outward_Bound

Hi there, My Girlfriend is hungarian and while I have been to visit the country making a move there would be a much bigger leap for me. It is something I'm considering. This may be a silly question but is there an expat community in rural hungary or is it only in budapest? I quite like the idea of living in the countryside but it could be I would feel isolated as I dont speak hungarian. any advice/thoughts?

many thanks in advance

fidobsa

If you look at a few previous threads you will see there are some of us in rural parts of Hungary, particularly around the western end of lake Balaton.

outward_Bound

Thanks then I'll take a look. One last question : are there any organised events in which to meet others? Or it just done through forum.

scrubbedexpat0105

Have you ruled out trying to learn the language?

outward_Bound

No of course not but I dont think I will learn it easily or soon as I'm not so good with languages which is why i'm researching if english speaking people are around, cheers

Pollypaprika

Hi there,

A lot of the younger people do speak a bit of English, but on the whole I would say that in most rural parts of Hungary it is not spoken. In Budapest you would be fine and as the previous poster mentioned, there are some Brits at the west of Lake Balaton.

I suppose it all depends on where you think you will be moving to. The language barrier can be a problem and Hungarian is not an easy language to learn.

outward_Bound

Cheers Guys, Pretty much what I expected but good to have another opinion. thanks again

OGSG

The "Balaton Brits", as they call themselves, meet regularly around the Keszthely area though some do come from farther afield for the meeting.

What would you be hoping to do employment-wise?
You are welcome to inbox me if you don't want to reveal all on the wall.

judybaby

We have bought a house 20 mins south of Siofok. We are English and have been over here for a month waiting to move in. In that time we have been all over the place north of Lake Balaton.

Our experience so far is that when you are immersed in the language you start to pick some basics up. It is possible with much gesturing, pointing, charades and laughing to get across what you are saying. Most of the Hungarian people we have met have been really nice and try their best to be helpful. Including one
older man in a village driving, with us following him, all through the village to help us buy a gas bottle fitting.

Most people speak German, but few older people speak English.

So far life here is both great and frustrating in equal measure, but with the trees and fields all green and lovely and the sun shining, we are happy to come over.

I'm sure things will be up and down from time to time, but when the sun shines problems all seem a little bit less stressful. Crack open a bottle of cheap vino and relax, that usually does the trick!

Rural Hungary

Hi Outward and welcome to the Hungarian forum.

There is a large number of Brits living in the area around the West end of Balaton.
It can feel quite isolating, especially if not retired, as the number of younger Brits (no offence to anybody) living here is still quite small in comparison to other countries such as Spain, France etc. That said, in the years we have been here, we have noticed a slight increase in the number non retirees coming to Hungary.
I believe you are in a position to have "a year out" and that would be ample time to see how you cope with the language and consider possible employment opportunities (should you require employment).
If it is only for the year, Hungary is a fairly inexpensive place to spend some down time and explore the country and the culture.

As the forum concierge for Hungary, if you need any help navigating your way around, feel free to ask me on the forum or via PM.

outward_Bound

Good question and thanks. I work in a Uk city now so I think I would really struggle to gain employment outside of Budapest. That's not to say I couldn't or wouldn't be interested in that though and still live in the country.

outward_Bound

it sounds great. May i ask if you used a website to find your house before you bought or was your search on the ground

outward_Bound

Many thanks. Yes one option is for me to take a year out but it wasn't a plan to do that in hungary, then again why not i suppose. I'm still looking into that idea. The current suggestion is to try and find a house that we can make a small living out of. any ideas on any websites? If we done that I would probably have to work away for another few years so we could buy a place outright but the thought of living pretty much self sufficiently is very very appealing right now

judybaby

We found our house through an agent, who we are happy with, but there are several out here.

Do a search on Google, some agents restrict themselves to certain areas and the country is so beautiful it really depends on what type of location you want and what your budget is.

Flat, hilly, near the lake which gets really busy in summer or, a quieter more rural spot, the north east is really lovely but more expensive as it's near Austria.

Where we have bought is a poorer region but we anticipate it becoming a bit better off over the next few years. Tourism and EU investment will hopefully continue.

Wherever you decide, don't rush in, take your time to choose a location and use your own lawyer, this is VERY important. We didn't but wish we had!

Judy

Rural Hungary

Hi Judy, don't think he is at the stage of buying property yet and I wouldn't recommend the North East or they'll end up near the Ukrainian or Romanian border