Planning to move to Budapest

Hello Purabi Ellis,

How about a brief introduction of yourself for starters?

You could also ask more precise questions regarding Budapest on this thread. 

Furthermore, you can browse the other forums to gather the maximum info kindly refer to the link below.

>Cost of living in Budapest

>Everyday life in Budapest

Best regards,
Gavind

Lemme check these links out. Thanks a ton

Hungary is a great country to live, work and enjoy life. Hungarians really like indians and indian food.  Trust me, this is my experience, being a proud indian, living here for almost 5 years.

The cost of living is not really high in Budapest, compared to western europe.

English is well spoken in the city center and in budapest and by most of young hungarians.

Movies are shown dubbed in hungarian If you want to go see english movies, go to Mom park cinema city to see original english.

You can relax by taking a walk/run along the danube river (buda and pest sides). The panoramic views at night of chain bridge, buda castle, parliament are truly amazing and you will get tired of looking at it.

Summer is truly awesome in deak main square, you will see tons people chilling out near aqvarium
District 7 has fantastic night life, to chill out and socialise with friends and foreigners. Goszdu udvar in kiraly utca is the place to be :J

Shopping malls are closed on sundays. You can visit west end, Alee or Mammut in the city centre.

Budapest a is probably a very safe city, even you see lots of people partying and many shops to eat food open all night (should you be hungry).

There are about 20 indian restaurants around budapest. I used to take some of my foreign friends there to get a taste of india. There is also a small indian community here.

Margarit island is the place to go for picnic, jogging in summer. There is a music fountain show in summer which is
great to watch!

Hungary is not a great country nor a great place to live. As an entrepreneur I have solid reasons for being here. But don't delude yourself. Hungarians brag tremendously, but the country has fallen way behind other Eastern European states like the Czech Republic or even Slovakia. The work ethic is poor and commitment to quality is weak. If you have lived in great cities in Western Europe like London or Paris or in the States, it is a step down. The government is autocratic and has skewed the system in its favor to make it easy to be re-elected.

I buy, renovate and create great apartments, but I cannot say the city lives up to my requirements.

longtermbudapestrentals.com/

gosubmit wrote:

Hungarians really like .... indian food.

I, for one, can not imagine anyone not liking Indian food. But it can be difficult, at times, to trust what people say here is actually what they are thinking:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 76#2717261

gosubmit wrote:

Trust me, this is my experience, being a proud indian, living here for almost 5 years.

We each of us can only advise based on our experiences.

I first arrived in Hungary in 1998. Am married to a lovely Hungarian woman. Have lived here full time for years. As for myself, I still find part?/some?/most? of Hungary and Hungarians an amazing enigma, wrapped in a riddle, surrounded by a mystery.

For a moment I might believe I understand. But then --- actually, nope, I don't.

I feel the same way about Hungarians and I have been around them for over 4 decades.
I have been married to my HU husband for more then 40 years and he is still a mix of liberal and red neck, never know which personality I am going to be dealing with on a day to day bases.
Most of my neighbors and HU connections are the same way, never really had a good girlfriend or friend that was a Hungarian.
I helped many get jobs in Calif. Opened several businesses with Hungarians, everything from machine shops, carpet cleaning co. and import/export. Never again!!
They tend to put their views ahead of what is best for everyone.
Live in Budapest, going home to the US soon for a visit and may well just chuck it in and return home in the future.
Gave it a good shot here, owed our flat for over 10 years.
Many things in HU are fantastic but somethings like feeling like you may fit in one day will never happen.
Many HU we have known in the US have moved back to HU to retire, they even travel the world but always to see other Hungarians, not really open to other people from other cultures.
I meet one of my second cousins and her husband 2 years ago at a family reunion in Poland.
My cousin and her husband were both born in Hungary and are now doctors in the UK.
She looked very much like my deceased older sister, could tell we were family but her attitude was so stand off.
Other relations from the US were also professionals and were very open and kind.
Her husband and mine spoke Hungarian together at the reunion but they still held their heads a bit too high for everyone in the group.
I even found out my great aunt lives near me in Budapest but never got word back from my cousin about seeing her. I think they were snobby because they felt they were more educated then some of the rest of us. I find that attitude common in HUngary, one thing I do not enjoy about here, very much aware of money and education status of others. Even our old HU friends from the US that used to sleep on the floor in my husband flat in NY , he gave them a place to rest their unemployed heads for months, now here in HU act like they are super stars. Way to snobby for us, Not real honest with each other or others, all is for show,
.Can't live around fake people, time to move on. If you do not speak Hungarian even if you are Hungarian they just will never take you in.

Hey thanks for the post! Am no more planning to move there. Am already in Bali. However, thanks for the feedback

My big objection to the Hungarians is that their arrogance is not matched by accomplishment. The country has been largely a flop over the last hundred years. After WWI the country sank into authoritarianism and persecuted its Jewish population. After the Wall fell in 1989, Hungary failed to build a modern state. Yes, they have a lot of attitude and are unfriendly to boot.

We spent many wonderful long family vacations in Hungary around the years 2000 to 2005.
It looked so promising here in Hungary, people were stylish in their dress, new shops were open and it felt exciting on the streets.
Now I notice more second hand clothing shops then nice fashion stores, not counting the over priced shops in the malls.
Small boutiques  and one of a kind stores are hardly seen now.
It's either high end or low end or second hand.
Sort of sad because Hungary had a chance to really shine.
Not sure what happened exactly expect greed had to be behind the downfall of  a bright new Hungary.
Heartbreaking to see the many changes over the past 35 or so years I have been either visiting or living in Hungary.
My son became a HU citizen and was so proud of doing so. He still tells anyone in the US who will listen all about Hungary, really all he can talk about is long past glory.
Such a small and wonderful country should of tried harder to be something special, I do not know anything about politics and don't really want to understand back stabbing, greed and underhand deals but the results are clear to see in any case.The EU seems not to be the best for a small unique country like Hungary.
They must follow their rules but since Hungary has not been a power player for a long time, they seem to give more then they get.
I love the history of proud strong Hungarians but wonder where they are these days.

Czech standard of living is 40% higher. There are three factors, culture, economic policy, and loss of human capital. Hungary is near the bottom of Europe in ease of doing business according to the World Bank. Secondly, the culture is resistant to change, closed minded, and the work ethic is poor (percentage of population working is one of the lowest in Europe). Finally, Hungary has never recovered from the loss of its Jewish population, which provided a lot of the country's intellectual and economic muscle.

Second hand shops are booming everywhere. I have just been visiting some wealthy hot spots in the UK and the main streets are being taken over by charity and second hand places.
The high streets everywhere are sinking because they can't match internet sales prices and the consumer is in charge.
I have not been in Hungary   that long but to me there is a big gap between city slickers and countrybumpkins. A much wider gulf than in the UK.
I still don't know enough about Hungarians to judge the general character. Most of the people I have met are friendly. People that work for you seem to be less respectful and prone to start off well and then become bone idle.

Yes, like Anns has stated, hard to get an honest days work from workers for an honest days pay here.
Even in the US the many Hungarians we know are either work addicts or lazy.
No middle ground at all.
They either know every scam to collect free benefits or pull off a major white collar crime or they are working 12 hour days and paying their taxes on time.
Had a few small business in the US with HU partners, actually had in total 5 people in 3 different ventures, 2 were good and the other 3 ripped us off here and there even though we were partners.
I worked in an "old school" style Las Vegas casino a decade ago.
It was owned by one Cowboy family at that time and not a corp. owned casino.
If you worked hard and followed their rules they would do anything to help you out in your personal life, I actually worked at a few casinos that still operate that way even if they are corp. owned( give you days off for family issues without reporting it, just show your respect by working an extra day here and there if needed.)
The bosses are still from the old days and respect is everything between bosses and employees.
Well I worked with 2 Hungarians on my day shift. They both left the job for better things without giving the bosses notice or the time of day.They both were good at their jobs but forgot to give respect to others.Respect will get you further then talent in that industry.
I helped my HU DIL get hired at that same casino after I was no longer working there. She plus those other 2 gave them such a bad taste in their mouth that there was an unofficial rule floating around to not hire anyone from Hungary. They have since sold that casino ,not sure if they held onto that policy with their one remaining holding.
Had a brand new water heater sitting in our flat for over a year, my husband couldn't do the job alone and was not up for hiring anyone to help out.
Finally had a neighbors son help out for pay, he was a plumber,My husband said he was rough and broke up too much plaster doing the job, in a hurry to finish quickly.
If you plan on doing any repairs in Hungary, don't be shocked if it costs more and takes longer then expected.

Hello everyone,

The OP said that she is not moving in Budapest anymore. I am now closing this thread. I would invite you to start a new thread to share your expat experience on the forum, but please remember we surely do not want to start topics that will generate arguments or controversial debates.

Thank you for your contribution.