket — ordinary BKK singles aren’t valid on it. For taxis, use the Bolt app or call Főtaxi rather than hailing near the stations.

Hungary is really Budapest plus a lake and wine country, and the capital is one of Europe’s most atmospheric, straddling the Danube between hilly Buda and flat Pest. Beyond the baths (see the figure), its signatures are the ruin bars of the old Jewish Quarter — ramshackle courtyards of mismatched furniture, led by Szimpla Kert — and a skyline of the neo-Gothic Parliament, Buda Castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion and the Chain Bridge, which reopened in 2023 permanently car-free.

Don’t miss a ride on Metro Line 1 (the “Földalatti”): opened in 1896, it’s the oldest underground railway on the European continent and the second-oldest electric metro in the world after London’s — and its yellow, shallow, wood-trimmed stations are part of the UNESCO-listed Andrássy Avenue. An evening Danube cruise past the floodlit Parliament is the classic finish.

The Parliament can only be seen on a timed guided tour, booked ahead — slots sell out one to three weeks out in peak season — and non-EEA visitors pay roughly double the EEA rate (about 14,000 vs 7,000 HUF; bring ID for the lower price), so reserve online before you arrive. For the baths, the grand Széchenyi (a full-day ticket with locker is around 13,200 HUF) is best with an online advance ticket — cheaper, and it skips the queue — while the Ottoman-era Rudas offers a quieter, more characterful soak.

The thermal-bath ritual is worth getting right: bring swimwear, a towel and flip-flops (rentable on site), you’ll get a waterproof wristband that locks your cabin and acts as your ticket, and you shower before entering the pools. Some baths or specific days may have single-sex or swimwear-optional sections, so check the signage. One thing to plan around: the famous Art Nouveau Gellért is closed for renovation until roughly 2028, so route your bath day to Széchenyi or Rudas instead.

Two Budapest booking notes: the Parliament is timed-tour-only, sells out one to three weeks ahead in summer, and non-EEA visitors pay roughly double the EEA rate (bring ID for the lower price) — so reserve online before you arrive. And route your thermal-bath day to Széchenyi or the Ottoman-era Rudas: the famous Art Nouveau Gellért is closed for a major renovation until around 2028, so don’t build a plan around it.

Beyond the capital, the country opens out. Lake Balaton — Central Europe’s largest lake — is the summer playground, its north shore lined with vineyards and its south with resort beaches. The Danube Bend makes a classic day trip: the artists’ town of Szentendre, the hilltop castle at Visegrád, and Esztergom, whose vast basilica is Hungary’s largest church. For wine, Eger pairs a baroque old town and a castle with the red “Bull’s Blood” (Egri Bikavér), while Tokaj, a UNESCO-listed landscape in the north-east, makes the sweet Aszú. The Mediterranean-flavoured city of Pécs — with its UNESCO early-Christian necropolis — rounds out the south. Hungary has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites in all.

Hungarian food is hearty and built on paprika. The national gulyás is a paprika-spiced beef soup — the thick stew foreigners picture is closer to pörkölt — alongside chicken paprikás and, from any market, deep-fried lángos heaped with garlic, cheese and sour cream. For something sweet, the spit-roasted kürtőskalács is the real thing (a Transylvanian-Hungarian cake — unlike the trdelník sold in Prague, this one genuinely belongs here). Wash it down with the wines and spirits in the figure, and you’ve eaten Hungary.

Hungary is generally safe (the US rates it Level 1, the UK carries no warning), and the main hazards in Budapest are financial rather than physical: overpriced “tourist-trap” bars and clubs (always see the menu and price list first and check your bill — a few notorious venues escalate to demands and cashpoint trips, and the “friendly local who suggests a bar” is a known set-up), and taxi overcharging, worst at Keleti station. For taxis, use the Bolt app or call Főtaxi rather than hailing on the street. The tap water is safe to drink.

On language, Hungarian (Magyar) is famously difficult — a Finno-Ugric tongue unrelated to its Indo-European neighbours — but English is widely spoken in Budapest tourism and among younger people, so you’ll manage easily in the capital and at the main sights, if less so with older generations in the countryside.

A tip that saves money and grief: the overcharging scams cluster in the few blocks around Váci utca and Vörösmarty tér, not across the city. Stick to places with clear, posted prices, decline the stranger who steers you to a particular bar, order a taxi through Bolt or Főtaxi rather than hailing one, and Budapest is as safe and good-value as it looks.