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Visa and Travel Information

EU Member States and certain countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Germany, Italy, Portuguese, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland) are allowed to enter Hungary with ID if their planned stay is not longer than 90 days, and the purpose of their visit is not employment or other income-earning activity.
List of Countries with which Hungary has Agreements on Visa Exemption

If your country is not included in the list, please contact your local Hungarian Embassy for the latest information on visas. List of Hungarian Embassies and Consulates abroad

To download Visa Application Forms in Hungarian, in English, in French, in German, in Russian, in Spanish, in Ukrainian or in Serbian in pdf. format click here<<

THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING A VISA CAN BE LENGTHY THEREFORE IT IS ADVISABLE TO APPLY FOR VISA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

PLEASE NOTE THAT: ERRA is able to issue Visa Invitation Letters. However, there are Embassies that accept your official accommodation confirmation as an invitation. Therefore please let us know whether you need a visa invitation letter or an official accommodation confirmation will do as well.

APPLY FOR YOUR VISA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

General Information    
     
 Currency Exchange, Post Offices  Dialing and Telephone  Electricity
 In Emergency Case  Public Transport  Time Zone
 Tourist Information on Budapest  Weather  

Currency Exchange and Post Offices

All visitors are advised to exchange currency only at accredited places. It is both risky and illegal to attempt to do so in the street. The majority of banks have 24-hour ATM’s some of which can also exchange foreign currency. Individual banks and travel agencies are free to set their own rates but they must be clearly displayed. It is advisable to keep records of currency exchange transactions until leaving the country. Rates offered at bureaux de change in the city centre and near the main railway stations are generally better than those available in the banks, at the airport and in hotels. The Hungarian currency is the forint. There are coins to the value of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 forints, and notes for 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 forints.

Post offices are open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
The two Head Post Offices near Budapest’s main railway stations are open longer as follows:

  • VI. Teréz krt. 51 (near the Western (Nyugati) Railway Station): Monday to Saturday 7 a.m. until 9 p.m.
  • VIII. Baross tér 11. (Eastern (Keleti) Railway Station): Mo-Sa: 7 am - 9 pm, Su: 8-8pm.
    •

All post offices offer encashment facilities for VISA, VISA Electron, Eurocard/Mastercard, and Maestro cards, as well as for Eurocheques and American Express traveller’s cheques and postal orders.

Dialing and Telephone

The international code for Hungary is 36, the area code for Budapest is 1. Budapest telephone numbers comprise seven digits, all other areas’ have six digits (excluding the area code in both cases). To make an international call from Hungary, first dial 00, then the country code followed by the area code and the subscriber’s telephone number. Public telephones accept either coins (20, 50, and 100 forints) or telephone cards (available from tobacconists, newsagents, post offices, and petrol stations). Cheap rate runs at night and on public holidays. To call a (Hungarian) mobile telephone, first dial 06, followed by the subscriber’s seven-digit number starting with either 20-, 30- or 70-.

Electricity

Voltage in Hungary is 230 volts, and plugs are of the two-pin continental type.

In Emergency Case

  • 24-hour medical assistance: Falck SOS Hungary. Tel: 200-0100
  • 24-hour dental assistance: Tel: 267-9602
  • Ambulance: 104
  • Police: 107
  • Fire service: 105
  • Inland enquiries: 198
  • Universal enquiries: 197
  • International enquiries: 199
  • Speaking clock: 180
  • Emergency service: 112
  • Tourinform telephone enquiries: 438-8080

You should report the loss of your passport to the following authority:
Budapest and Pest County Directorate of the Office for Immigration and Citizenship
Address: 1117 Budapest, Budafoki út 60.
Telephone: 463-9165 or 463-9181
Open: 24 hours

If your passport is stolen, you must report the loss to the local district police headquarters.
The Budapest Police Command has a round-the-clock service in the centre of town: Tourist Police (Budapest V. Vigadó u. 6)

Budapest’s pharmacies (gyógyszertár in Hungarian) are well stocked and can provide medicaments for most common ailments. The location of the nearest all-night chemist is displayed on the door of every pharmacy.

All-night pharmacies:

  • Aranyhorgony Gyógyszertár, IV. district, Pozsonyi út 19.
  • Déli Gyógyszertár, XII. district, Alkotás út 1/b
  • Örs Vezér Gyógyszertár, XIV. district, Örs vezér tere – Rendelőintézet
  • Szent Margit Gyógyszertár, II. district, Frankel Leó út 22.
  • Teréz Gyógyszertár, VI. district, Teréz krt. 41.

Public Transport

Budapest’s network of public transport services includes buses, trolleybuses, trams, underground trains (Metró) and over ground suburban trains (HÉV). Buses, trams and trolleybuses run daily from 4.30 a.m. until 11.00p.m. All three Underground lines connect at Deák tér Station, and service frequencies range from 15 minutes late in the evening to every two minutes at peak times. Tickets have to be bought before boarding; you cannot usually buy them from the driver and there are no conductors. They are available at Underground stations, tobacconists and newsagents, and from vending machines at many bus and tram stops in the city centre. They are valid for one single journey of any length (without changing) on all routes. A new ticket has to be validated at the beginning of each journey, and this is done by inserting it into the slot in the small red box situated at waist height near the doors of buses, trolleybuses, trams and HÉV trains. Please note on the Underground system these boxes are in the stations and the escalator. There are lots of ticket inspectors: some are uniformed and others plain-clothed, but they always wear a red armband and carry a photographic identification badge. They can ask to see tickets and passes on any vehicle and anywhere on the Underground system, including after you have got off – so please remember to validate your ticket and keep hold of it!

FARES from January 1st 2009:

  • SINGLE TICKET HUF 290
  • Single ticket purchased on the vehicle HUF 400
  • Discount coupon book (10 Ps) HUF 2.600
  • One-day ticket HUF 1.500
  • Tourist ticket (for 3 days) HUF 3.700
  • Seven-day travelcard HUF 4.400

METRO TICKET

  • Metro section ticket HUF 240
  • Metro transfer ticket HUF 450 

Those who would need to use public services between 11:00p.m. and 4:30a.m., please print out the
Map of Overnight Bus Services

Time Zone

Budapest is in the Central European Time Zone. In the winter months this means clocks are set at GMT + 1 hour, and in the summer (March to the end of October) GMT + 2 hours.

Tourist Information about Budapest and Hungary

You can find useful information at the following websites:

Fact Sheets on Hungary
published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary in six languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Hungarian) could be downloaded here<<

Weather

Weather forecast for Budapest can be found at: http://www.weather.com/weather/local/HUXX0002

Budapest has a temperate continental climate. Seasons are usually well defined, with July and August the hottest months (28-30° C, 82-86° F) and December and January the coldest, when temperatures may fall to –15° C or just +5° F. Average sunshine from April to September is in excess of eight hours a day.