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Hungary lies in the middle of the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe and has no coast. Much of the country is flat lowland, above all the Great Hungarian Plain in the east. Two great rivers cross it from north to south: the Danube, which runs through Budapest, and the Tisza. In the west lies Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe.
The Hungarians, or Magyars, arrived in the Carpathian Basin as a union of seven tribes at the end of the 9th century. Stephen I became the first king around the year 1000. After a crushing defeat by the Ottomans at Mohács in 1526 the kingdom was split in three for about 150 years, and later it became half of Austria-Hungary. After the First World War the Treaty of Trianon left Hungary with less than a third of its old territory.
After four decades of communist rule, including the revolution of 1956, Hungary changed peacefully to a democratic parliamentary republic in 1989 and 1990. Today about 9.5 million people live there. It joined NATO in 1999, the European Union in 2004 and the Schengen area in 2007, but it still uses its own currency, the forint.
Hungary's story runs from horse-riding tribes who settled the Carpathian Basin, through a medieval Christian kingdom, Ottoman wars and the Habsburg empire, to the revolutions of 1848 and 1956 and a peaceful return to democracy in 1989.
A union of seven Hungarian tribes, led by Grand Prince Álmos and his son Árpád, moved from the steppes north of the Black Sea into the Carpathian Basin, completing the move around 895. Árpád's family ruled Hungary for the next 400 years.
Stephen, son of Grand Prince Géza, was crowned on Christmas Day 1000 or New Year's Day 1001 with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester II. He turned Hungary into a Christian kingdom and is honoured today as Saint Stephen.
King Andrew II was forced by his nobles to issue the Golden Bull, one of the first documents in Europe to place limits on a king's power. It even gave nobles the right to resist a king who broke the law.
Mongol armies crushed the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi in April 1241 and ravaged the country. Up to half of the population may have died. Afterwards King Béla IV encouraged the building of stone castles, and nearly 100 new ones went up during his reign.
Matthias, son of the general John Hunyadi, was elected king. A Renaissance ruler and patron of learning, he built up a great library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, and a powerful standing army that even took Vienna.
On 29 August 1526 the Ottoman army of Suleiman the Magnificent destroyed the Hungarian army near Mohács. King Louis II died while fleeing, and the kingdom fell into chaos.
The Ottomans captured Buda, and Hungary was split into three parts: a Habsburg-ruled strip in the north and west, a Hungarian-ruled east that became the Principality of Transylvania, and an Ottoman province in the centre.
About 2,100 defenders led by István Dobó held the castle of Eger against a much larger Ottoman army. The siege became Hungary's great symbol of courage and patriotism.
After a siege from June to September 1686, an army of the Holy League led by the Habsburgs retook Buda, ending nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule over the old capital.
On 15 March 1848 crowds in Pest pushed through a list of twelve demands for reform. A war of independence against the Habsburgs followed, led by Lajos Kossuth, and was defeated in August 1849 with the help of Russian armies.
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise created the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary: two states with their own parliaments and capitals, sharing one monarch, Franz Joseph, and a common army and foreign policy.
The separate towns of Buda, Óbuda and Pest were officially united into one city with the new name Budapest. It grew quickly into one of the great cities of Europe.
On 4 June 1920, after the First World War, the Treaty of Trianon set Hungary's new borders. The country lost 71% of its territory and about two thirds of its population, and millions of Hungarians found themselves in neighbouring states.
On 23 October 1956 protests in Budapest grew into an uprising against the communist government and Soviet control. Soviet tanks crushed it in November. Thousands were killed and about a quarter of a million people fled the country.
On 19 August 1989 a border gate between Hungary and Austria near Sopron was opened during a peace picnic, and hundreds of East Germans crossed to the West. Hungary moved peacefully to democracy, with free elections in 1990.
On 1 May 2004 Hungary became a member of the European Union, five years after joining NATO. It joined the Schengen area in 2007.
Hungarian food is hearty and warming, built on meat, onions, sour cream and above all paprika, the ground red pepper that gives many dishes their colour. Lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day: it starts with a soup, followed by a main dish with a salad or pickles, and often ends with something sweet. Hungarians also love cakes and pastries, served in the cake shops called cukrászda.
A rich, red soup of beef, onions, potatoes and vegetables, seasoned with plenty of paprika and caraway. In Hungary gulyás is usually a soup, while a thicker meat stew is called pörkölt.
The word gulya means a herd of cattle, and gulyás means a cattle herder. The dish began as the meal of herdsmen on the great plains.
A bright red, hot and spicy soup of carp or mixed river fish, made with a strong fish broth and generous amounts of hot paprika.
Towns along the two big rivers have fierce rivalries over the right way to make it: the Paks version adds thin homemade pasta, while the Szeged version uses several kinds of fish.
Chicken slowly simmered in a creamy paprika sauce finished with sour cream, traditionally served with nokedli, small soft egg dumplings.
Paprikás dishes use meat, paprika and thick sour cream, while pörkölt has no cream and gulyás is much more liquid.
A thick stew of boneless meat, usually beef or pork, slowly cooked with plenty of onion and sweet paprika, with less liquid than goulash.
The word pörkölt means 'roasted'. A version made with mushrooms instead of meat is called gombapörkölt.
Cabbage or sauerkraut leaves rolled around minced pork, rice, onion and spices, slowly cooked in a pot with more sauerkraut and paprika, and served with sour cream on top.
Cabbage rolls are loved across Central and Eastern Europe, but the Hungarian version is known for its paprika and sour cream.
A thick stew of yellow peppers, tomatoes and onions cooked in lard or oil with paprika. It is eaten on its own with bread, with sausage, or as a side dish.
Lecsó is believed to have appeared in Hungary in the 19th century, and neighbours from Slovakia to Poland now make their own versions.
Small homemade noodles mixed with crumbled fresh curd cheese (túró), topped with thick sour cream and crispy fried bacon, then warmed in the oven.
The noodles were traditionally torn by hand into uneven pieces about the size of a fingernail.
Thin pancakes filled with a paprika stew of veal or other meat, rolled up and covered with the creamy sauce and a spoon of sour cream.
Despite its name, the dish has nothing to do with the Hortobágy region. It was invented for the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels.
A thick vegetable dish, somewhere between a soup and a stew, made with peas, beans, lentils, potatoes, squash or cabbage and thickened with a roux or sour cream. It is often eaten as the main course at lunch or as a side dish with meat.
Főzelék was long thought of as simple home cooking that seldom appeared on menus, but today there are even places that serve only főzelék.
A deep-fried flatbread, crisp outside and soft inside, rubbed with garlic and usually topped with sour cream and grated cheese.
The name comes from láng, the Hungarian word for flame. Lángos was once baked at the front of the bread oven while it heated up.
A pork salami spiced with white pepper and allspice, cured in cold air and slowly smoked. A fine white mould forms on the casing as it dries.
Winter salami from Szeged has had protected status in the European Union since 2007.
Thin layers of sponge cake filled with chocolate buttercream and crowned with a hard, shiny layer of caramel.
The confectioner József C. Dobos introduced the cake at the 1885 National Exhibition in Budapest. The caramel top kept it fresh for longer, so it could travel well.
A strip of sweet yeast dough wound around a wooden cone, rolled in sugar and roasted over charcoal until the sugar turns to a crisp caramel crust. It is often dusted with cinnamon or ground walnuts.
Its name comes from kürtő, meaning stovepipe: the hollow, steaming cake looks like a little chimney.
A chilled, sweet and slightly sour fruit soup made with sour cherries, served cold as a starter.
Cold fruit soups are one of the things about Hungarian food that surprise visitors most.
A rich, golden sweet wine made with grapes shrivelled by 'noble rot', a helpful mould that concentrates their sugar. Furmint is the main grape.
Tokaji has been called 'Wine of Kings, King of Wines' since the 18th century, and its nectar is mentioned in Hungary's national anthem.
A strong fruit brandy, most often made from plums, apricots, pears, apples or cherries, and often offered to guests when they arrive.
By law only fruit spirits made from fruit grown, distilled and bottled in Hungary (plus some Austrian apricot spirits) may be called pálinka. It is at least 37.5% alcohol, so anyone who does not drink can politely say no.
Budapest is by far the largest city, home to about one in six Hungarians. Beyond it lie proud regional centres: Calvinist Debrecen and sunny Szeged on the plain, Turkish-flavoured Pécs in the south, baroque Győr and Sopron in the west, and the wine towns of Eger and Tokaj in the north.
The capital, with about 1.7 million people, on both banks of the Danube. Hilly Buda with its castle lies on the west bank and flat, busy Pest on the east. The two towns and Óbuda were united in 1873.
Hungary's second-largest city, on the Great Plain in the east. It is the heart of Hungarian Calvinism, and during the revolution of 1848 to 1849 the end of Habsburg rule was declared in its Reformed Great Church.
The third-largest city, on the Tisza near the Serbian border. A great flood in 1879 destroyed almost the whole town, which then had to be rebuilt.
The fourth-largest city, in the north-east at the edge of the Bükk hills. It grew as a centre of heavy industry and includes the old town of Diósgyőr with its medieval castle.
A southern city on the slopes of the Mecsek hills, founded by the Romans as Sopianae. It has more Ottoman buildings than any other city in Central Europe, and a mosque on its main square that is now a church.
The main city of the north-west, halfway between Budapest and Vienna, where three rivers meet. Its old town is full of baroque houses and churches.
A baroque town between the Mátra and Bükk hills, famous for the castle whose defenders held off the Ottomans in 1552. It also has the northernmost Ottoman minaret.
A historic town right on the Austrian border, built on the Roman town of Scarbantia. In a 1921 vote the town chose to stay in Hungary, and it has been called 'the most loyal city' ever since.
A city on the Great Plain halfway between Budapest and Szeged. Its name comes from kecske, the Hungarian word for goat, and its centre has a fine group of Art Nouveau buildings.
The royal seat of medieval Hungary. Forty-three kings were crowned here and fifteen were buried here, including Saint Stephen, the first king.
A small city on the Danube facing Slovakia, 46 km north-west of Budapest. It was Hungary's capital from the 10th to the 13th century, and Saint Stephen is thought to have been born here.
A lively town of about 20,000 people on the western shore of Lake Balaton, and a popular base for summer holidays by the lake.
A huge neo-Gothic building on the Pest bank of the Danube, designed by Imre Steindl and opened in 1902. It is the largest building in Hungary and part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Budapest's Danube banks.
UNESCO World Heritage
The palace of the Hungarian kings on Castle Hill, first completed in 1265 and rebuilt many times. It was badly damaged in the Second World War and now holds the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest History Museum and the national library. The Castle Quarter is on the UNESCO list.
UNESCO World Heritage
A grand Neo-Baroque spa in Budapest's City Park, opened in 1913. It is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe, fed by two hot springs of about 74°C and 77°C.
Also called the Great Synagogue, it was built between 1854 and 1859 in a Moorish style inspired by the Alhambra. With 3,000 seats it is the largest synagogue in Europe, and the complex includes the Hungarian Jewish Museum and a memorial.
A Benedictine monastery on a hilltop south-east of Győr, founded in 996. Its library holds about 400,000 books, and it is the second-largest territorial abbey in the world after Monte Cassino.
UNESCO World Heritage
The puszta, a vast grassy plain west of Debrecen and Hungary's first national park, founded in 1973. It is the largest semi-natural grassland in Europe, grazed by grey long-horned cattle and horses watched by traditional herdsmen.
UNESCO World Heritage
Painted underground tombs and burial chapels from the 4th century, when Pécs was the Roman town of Sopianae. It is one of the most important Roman cemeteries outside Italy.
UNESCO World Heritage
Volcanic hills and old wine cellars around the town of Tokaj, about 54 km east of Miskolc, where the Tisza and Bodrog rivers meet. It is the home of Tokaji aszú, the world's oldest wine made from grapes with noble rot. The pin marks the town of Tokaj.
UNESCO World Heritage
A warm, spring-fed lake 8 km from Keszthely, and the largest thermal lake in Europe where you can swim. The water is about 33 to 35°C in summer and about 22°C in winter, and water lilies float on its surface.
The hilltop castle where István Dobó and his small garrison held off a huge Ottoman army in 1552. Today it houses museums about the famous siege.
The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture. It was first called the Magic Cube, and as of January 2024 around 500 million had been sold worldwide.
Budapest's Metro Line 1, opened in 1896 for the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarian conquest, was the first electrified underground railway on the European mainland. It still runs under Andrássy Avenue today.
Hungarians put the family name first. A man called Kovács István has the family name Kovács (Smith) and the given name István (Stephen), though most switch the order when speaking a foreign language.
Hungarian is not related to the languages of its neighbours. It belongs to the Uralic family and is distantly related to Finnish and Estonian.
Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, is 78 km long and covers about 600 km², but it is very shallow: on average only about 3.3 metres deep.
The biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi, born in Budapest, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with first isolating vitamin C.
László Bíró, a journalist born in Budapest, patented the first commercially successful modern ballpoint pen. In Britain and several other countries a ballpoint is still called a 'biro'.
The great escape artist Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, before his family emigrated to the United States.
Hungary's men's water polo team is considered the greatest power in the history of the sport. As of 2026 it had won 16 Olympic medals.
The first Hungarian Grand Prix in 1986 was the first Formula One race held behind the Iron Curtain. It has been part of the championship every year since.
The Széchenyi Chain Bridge, opened in 1849, was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary. It was designed by the English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by the Scot Adam Clark.
Hungary's highest mountain, Kékes, is only 1,014 metres high. Before 1920 the highest peak of the Kingdom of Hungary was Gerlachovský štít, which is now in Slovakia.
When the forint replaced the pengő on 1 August 1946, it removed 29 zeros. The pengő had suffered the worst hyperinflation ever recorded.
Pronunciation is written the way it sounds; the capital letters show where the stress goes. Audio is coming soon.
As of September 2026 Hungary uses the forint, not the euro. Where euros are accepted, change usually comes back in forints. Cards work in larger shops and restaurants, but small places may take cash only, so carry some forints. Cash machines are easy to find.
Some restaurants add a service charge (szervizdíj) of 10 to 12%, which must be shown on the menu, and then no tip is expected. Otherwise about 10% is usual. Hungarians tell the waiter the total they want to pay rather than leaving money on the table.
As of 2026, people aged 65 and over travel free on Budapest's public transport; a passport or ID card proves your age. Since March 2024 people aged 65 and older generally travel free on Hungary's trains and long-distance buses too. InterCity trains may need a paid seat ticket.
In Budapest, stamp a paper ticket at the entrance to the metro, or straight after boarding a bus, tram or trolleybus. One ticket covers changes between metro lines, but you need a new ticket when you change to another vehicle, such as from the metro to a tram. Inspectors give fines.
Some bars and restaurants that tourists are led to charge very high prices. Always ask to see the menu with prices, check the bill before you pay, and be careful if a taxi driver or a stranger recommends a bar.
Visitors must show ID if the police ask, and a photocopy is not accepted, so keep your passport with you.
Call 112 for police, ambulance or fire in Hungary.
Drive on the right. Hungary has zero tolerance for alcohol: you may not drink any alcohol at all before driving. Dipped headlights must be on outside towns even in daytime, and motorways need an e-vignette bought in advance.
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