Weak forint and strong Euro

Euro Forint HungaryThe Forint is jumping up and down, and currently it is quite weak, at least compared to the Euro. Compared to ther currencies it is doing quite well, but the fact is that the Euro is strong at the moment. This morning as I checked out my desktop I saw that 1 Euro = 283,6 Forints, which is quite a lot. Half a year ago I always thought of 1 Euro as 250 forints, and it was a period when 1 Euro was worth 230 forints. These differences can mean quite a lot of money, even for small customers as you and I.

Euro – Forint
In McDonalds
If you want to buy a menu in McDonalds it will cost you appx. 1060 forints. On a day when the Forint was at its strongest that would cost you 4,6 Euro. Now, as the Euro is strong it would cost you 3,7!

In Sir Lancelot
Normally someone visiting Sir Lancelot uses around 6500 forints. On a strong Forint day that would mean around 28 Euro, but on a strong Euro day (as it is today) that would mean 23 Euro.

Tickets for Mamma Mia concert in Budapest
The most expensive tickets cost 16,900 Ft. On a strong Forint day that means around 73 Euro, but on a strong Euro-day it would be 60 Euro.

As you can see the differences are quite big, so for people visiting Hungary coming from Euro nations these are good news. For Hungarians going abroad these news are not so good, at least if they travel as the Euro is as strong as it is now!

Currency and changing money in Budapest

Smog restrictions removed

car budapestThe smog alert we wrote about yesterday has been removed, so from today all cars can drive freely in Budapest again. According to statistics not to many followed the restrictions telling that only cars with paired licenseplates could drive yesterday. 1/3 of the cars in Budapest yesterday were cars using impaired licenseplates, and 2/3 of the cars were using paired licenseplates, meaning that they were allowed to drive.

As they measured at several points in the city yesterday they saw that the quality of the air was more than good enough, and therefore they decided to allow everyone to use their cars again, starting today!

Budapest Transportation Guide

Increasing number of tourists coming to Hungary

Hungarian State OperaI heard on the news this morning that an increasing number of tourists came to visit Hungary in 2008. Around 9,5 million tourists visited Hungary last year. That was an increase, but at the same time the amount of nights spent in Hungary in average has gone a little bit down. This might be due to the economical problems, but then, who knows?

Most tourists come to visit Budapest, but Balaton also draws a lot of tourists in the summer time. To find a good hotel in that area visit our hotelpage, and select Lake Balaton or Wellness hotels from the city-menu.

The picture on the top-right shows a picture from the inside of the Hungarian State Opera, a place loads of tourists and Hungarian visit every year.