Hungary
Visa: Schengen Area Free Visa Check
Language: Hungarian (one of Europe's most unique languages, related to Finnish and Estonian). English is common in Budapest and among younger people, less so in rural areas.
Currency: Hungarian Forint (HUF). Cards are accepted in most places in Budapest and tourist areas. Carry cash for markets, smaller restaurants, and rural guesthouses. Never exchange money on the street.
Transportation:
Train: MÁV runs a centralized network radiating from Budapest. Trains to major cities are reliable. The Budapest–Vienna and Budapest–Prague routes are well-served.
Bus: Volánbusz covers routes not served by train.
City transport: Budapest has an excellent metro, tram, and bus network (BKK). Buy a 24/72-hour travel card from purple ticket machines at stations. The historic Line 1 (the oldest underground railway in continental Europe) is worth riding for its own sake.
What To Expect
Hungary rewards travelers who look beyond Budapest. The capital is magnificent: Buda Castle watches over the Danube, the Parliament building glows gold at dusk, and the ruin bars of the Jewish Quarter turn abandoned buildings into the best night out in Central Europe. Soaking in the steaming outdoor pools of Széchenyi Baths while snow falls around you is a Budapest rite of passage.
But the country holds its own beyond the capital. Lake Balaton, Central Europe's largest lake, is Hungary's summer playground with vineyards climbing the northern shore. Eger offers a perfectly intact baroque town center and the legend of Bull's Blood wine. Pécs, with its early Christian necropolis and Ottoman heritage, tells a story of Hungary's layered past. And the Tokaj wine region produces sweet wines that once graced the tables of kings.
Hungarian food is unapologetically hearty. A bowl of goulash, a plate of lángos (fried dough with sour cream and cheese), a slice of Dobos torte. It is not health food. It is happiness on a plate, and it pairs perfectly with a glass of Tokaji Aszú.