Hungary Custom Tour Packages

We recommend visiting Hungary from early April to late May, or from mid-September to mid-October. Budapest has weather similar to New York, if a bit cooler, with hot summers, and cold winters.

Hungary is home to the region’s best cuisine. The local food stands out in part because the Hungarians arrived as invaders from Central Asia 1,000 years ago, and remain idiosyncratic. Paprika is the cherished national spice, made from ground sweet bell peppers. Paprika, often used with black pepper and onions, helps make food spicy without being too hot. Goulash is the national dish, although Hungarians tend to use the term for a soup lighter than the thick beef stew found in the US and elsewhere. The Kurtoskalacs, a chimney cake roasted on a spit akin to the Czech Trdelnik, is a popular street food, as is Langos, deep fried dough similar to Native American flatbread served with toppings, especially sour cream and cheese. Langos is one of Hungary’s most popular exports, and can be found at any festival in East or Central Europe. If you're seeking spice, try Fisherman's Soup (Halaszle), which combines river fish (often carp) with a generous amount of paprika.

Hungary has some of the best wines in East and Central Europe. The Tokaji/Tokay wine region is especially famous. Centered around the town of Eger, we recommend its white dessert wines, or its full-blooded Bull’s Blood reds. Hungary is also known for Unicum, an herbal bitters, and Palinka, a fruit brandy.

Hungary is a very safe country, but be on the lookout for pickpockets on public transportation, and areas with crowds of tourists, even if pickpockets are rarer there than in much of Western Europe.

Hungary's Intercity trains are effective, although since the country uses a hub-and-spoke system with rail lines intersecting in Budapest, it can take a long time to travel between cities other than the capital. Non-Intercity trains are often slow and in poor shape. During the summer, trains between Lake Balaton and Budapest can be overcrowded and sell out quickly. Buses within Hungary tend to be cheap, but are subject to delays, and Budapest's main bus station is towards the city's outskirts.

Hungarian Public Holidays (apart from Easter and Whitsunday) are on fixed days, so if they fall on a weekend the day off is not moved to the next working day. On public holidays most shops and all banks will be shut so if there's something you need, make sure to plan ahead.

Here's the complete list of the Hungarian public holidays:
- 1st January (New Year)
- 15th March (commemorating the 1848/49 revolution and war of independence against Austrian rule)
- Easter Sunday and Monday
- 1st May (Labor Day)
- Whitsunday (Pentacost) and Whitmonday
- 20th August (a threefold celebration: the celebration of new bread (marking the end of the grain harvest), the name day of Saint Stephen, the first king of Hungary, and the foundation of the Hungarian state)
- 23rd October (anniversary of the 1956 revolution and war of independence)
- 1st November (All Saints' Day): most people go to the cemetery, and there's a handful of Halloween parties (Halloween is a new import).
- 25-26th December (Christmas) Watch out for Dec 24. While not an official holiday, most shops, restaurants, bars, theaters, etc. close on this day, so families can celebrate together in the evening.

We recommend taking out Hungarian Forints from the ATMs inside banks, but you can always ask your receptionist for the closest recommended ATM or exchange place. Never change money on the street. We can recommend centrally-located exchange places in each Hungarian destination we offer (save for the small town of Villany).

Entry visas are not required for EU citizens, and travelers from the USA and Canada if you stay less than 3 months. Citizens of other countries can get a visa at the Hungarian Embassy or Consulate in their country: please allow ample time as in some cases the administrative procedure of obtaining a visa to Hungary might take 4-6 weeks. For more information about visas, please check this website.