Good to know

Climate
 

• Hungary has a continental climate
• winters are usually cold, cloudy and humid (average temperature between 0 and −15 °C / 32 and 5 °F), summers are warm (average temperature between 27 and 32 °C / 81 and 90 °F)
• the average annual temperature is 9.7 °C / 49.5 °F
• the average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 mm / 24 in

 
Currency and payment methods
 

• the currency of Hungary is the Hungarian Forint (HUF)
• 1 USD = approximately 270 HUF
• 1 EUR = approximately 310 HUF
• credit cards are accepted in an increasing number of places (American Express, MasterCard, EuroCard, Visa, etc.)
• it is a good idea to bring cash if possible, since the banks ask for a 5% commission to change travelers’ cheques
• unless Western Union Transfer is used, bank transfers can take 2-4 weeks to arrive
• it is difficult to use personal cheques – the banks need at least 1 month (usually 6 weeks) to process one

Useful phone numbers
 

• Call code of Hungary +36
• Call code of Debrecen +52
• Office of Immigration 52 503-840
• Emergency
  • Police: 107
  • Ambulance: 104
  • Fire-department: 105
  • Other emergency: 112
• Directory Enquiries
  • telephone numbers within the country: 198
  • telephone numbers abroad: 199
  • other: 197

 

Telephone
 

• pay phones operate with 100, 50, 20, and 10 forint coins, however, you might be better off with a phone card (which are sold at post offices and newsstands)
• the area code for Debrecen is 52
• to make international calls from Hungary, dial 00 wait for the dial tone then go on with the country code, area code and number
• 06-80 are known as green numbers and can be called free of charge
• phone numbers beginning with 06-20, 06-30, 06-60, or 06-70 are cell phone numbers
• there are three phone companies in Hungary, offering cell phone service:
  • Vodafone (www.vodafone.hu)
  • T-mobile (www.tmobile.hu)
  • Telenor (www.telenor.hu)

 
Holidays

There are some holidays in Hungary when all the schools, shops and offices are closed.

• 1st January – New Year’s Day
• 15th March – National Holiday
• Good Friday – the Friday preceding Easter Sunday
• Easter Monday
• 1st May
• Whitsun/Pentecost – seven weeks after Easter Sunday
• 20th August – National Holiday
• 23rd October – National Holiday
• 1st November – All Saints' Day
• 25th-26th December – Christmas

Learn the basics: Hungarian mini dictionary