Nine things first-time visitors to Budapest get wrong

None of these are disasters. They are the small, specific, repeated ways a good trip here costs more or delivers less than it should.

1. Tipping on top of a service charge

A 12–15% service charge is added by default in a large share of Budapest restaurants, printed on the bill as *szervízdíj*. If it is there, you have already tipped. Adding ten per cent on top means paying about a quarter more than you meant to. Check the bill first — this is the single most expensive mistake on the list, and almost everyone makes it.

2. Paying in euros

Hungary uses the forint. Where euros are accepted, the rate is set by the shop and it is not a good one. Pay in forints, and when a card terminal offers to bill you in your own currency, decline — that conversion is always worse than your bank's.

3. Changing money on Váci utca

The booths advertising "0% commission" in the tourist streets make their margin in the rate instead. Use a bank ATM, or an exchange office away from the main drags, and always ask what you will actually receive before handing anything over.

4. Using a normal ticket on the 100E airport bus

The 100E requires its own dedicated ticket. A single, a travelcard and the Budapest Card are all invalid on it. The fine is not the point; the argument at the door with your luggage is.

5. Buying single transport tickets

Almost every visitor is better off with a 24- or 72-hour travelcard. It costs less than a handful of singles, and it removes the validation problem — which is the other way people meet an inspector.

6. Following someone into a bar

The one persistent scam in this city: a friendly stranger on a central street suggests a nearby bar, and the bill arrives at several times what was ordered. It is specific, well documented and easily avoided. Choose the bar yourself.

7. Going to Széchenyi at midday on a Saturday

The most famous bath, at the busiest possible hour. Weekday, early morning or late afternoon, and ideally in cold weather.

8. Booking a room facing a courtyard in District VII

District VII is where the ruin bars are, and a courtyard-facing room can be loud until four in the morning. The listing will not mention this. Ask which way the room faces.

9. Expecting a lift

Nineteenth-century Budapest apartment buildings frequently have five floors and no lift, and "second floor" here means what other countries call the third. If you have a heavy suitcase or a buggy, check before you book rather than at the door.