Hungarian Forint and U.S. Dollar, Please Advise
 

Hello!

I will be traveling to Budapest for two weeks, but I am unfamiliar with Hungarian forints. I have been to European countries that use the Euro, but this is my first time to Hungary. With the Euro, I have a feel for what I need to get out of the ATM because the exchange rate is relatively close to the U.S. dollar. The Hungarian forint exchange rate is very significant. Could you please offer advice on how much spending money in Hungarian forints I should get out of the ATM? I will also be using credit cards while I am there. I also need to know what to expect as far as costs. Are costs relatively comparable after accounting for the exchange rate from Hungarian forint to U.S. dollar (dinner, souvenirs, beer/wine) or will I benefit from the exchange rate? Please let me know. Any advice will be much appreciated!

Thank you all in advance for your responses!

I would take out the equivalent of $200 at a time (there is no difficulty in finding ATMs) or between 40,000 and 50,000 forints if I figured this right.

The forint has been devalued from 250 for a € to now 300 in just a few weeks/months. In the countryside, lodging is generally cheap with renovated rooms. It's not difficult right to get a 25€ room in most places. It's generally cheaper than in CZ now. (2 weeks ago) Supermarket food is imported from Germany, even the most basic stuff and is priced at about the same, yet prices in restaurants are much lower. (about 60% of what I pay at home).

www.coinmill.com for correct FOREX exchange

$4.50=1000 Forints currently

Best to use no foreign fee Credit Cards Visa capitalone.com

for me there big bank ATMs only for exchange many

skimmers scammers over there intercontinental.com best

bidding priceline.com for me there from $55 or so.

Hold on to your dollars as long as you can

Exchange rates are getting better daily

travel.state.gov for a heads up restaurant scams are a pain

insuremytrip.com always wise...

Happy Travels!

One thing I wish we had known is to request an "odd" amount at the ATM.
IIRC, we requested 40,000 HUF and received two 20,000 bills.
These large bills were not welcomed for small purchases.

It'd be like requesting $200 at ATM and getting two $100 bills.

Lucky you to be there for two weeks ~ we only had two days but loved it!

We were in Budapest 2.5 years ago, and back then 1USD = 215HUF.

I just checked XE.com, current rate is 1USD = 222HUF.

So, no significant change as far as I can tell.

Museum admissions are around 1000-2000HUF, depending on which one.

Public transport - 2800HUF for a 10-ride coupon http://www.bkv.hu/en/single_tickets

Food - anywhere between a few hundred HUF for snacks, to a few thousand for a sit down dinner.

I was in Hungary last month and for the sake of easy math I used the exchange of 200 HUF to each US$. Think of 1000 HUF as a $5 bill. I found Hungary to be considerably less expensive than most countries that use the euro.

Food drink and spas are very reasonable, rack rates in hotels are high, use Booking.com or similar to get price down to more reasonable. I also thin there is a bit of hotel star inflation in Budapest so I find a 4 star is like a 3 star in western europee.

If I do Budapest as a day trip from Vienna, can it be done without getting Forint? It means paying for lunch and a few entrances using Euro or CC. Otherwise, I would need to get Forint and then convert left over Forint back to Euro.

greg, only a handful of places would accept Euro in Budapest; mostly expensive touristy restaurants. You should be able to use CC at most places. You'd be much better off just getting enough forint from the ATM to cover your expenses, and whatever's leftover use it for souvenirs or save it for your next trip to Hungary.

You could convert extra HUF bills for €'s when you return to Vienna but get rid of the coins before leaving Hungary as they cannot be converted. If nothing else you can put the Hungarian bills AND coins in the charity envelope on the flight home.

Hello. I too had the same question, so I appreciate you all answering. I also learned that a lot of the owners renting apartments will charge you in euros rather than HUF.

Vee Dubb, if you would like a travel buddy for a few hours on your trip let me know. I will be there the same time as you the wk of the 17th.

A lot of Hungarian mortgages were taken out in Euros and even Swiss, given collapse of Forint, since the mortgage, the renters may well want Euros

Go to www.oanda.com and print out the currency chart for travellers. It is small enough to carry in your wallet or pocket. You tell it which currencies you want to compare, i.e. forint and dollar. You can customize it so you can see how many dollars it takes to buy a forint, and vice versa. It gives values of, I think, 1-20, then in increments of 5. I use the site for every trip, even when it's only euros, since that exchange rate fluctuates some.

Better yet, if you have an iphone or ipad, get a currency app.