Hungary

[angie_5039849]

visiting this area in August. Any site recomendations would be appreciated , as well as places to visit

 

[Guest]

You may need to be a little more specific in your desires.

Hungary is an extremely nice country although you will find the language impossible, unless you possibly have Finnish origins, and even then.....? There are several areas people visit. The usual one is Lake Balaton, Europe's largest lake and nearly 75 miles long. There are camp sites doted everywhere with varying degees of facilties. Search the internet for lists. Most are on the east cost but many Hungarians prefer the quieter western shoreline. Activities include horseriding, visiting spas and of course sampling the local wines. The food is possibly not to your taste as the Hungarians are big pork eaters. Vegetarians have a hard time. The south end of the lake is only 30 miles from Croatia if you wish to visit. Other places to visit are Budapest and again there are sites to the north of the city along the Danube. Personally, although i live in Budpaest i would not spend more than a few days inthe city. There are only so many sites to see and then you have kinda done it all. The riverside is very impressive with palaces and parliament buidings being especially worth a visit. The Heroes Square and the park where they have all the ex soviet statues is also popular. Public transport, trams, trolley buses, buses and Metro is excellent but never try to travel without a ticket (bought separately at Metro stations) as the fines are heavy. The east of the country is pure Hungary with small villages and storks on the tops of lamposts. Good cities to visit are Debrecen and Szeged. The university town of Miskolc is also attractive. Again there are spas and vineyards everywhere. You may have to search out some of the attractions, but well worth the effort. Again, from the east end you can cross to Romania but the roads in Romania are terrible, but if Transylvania is your wish, go for it. The money system is the Hungarian Forint (310 to the pound). Cost of living basically similar to the UK but if you shop at markets and by local produce it is much cheaper, and better. There are Tesco supermarkets/hypermarkets if you wish, but we tend to avoid them. Auchan is, we feel a better choice. Watch out for speed limits especially in villages, as the cops make their salaries that way. Buy a vignette for the motorways and you can buy online at

http://autopalyamatrica.hu/usr_site.php?site=aak_kezdlap_en.htm&session=MjIzMDA5NA==&nyelv=en&keret=keret_aak.htm
Motorways are excellent and most other roads are reasonable, but watch for truck convoys travelling to Romania and Croatia on some of the smaller roads as they avoid the tolls that way. Don't drive in Budapest unless you are brave. Traffic manners are good, but the jams are bad especially at rush hours. Outside these hours you usually will get through fairly easily, but watch for destination road signs. These are usually identified by road numbers, not town names. Lane jumping is common, and tolerated.

Go for it, thousands of Germans and Dutch usually do.

 

[angie_5039849]

You may need to be a little more specific in your desires.

Hungary is an extremely nice country although you will find the language impossible, unless you possibly have Finnish origins, and even then.....? There are several areas people visit. The usual one is Lake Balaton, Europe's largest lake and nearly 75 miles long. There are camp sites doted everywhere with varying degees of facilties. Search the internet for lists. Most are on the east cost but many Hungarians prefer the quieter western shoreline. Activities include horseriding, visiting spas and of course sampling the local wines. The food is possibly not to your taste as the Hungarians are big pork eaters. Vegetarians have a hard time. The south end of the lake is only 30 miles from Croatia if you wish to visit. Other places to visit are Budapest and again there are sites to the north of the city along the Danube. Personally, although i live in Budpaest i would not spend more than a few days inthe city. There are only so many sites to see and then you have kinda done it all. The riverside is very impressive with palaces and parliament buidings being especially worth a visit. The Heroes Square and the park where they have all the ex soviet statues is also popular. Public transport, trams, trolley buses, buses and Metro is excellent but never try to travel without a ticket (bought separately at Metro stations) as the fines are heavy. The east of the country is pure Hungary with small villages and storks on the tops of lamposts. Good cities to visit are Debrecen and Szeged. The university town of Miskolc is also attractive. Again there are spas and vineyards everywhere. You may have to search out some of the attractions, but well worth the effort. Again, from the east end you can cross to Romania but the roads in Romania are terrible, but if Transylvania is your wish, go for it. The money system is the Hungarian Forint (310 to the pound). Cost of living basically similar to the UK but if you shop at markets and by local produce it is much cheaper, and better. There are Tesco supermarkets/hypermarkets if you wish, but we tend to avoid them. Auchan is, we feel a better choice. Watch out for speed limits especially in villages, as the cops make their salaries that way. Buy a vignette for the motorways and you can buy online at

http://autopalyamatrica.hu/usr_site.php?site=aak_kezdlap_en.htm&session=MjIzMDA5NA==&nyelv=en&keret=keret_aak.htm
Motorways are excellent and most other roads are reasonable, but watch for truck convoys travelling to Romania and Croatia on some of the smaller roads as they avoid the tolls that way. Don't drive in Budapest unless you are brave. Traffic manners are good, but the jams are bad especially at rush hours. Outside these hours you usually will get through fairly easily, but watch for destination road signs. These are usually identified by road numbers, not town names. Lane jumping is common, and tolerated.

Go for it, thousands of Germans and Dutch usually do.

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply regarding visiting Hungary.

We hope to visit lake Balaton and its surrounding area.

Do we need to book campsites or can we try our luck when we gewr there?

Many thanks

Angie

 

[Martin_5062144]

Hi Angie,

I agree with Scotch Lad that you should go to Lake Balaton, it's really nice, but will be very busy in August, so book in advance. West side of the lake is better, I think. It is so clean you can swim in it.

If you are passing through Hungary to Romania, which has many good campsites, there is a good campsite at Gyula, just inside the Hungarian border, called Thermal Camping. While there you must visit the local park, which has about 30 different pools, from olympic size indoor and outdoor pools, to wave pools, jacuzzi pools and thermal bath pools, all set in lovely surroundings, with cafes, restaurants and bars. Well worth a visit.

If visiting Romania go to De Oude Willje in a village called Carta, near Sibiu, and, if you have time come and stay with us in southern Bulgaria, see www.sakar-hills.com

Regards,

Martin T. Jeffes.

 

[Guest]

I can comment that summer has arrived here in Hungary. It is currently 24-29 degrees. So every Friday Budapest empties as they all speed (literally) down to Balaton. The good side is the city is usually quieter. They all comeback for Tuesday morning, after all you cannot be expected to work Monday...can you?

Sometimes, as a Brit I think we got it all totally worng. We work too hard and never take time off, the Europeans do it the other way round.