Areas of interest for buying
 

Hi

We visited Hungary and totally fell in love with the country. We are looking into buying a small property in the near future and are going over again in summer to get a better sense of which areas we would consider. Obviously Hungary is a big country though and would like some advice so that we can narrow our search down. Sorry if any of what I say makes little sense...it is based on our short visit and research in the internet since.

*So we stayed at the Balaton and whilst we loved the amenities of the area.. not being water lovers we're not actually too bothered about being close to the lake. However, we would like to find a nice town/village with similar infrastructure as say Keszthely

*We speak both German and English and would like to find an area where these
languages are familiar

* Unless someone suggests otherwise I've been told that the Hungarian Great Plain can feel quite isolated.

*Guess it goes without saying that I would like the area to be safe.

Any recommendation of areas or even specific towns would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hi Feene and welcome to the forum.

A couple of areas spring to mind, though I am more familiar with one than the others.
Zalaegerszeg, it's the capital of county Zala and has an incredibly rich history, all the amenities you could ask for including water parks, theaters, markets, an outdoor ethno museum and numerous shops. The are is very pretty with hills, forests and several lakes and the location is ideal for travelling to Slovenia and Austria.

Another is the town of Gyor which is further North, the town itself has a lovely atmosphere and again, a rich history though I am not as familiar with this area but I'm sure somebody will be.

There is also Vesprem and Pecs though not sure if this is too far South for you - we have members near both of these towns so hopefully somebody will pop in soon and give you more "local" information about them.

Best of luck with whatever you decide :thumbsup:

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Thank you for that fast reply :regular_smile:


Can I just ask- Vesprem- is that the same as Veszprem? When I put it into google it automatically changes it.

Also, Is northern Hungary much different to Southern Hungary? We kind of drove through areas of both but is there a cultural difference like there is in other countries?

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hi Fenne, oops typo, yes Veszprem.

Will write more later as just leaving for the cinema but our personal experience of areas in the West is that there isn't a noticeable cultural difference. There might be localised customs though none we have found that impact on daily life or would cause us to differentiate between one area and another. My belief is that the cultural difference is greater in the East of the country.

There are however social and economical differences as well as attitudes towards foreigners.

Will write more later and hopefully some of the other members will be able to help.

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

My Hungarian relatives have previously told me that the western side of Hungary gets more investment than the eastern side. Not sure if it is because it is nearer to Austria.

My wife's family live in Malyi, near Miskolc, which is the 3rd largest town. Miskolc probably has the most awful skyline blotted by blocks of flats https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sk...2%3B1024%3B768
My experience of this area is not alot of Hungarian people speak English, mostly the younger generation have some knowledge but not alot of them. Some of my Hungarian relatives can speak English but rarely use it whenever I am over there! Not all restaurants in this area have a menu in English so if you like to eat out and have little knowledge of Hungarian you might end up eating something pretty revolting!

I am a frequent visitor to this side of Hungary courtesy of my wife being Hungarian. Miskolc is near the Bukk mountains. Properties in this area seem to be higher than average but maybe I am wrong as others on here will have more knowledge than myself.

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hi Feene

We live near Veszprem which is a large town of about 65000. You can find all the usual services here such as Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, shopping plaza, cultural centre etc. it has a very good library with an American Corner full of English books and clubs that you can join. Here you will find many people who can speak a little English so it is fairly easy to get by. Also German is fairly widely spoken due to the proximity to the Lake and the tourist trade. There are also many dual language schools if that is of any interest to you so many young people are learning English and German to a good level. It is also a convenient area to get access to the main motorway network. One of our considerations was to be within a reasonable driving distance of Budapest although we have good public transport system as well. We also have easy access to the Lake so it is a good location to have the best of all worlds.
If there is anything else you would like information about this area please let me know.
Cathy

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Thanks Cathy and Fen. Fenne, we also have members in Pecs and on the Plains who will hopefully be along soon to give you some info on that area and I'll reply in detail when I get back - it's only taken 3 hours for the five of them to agree on which film to watch!

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Ass others given resins for their preference to live in Hungary, I never considered other options' of others, but in my Hart and Mind I am wear I shall stay for in my passing away I will all ways remember part of this Famous Poem If I should die think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field, That is for ever England. There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore digger

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hi Feene,

My husband and I live about 12 km west from the historical city of Gyor. It is a very wealthy area and developed area for Hungary. The downside is that the houses etc. are more expensive. The advantages are that you are on the motorway. Budapest is about 75 minutes, Vienna is about 60 minutes, and Bratislava is about 45 minutes. This is worth bearing in mind when getting flights from/to UK. The landscape is relatively flat, but there are hillier areas to the south of Gyor. The Balaton takes about 2 hrs to get to.

Most Hungarians who speak a foreign language speak German as a result of the Audi factory being here. In fact most people assume we are German.

Prices of habitable houses are in the region of 8-9 mill upwards. For 30-35 mill you get something very nice.

I stop now, as I do not want to go on too long. If you have any querries then get back to me. My advice is to do your research very well before you jump into anything. Hungarian villages can seem very old fashioned ( think UK 40 years ago) and you could feel quite isolated if you do not speak the language.
Regards
LZ

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

I second what Cathy has said about Veszprem, living not too far from there myself. It all depends on exactly what you are looking for of course. I would be inclined to sit down and make a list of all the things which are important to you and then take it from there. And as with the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. Good luck :-)

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hello Feene

If you do have more time in the future suggest spend it driving around to get a feel of the place, its still a buyers market here and has been for some years so no rush. :teeth_smile:

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Wow thanks for all the replies. Has given me plenty to think about.

Richard- yes my plan is to drive about when we go over- just wanted to check that the assumptions I'd made were along the right lines

LZ-The isolation bit is exactly what worried me, and at the Balaton and Bdapest language was not a problem and want to make sure that it wouldn't be where we would buy. I'm realistic in that Ive heard hungarian is incredibly hard to learn .

Polgardi- I presume you are from Polgardi? Do smaller towns like that offer all you require?

Digger- not planning to pop my clogs just yet ;)

Cathy- Veszprem is sounding quite appealing and isn't far from where we are staying in summer so will check it out.

Fentiger- Can you recommend Buk as an area

Rural- hope you enjoyed the film.. whichever you finally chose:lol:

Finally- thanks to everyone for helping out a newbie to all of this.

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hello :-) You are right in your assumption. I would say no, smaller towns like Polgárdi would not be quite what you are looking for. Although it has a good infrastructure...banks, supermarket etc...unless you speak Hungarian it would be difficult. One of the main things that drew us to our town was proximity to the Lake and also the motorway and larger towns such as Szekesfehervar and Veszprem. It all depends on what you are looking for. Having visited other places in Hungary since living here, we now have the benefit of hindsight. I particularly like Pécs because I think it is beautiful and also for you, has many German speakers. But there are many great places in Hungary...like another poster said...just take your time :-)

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

Hi Feene

If you would like to pop in for a coffee whilst you are here give me a PM nearer the time. Best of luck.
Cathy

Re: Areas of interest for buying
 

As Fen says, the West is more economically advantaged with Zala and Vas counties coming just after Budapest. The North of the lake is, in my opinion, preferable to the South and the area between Balaton and Lake Valence is similar.
If money were no object and we had to pick somewhere to live, it would be either the area around Zalaegerszeg, in the hills heading towards the forests or the hills/mountains around Eger or perhaps even Tapolca.
An area I have been told is quite beautiful but never had time to visit yet is Sopron.