If you are planning to travel to Hungary, read interesting and funny facts about Hungary. Some of them will surprise or amuse you, and some will broaden your horizons. In conversations with friends, I hear that many people know little about Hungary. And all they can say is Budapest and Ikarus. Now we will correct this misunderstanding.
Interesting and unusual facts about Hungary, Budapest and Hungarians
No. 1. Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages in the world. There are more exceptions than rules here. The alphabet has two letters A, but in total there are 44 letters, 25 cases and very long words with a large number of consonants. During World War II, soldiers joked that it was easier to capture half of Hungarian cities than to pronounce their names. What is Székesfehérvár worth?
No. 2. The longest word in the Hungarian language consists of 44 letters: megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért. Its meaning is approximately this (there are several translations): “because I want to preserve my reputation.” For example, this word can explain your refusal to take a bribe.
- About the Hungarian language for tourists or how to survive in Budapest.
No. 3. The Rubik’s cube and the ballpoint pen were invented by the Hungarians, and they are also sure that matches were invented too. Although there are questions with matches, the French believe that they are.
No. 4. Surprisingly, among all those who have ever received the Nobel Prize, most of them are Hungarians. Hungarians have been nominated in all areas in which it is awarded except for the Peace Prize.
And then there will be facts about Hungary that may even help you create the right route and organize your dream trip to this country.
No. 5. Hungary has no access to the sea, but it has its own Hungarian sea – Lake Balaton. This is the largest lake in central Europe and the shallowest in all of Europe. It is also called the main European puddle. With an area of 600 sq. km. its average depth is less than 3 meters.
No. 6. Hungary has the world’s largest thermal lake. The water is above 30 degrees all year round, and in the summer it’s +36. I swam in it and it’s very cool.
No. 7. Let’s continue about thermal springs. For many, the thermal baths of Hungary are only the Széchenyi Baths in Budapest. But how about this interesting fact about Hungary: there are more than 65,000 thermal springs (across the country) and 1,300 of them are equipped with baths and can be visited. Budapest alone has 13 huge thermal spas that are no worse than the Széchenyi Baths.
No. 8. Budapest is the only capital in the world that has the official status of a resort city. Just because of the large number of medicinal thermal baths, in Hungarian – fürdő.
No. 9. In Hungary there is a national joyful holiday that is celebrated a week before Christmas and it is called “Pig’s Wake”. Previously, they slaughtered a pig for this holiday so that there would be meat for Christmas and New Year, but now they buy pork in the store. But on the table that day there are only pork dishes.
- Review of Hungarian holidays. Find out how Hungarians celebrate Christmas and New Year.
No. 10. Next, also about the cuisine: Hungarian cuisine is tasty and satisfying, there is a lot of meat and in general the food is fatty and nutritious. In addition to dishes that everyone will definitely like, such as goulash and paprikash, there are also some that are not quite familiar to us. The national Hungarian dish is Túrós csusza: dough dumplings or noodles, with cottage cheese (sometimes even sweet) and fried cracklings.
No. 11. Did you notice facts about Hungary No. 9 and 10? About a pig’s wake and a dish of cracklings. So, according to statistics, Hungarians are world leaders in lard consumption per capita per year. Since the statistics are annual, there are years when the Hungarians are surpassed by the Danes, but in general the world leadership in this matter belongs to the Hungarians.
I haven’t checked the statistics personally. For my part, I will say that Hungarians eat a lot of lard. They smoke it and roll it in paprika. Not for everyone, of course, but there is no arguing about tastes.
No. 12. Hungary is a country of wines. You all know the famous Tokaji wine, which has the highest PDO classification, this is when the brand is protected by the region of production, and no one else in the world can produce this wine anywhere else. There are 31 regions in Hungary with PDO classification. There are a huge number of cool wines here.
- Everything about alcoholic drinks and wines in Hungary, where to find private wineries with cellars.
No. 13. The Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest is one of the largest buildings in Europe and the largest in Hungary. In order for the building to fit completely into the frame, the photo must be taken from the opposite side of the Danube, or use wide-angle lenses.
No. 14. A little bit about math. The Buda Castle in Budapest was built in the 13th century; in the capital of Hungary there are many churches from the 14th-15th-16th centuries, and indeed buildings of that period. At the same time, on November 17, 2023, Budapest celebrated its 150th anniversary. It’s a big holiday and a big anniversary, but something doesn’t add up, right? Budapest was founded only in 1873, by merging three separate cities: Óbuda, Pest and Buda. And today Buda and Pest are districts of the capital.
No. 15. Pseudo-fact about Hungary. Hungarians believe that the famous “Donkey March” for piano was invented by a Hungarian composer. More often this composition is known as the “Flea Waltz”. But literally 15 years ago, historians agreed that this composition was written by the German composer Ferdinand Lo. The Hungarians do not agree with this and continue to think that this is their doing. How it really happened, who knows.
No. 16. Interesting fact about Hungary: only the bedrooms are heated. Yes, this is true, and I’ll also add on my own behalf that there is no central heating in the country. There is gas and gas boilers, and residents themselves regulate the temperature in the converters. And this is not everywhere, but only in large cities. So apartments in Hungary are quite cool; in winter a jacket would be useful.
No. 17. The global trend of opening trendy drinking establishments began in Budapest. In 2002, a ruin bar was opened here in the Jewish quarter, which was originally planned for demolition. And he immediately became mega popular. Today there are already dozens of ruin bars in Budapest and you can easily visit the one where it all began.
No. 18. For those who are older. Two things from Hungary’s past are yellow Ikarus buses and Globus canned peas. And if the production of buses, already electric, still continues, the Globus factory ceased to exist about 5 years ago.
The Globus trademark was bought by Bonduelle, the peas themselves are bought from farmers in southern Europe, and the tins are bought from China. Therefore, the only Hungarian ones are your memories.
In conclusion: I hope you liked our selection of “interesting facts about Hungary”, learned a lot of new things, planned a visit to Lake Heviz and tasting Túrós csusza.
IMPORTANT: Below are useful links that will help organize your trip to Hungary and Budapest:
- Flight: WayAway – compares prices for flights among 30+ airlines flying to Budapest.
- Tours and excursions:
- Viator and GetYourGuide – the best services for finding tours in Budapest and Hungary with the largest database of activities in Hungary. They offer river cruises on the Danube, tickets to baths, and 1000+ tours (available in different languages).
- Accommodation, apartments, hotels, hostels:
- TripAdvisor – compares the prices among dozens of other booking services and offer the best price
- Trip.com – the most popular booking platform
- Car rental: DiscoverCars and LocalRent – the leading and largest car rental services in Hungary.
- Travel Insurance: EKTA.
- eSIM – Airalo virtual SIM card in Hungary.
- Taxi and airport transfers: Intui.Travel