Hungary

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Flag of Hungary Hungary
Information
Language: Hungarian
Capital: Budapest
Population: 10,041,000
Currency: Forint (HUF)
Hitchability: <rating country='hu' />
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<map lat='47.2' lng='19' zoom='6' view='0' country='Hungary'/>

Hungary is a member state of the European Union as well as the Schengen Agreement. Hitchhiking usually (but not without exceptions) is relatively easy in Hungary, especially in rural areas where people are more friendly and helpful. There, even on the roads with almost no traffic you can get a ride in a reasonable time. You can drink tap water.

Arczi hitching in Hungary

In Hungary fewer people speak foreign languages than in other Central European countries. In cities, often one can speak English with younger people. Some older people might speak a bit of German or Russian. Once you get to rural areas, however, expect a language barrier. A Hungarian phrasebook may be useful.

Cities

Phrasebook

For useful phrases while hitchhiking in Hungary see Hungarian phrasebook.

Crossable petrol stations

Border crossings

Practical links

Personal Experiences

Hitchhiking in Hungary worked well for us. We have tried both with and without a sign, but in the end realized that the sign was necessary. It seems that many people here don't understand the thumb, especially (richer) tourists around Balaton. Speaking German proved useful, as almost no one in rural regions speaks English. Try to learn basic phrases in Hungarian to approach at service stations. Rebew (talk) 12:51, 15 August 2022 (CEST)

Summer 2022: Hitchhiking was not hard there, you rarely wait more than 90min. I was hitchhiking without a sign and it worked for me, however because locals dont't really speak English and sometimes you don't understand them, you can finish off your trip in a different city from the planned one. --HHer-Vert

Coming from Vienna, it took only two or three rides to get to Budapest. We had luck at petrol stations. Going west from Budapest to Slovenia (bound for Ljubljana) on my own, I used a sign with just "SLO" once outside the city, and ended up just over the border in Pince, home to a desolate petrol station/hotel, and nothing else. I switched to small roads and ended up in a slightly larger petrol station in Lendava, but it seems before Murska Subota, there is very little traffic for hitching. I thumbed for two hours before sunset, slept in the local graveyard, then again at the same spot for two hours at sunrise. Plenty of traffic, mostly Romanian plates, apparently often headed west for Italy, but no rides. I ended up thumbing on the roads of the smallest villages to get to Murska then a petrol station right before Maribor where I got a ride all the way to Ljubljana. I heard from one container truck driver that Rédics is a better petrol station to get a ride from a truck, although my entire three months hitching in Europe, I never got a ride from a truck (seemingly due to insurance reasons). -- Vinteuil

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