Safety in Hungary

Overall: The country is very calm and even a night walk through the middle of the capital raises no concern. Do not switch off entirely in crowds though, particularly on the busy tourist routes like tram 2.

Pickpockets: Professional thieves work Váci utca and the metro, using crushes to lift wallets. Keep your bag in front of you and never put valuables in a back pocket.

Money changing: Avoid street touts offering "the best rate, no commission". You will typically be handed old notes withdrawn from circulation, or simply short-changed because you do not yet recognise forint denominations.

Taxis: Never get into an unmarked car waiting at a station. Use the official apps only, or a short trip can cost five times what it should thanks to a doctored meter.

Restaurant bills: Sometimes menu prices are per hundred grams rather than per portion, which you discover only when the bill arrives. Always check the total and the line items in busy tourist areas.

At the baths: Watch your belongings and never leave a phone by the pool. Use the lockers or safes, which are opened by an electronic wristband, and do not hand that band to anyone.

Budapest is calm by day and has one famous night-time scheme that several embassies warn about.

The "konzumlány" bar scam. It works like this: one or two friendly women with excellent English approach a lone man in the street or a bar and offer to show him "a great place". Drinks are ordered, the bill climbs into hundreds of thousands of forints, and security appears at the exit to escort you to a cash machine. The scheme has run for decades around Váci utca, Gyula and Vörösmarty Square. The rule: do not go to a bar with someone who approached you first.

Taxis. Only yellow-plated taxis on the single official tariff are legal in Budapest, and hailing is not the custom. From the airport, the official Főtaxi service has a desk in arrivals. Everything else means overpaying.

Exchange offices. Rates in the centre are poor and commission is hidden. Change at banks or at offices whose boards show buy and sell rates together.

Ruin bars. Honest in themselves, but the crush attracts pickpockets, and the bill is worth checking.

ATMs. Decline the machine's currency conversion.

Zero alcohol at the wheel. Absolute, without exception. Hungary is stricter about this than most of its neighbours.

Public transport. Validate the ticket on entry; inspectors in yellow armbands work the metro exits. The on-the-spot fine is substantial.

Drugs. The law is severe and possession of any quantity is criminal. There is no leniency for tourists.

Street drinking. Central Budapest imposes restrictions, and districts VI and VII ban takeaway alcohol sales during certain night-time hours.

The baths. Széchenyi, Gellért and Rudas have rules: a cap in the lap pool, separate zones and hours, and compulsory flip-flops. Offenders are escorted out.

Drones. Registration is compulsory, and flights over central Budapest and the Danube are prohibited.

Smoking. Banned indoors, at transport stops and in underpasses.

Documents. Carry a passport copy; the original is asked for at check-in and on trains.

Vaccinations. None mandatory. For woodland trips, discuss tick-borne encephalitis vaccination: Hungary is within the risk zone.

Water. Tap water is drinkable nationwide.

The thermal baths. The local speciality and the local risk. The water at Széchenyi and Rudas is hot and heavily mineralised, and it loads the heart and circulation. The rules: no more than twenty minutes in a hot pool, never combined with alcohol, and check with a doctor first if you have hypertension or heart problems. Fainting in the baths is commonplace.

Ticks. The season runs April to October, with risk in the Pilis and Bükk forests.

Healthcare. Decent standards at moderate prices. Emergency care on 112 is available to everyone; beyond that, foreigners are billed. Budapest has private clinics working in English. Hungarian dentistry is a medical tourism industry in its own right with a good reputation.

Pharmacies. Gyógyszertár, with round-the-clock duty pharmacies in every Budapest district.

Hungary sits mid-table in Europe on corruption, but it affects tourists little: there is no street bribery.

Numbers. 107 for police, 112 for the European line, 104 for ambulance.

Tourist police. Patrols oriented toward foreigners work central Budapest and speak English.

The bar scam and the police. An important detail: these venues operate formally within the law, with prices in small print on the menu. The police cannot always help, and recovering money from your bank on the basis that you paid by card yourself is close to impossible. The only reliable protection is not getting into the situation.

Reporting theft. Reports are taken and certificates for insurers issued. The process is slow but functional.

Traffic police. Many speed traps, and dipped headlights are compulsory outside built-up areas. Fines are issued on the spot.

Languages. Hungarian resembles nothing else, but English is widely spoken in Budapest, as is German.