WHY VISIT HUNGARY
A foretaste of the Orient characterizes Hungary, in addition, this country cultivates a certain serenity that will not fail to show the warmth of its people and can be seen in the peaceful landscapes.
Budapest, the capital, is located alongside the famous Danube River: You will enjoy taking a stroll through this beautiful city with such gorgeous architecture, especially in the castle district with its monuments and museums, the seven turrets of Fisherman’s Bastion, the Roman ruins of Obuda; also you will enjoy a cruise on the river with its beautiful bridges. Night-times in this city has many attractions on offer: theatre, concerts, nightclubs…
Balaton Lake is one of the largest in Europe with many resorts making it a major tourist center. Nearby, the cities of Keszthely and Balantonfüred are lovely places to discover, as well as the Badacsony area where you can enjoy trekking.
In the Hortobágy National Park, you can see more than 300 species of birds inhabiting marshland and salt marshes; you can explore this area accompanied by a guide on foot or on horseback.
The city of Pécs is a stopover not to be missed: it has a very pleasant climate, historical richness, music just about everywhere, which all combine to make it a destination of choice in Hungary. Visit its museums, the very special church-mosque, its synagogue with a romantic style, and its porcelain manufacturer. Do not forget to visit the Vasarely Museum, dedicated to the famous eponymous painter born in Pécs.
Source: http://www.thebesttimetovisit.com/
WHAT TO SEE IN HUNGARY
Top destinations in Hungary are:
- Budapest
- Pécs
- Szeged
- Esztergom
- Gödöllő
- Eger
- Miskolc
- Szentendre
- Hévíz
- Tatabánya
- Sopron
- Keszthely
WHEN TO GO TO HUNGARY
Weather in Hungary
The best period to visit Hungary is from May to September.
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Most visitors come in the summer, generally regarded as the best time to visit Hungary, when nine or ten hours of sunshine can be relied on most days, sometimes interspersed with short, violent storms. The humidity that causes these is really only uncomfortable in Budapest, where the crowds don’t help; elsewhere the climate is agreeable. Budapest, with its spring and autumn festivals, sights, and culinary delights, is a standing invitation to come out of season.
But other parts of Hungary have little to offer during the winter, and the weather doesn’t become appealing until late spring. May, warm but showery, is the time to see the Danube Bend, Tihany or Sopron before everyone else arrives; June is hotter and drier, a pattern reinforced throughout July, August, and September.
There’s little variation in temperatures across the country: the Great Plain is drier, and the highlands are wetter, during summer, but that’s about as far as climatic changes go.
The number of tourists varies more – popular areas such as Szentendre and Tihany can be mobbed in summer, but rural areas receive few visitors, even during the high season.
Following a list of typical festival and celebrations of Hungary
- Mid-April: Budapest Spring Festival (opera, ballet, classical music)
- June 18–26: Danube Carnival
- Late June–late August: Summer on the Chain Bridge (Budapest’s Chain Bridge is closed to traffic on weekends, lined with food stalls and performers)
- June–mid-August: Outdoor Festival (outdoor evening performances, Pécs)
- June 25–July 2: Early Music Days, Fertőd-Eszterháza
- Late June–late August: Szentendre Summer Festival (art festival with theater, concerts, film, activities)
- July 6–10: Balaton Sound, Zamárdi (lakeside electronic music festival)
- July 7–10: Bull’s Blood Festival, Eger (wine and traditional food)
- August 5–7: Formula 1 races, Budapest
- August 10–17: Sziget Festival, Budapest (rock and pop music)
- August 30–September 6: Jewish Cultural Festival, Budapest
- October 7–23: Café Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival
HOW TO REACH AND TRAVEL THROUGH HUNGARY
To travel within the country, buses are perfect. In the cities take trams, trolley-buses and the subway (in Budapest) for a very low cost and there are also taxis.
by plane, the main airports are:
by train
by car
GENERAL INFORMATION ON HUNGARY
health tips & vaccination: none
local currency: Hungarian forint
local time zone: GMT+1 (+2)
electricity: type C and type F (230 V – 50 Hz)
mobile phone operators:
WHAT TO DO IN HUNGARY
typical food in Hungary
- Halászlé (a spicy soup made with freshwater fish and paprika).
- Gulyás (Hungarian goulash is a hearty beef, capsicum and paprika soup; Western goulash is calledpörkölt or tokány).
- Lecsó (a paprika vegetable stew of onions, tomatoes, and peppers, with variations including sausage and egg).
- Paprikás csirke (chicken in a creamy, paprika sauce, often served with sour cream).
- Hurka (boiled spiced sausage).
- Kolbász (smoked sausage spiced with paprika).
- Lángos (a plate-sized sheet of fried dough that is usually smothered with sour cream and cheese).
- Rántott Sajt (fried cheese).
- Nokedli (small, dumpling-like noodles, usually served as a side dish to accompany stews and meats).
- Tyúkhúsleves (chicken soup with vegetables and pasta).
- Jókai bableves (kidney bean soup).
- Rakott Krumpli (baked casserole-type dish made of layers of sliced potatoes, eggs, sausage, sour cream, and cheese).
- Pörkölt (a stew made of meat (often beef or chicken gizzards), tomato, paprika, and onions, usually served with a side of Hungarian noodles called nokedli).
- Gesztenyepüré (purée of chestnuts, sugar, and rum, usually served with whipped cream).
- Hortobágyi húsos palacsinta (‘Hortobagy pancake’ – pork or chicken in a thin pancake and baked with paprika and sour cream).
- Galuska (egg dumplings).
- Túrós Csusza (flat, wide noodles mixed with Hungarian túró cheese and often topped with pieces of fatty bacon called szalonna).
- Töltött Káposzta (large leaves of cabbage, stuffed with meat and rice, which are cooked and then smothered with sour cream).
- Töltött Paprika (whole peppers stuffed with rice, meat, and vegetables and cooked in sauce).
- Körözött (a spread like hummus made of túró cheese, spices (often paprika), and vegetables).
- Palacsinta (the Hungarian version of crépes. Popular types include Hortobágyi, filled with ground meat, fried onion, and topped with a sour cream/paprika sauce, and Gundel, filled with ground walnuts, raisins, and rum and topped with dark chocolate sauce).
- Kürtőskalács (Transylvanian sweet spiral pull-apart bread that is baked rotisserie-style outdoors over charcoal).
- Dobostorta (chocolate buttercream-layered sponge cake, topped with crystallized caramel and covered on the edges with nuts).
- Meggyleves (chilled, sweet soup made of sour cherries, sour cream, and sugar).
- Rétes (strudel-like log of pastry, stuffed to the max with fillings such as apple, cherry, or poppyseed and topped with powdered sugar).
- Kifli (crescent-shaped bread, often eaten simply with butter or sliced in half and topped with cheese, meat, and/or peppers for a sandwich).
- Pogácsa (small, bite-sized biscuits, dense and doughy in the center and often topped with cheese).
- Bejgli (spiral-shaped log roll containing a sweet walnut or poppyseed filling).
- Madártej (dessert of fluffy meringue floating on vanilla custard).
- Flódni (pastry, traditionally made of four layers: walnut, apple, poppyseed, and jam).
- Túrógombóc (orbs of sweetened túró cheese boiled, rolled in toasted bread crumbs, and generally served with vanilla sauce or sour cream and sugar).
- Túró Rudi (dark chocolate bar filled with sweetened túró cheese, available flavored or with jam fillings as well).
- Somlói Galuska (a dessert made of three different types of sponge cake (plain, walnut, and chocolate), raisins, and walnuts, drizzled with dark chocolate rum sauce and topped with whipped cream).
- Kakaós Csiga (pastry of spiral-shaped dough swirled with chocolate).
- Gundel palacsinta (pancake served with walnuts, raisins, lemon rind, chocolate sauce, and rum).
- Tokaji (strong dessert wine).
- Bikavér (meaning ‘Bull’s Blood’, a strong red wine).
- Pálinka (brandy) comes in barack (apricot), szilva (plum) körte (pear) and cseresznye (cherry) flavour.
- Unicum (herb liqueur).
- Villány (good quality full-bodied red wine).
- Pezsgö (sparkling wine like Champagne).
- Ásványviz (bottled fizzy mineral water).
souvenirs from Hungary
- Hungarian embroidery, tablecloths and hand-made laces
- Traditional Hungarian Shirts
- Handcrafted porcelain
- Ajka crystal
- Traditional dolls
- Hungarian Secret Box
- Hand-painted eggs
- Leather shoes
- Hand-forged knifes
- Wooden toys
- Rubik’s cube
- Paprika, jams, wines, Tokaji Wine, Palinka or Unicum liqueur
SIMPLE DICTIONARY
Hello: Helló
Goodbye: Viszontlátásra
How are you?: Hogy vagy?
Thank you: Köszönöm
What is your name?: Mi a neved?
How much is it?: Mennyibe kerül?
Sorry: Sajnálom
Source:
Source: http://www.thebesttimetovisit.com/
Source: http://www.roughguides.com/
