tonymac83

Hi everyone!

I'm looking at selling up and moving to Hungary and starting my own campsite business. Only really just started researching the requirements, areas etc.

Was just wondering if anyone has done this before or knows someone who has? As any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks, tony

Rural Hungary

Hi Tony and welcome to the forum. I've sent a reply to your email and will post more on here asap - bank holiday at the moment.

Pollypaprika

Hi Tony,

I don't know anyone personally who has done this but the success of your idea will depend on the area you choose. There are already campsites around Lake Balaton and unless you got a prime site on the Lake it could be tricky. You certainly would not be able to run it all year round. Each year I see businesses start and fail around the Lake...there one season...gone the next. Of course the other thing you would need to be aware of is the mind boggling tax system in Hungary for businesses...there is another thread on here which deals with this.

Hopefully other people on the forum can provide you with more insight for your plans. In my experience most people come to Hungary and after living here for a short while end up doing something completely different than they first planned. Which is not necessarily a bad thing :-)

The one thing I always tell people is that Hungary is not France or Spain, its a completely different beast...so you cannot apply the same mindset to Hungary as you would most other places...but that's just my personal opinion . Good luck with your plans

tonymac83

Thanks for the reply Polgardi.

It's always been what I've wanted to do (own a campsite), want to start off very small and maybe progress it, seeing Hungary as a place to do it. I travelled Europe (11 countries this year) and found Hungary to be one of the best places!

I'm not going there to make money, I'm going to do something that I've always wanted to do and to have a more relaxed and better quality of life ie grow veg, have a few small animals etc!

If you think of anymore areas that might be of interest, please let me know!

Cheers, tony

Pollypaprika

Following your bliss....that's great. Good for you and I wish you all the best.

fidobsa

This will need very careful research as you do need to find the right location. Camping does not seem that popular with Hungarians themselves and the majority of campers I've seen fit into 2 distinct groups:

1) Camper vans, mainly German but with a few Italians, Austrians, French etc.
2) Touring cyclists with tents.

These 2 groups will have very different requirements but you probably need to attract both to have a viable site. It would probably be best to visit a few existing sites to see what's on offer and talk to the other campers.
A site near Budapest should do well, as most tourists want to include a day or so in the capital as part of their visit to Hungary.

tonymac83

Cheers Pol!

And totally agree with you fid. We stayed in a few sites around the north and west, these areas being accessible to Bratislava, Budapest, balaton etc.

We noticed that sites were very basic but always had a good amount of people staying (and as you say - german campervans probably the most common).

Currently researching 'the competition' to compare services and costs to get a better idea of how to get our campsite to work!!

Any other info would be greatly appreciated and thanks for your reply!

FenTiger

The other day I was talking to a Hungarian friend from Budapest about cycling around Lake Balaton and his option was to camp rather than B&B which I took as meaning it's alot cheaper for Hungarians but I honestly couldn't tell you if they are into camping as much as other Europeans. If it was my Hungarian brother-in-law, his 2 sons and myself cycling around Lake Balaton I'm 100% certain they'd opt for B&B! As far as I know my Hungarian nephews have not been camping since they were kids!

Have you considered providing the tents with all the camping gear, i.e. cooking facilities, beds, etc and a fridge? (similar to KeyCamps and Eurocamps).

One thing I think you should consider providing is WiFi. Not sure if other campsites provide this.

Rural Hungary

We stayed in several campsites around the lake and Vesprem and the facilities were excellent, they all had laundries, clean shower blocks, wifi, shops etc

heli2010

Hi tony from my experience of the last three months the many campsites in Hungary are on very tight margins and struggle to get by a few are frequented by Germans and Dutch who tend to stay for a month or two in season other than that it tends to be weekend traffic most basic sites with showers and small pool are charging in the £12pn region which includes electric and wifi. having said this I have come across two that are doing a roaring trade in Gyor probably as its the first port of call as you hit Hungary check out topart camping on booking.com they have big wooden chalets at £18 pn and all 4 tend to get booked up

Rural Hungary

Lakeside and Zalakaros ones have been chock a block this summer - even the Letenye campsite has been amazingly busy though it gets a lot of passing traffic going to Croatia and the likes. Short season though, unless you plan right and work with the seasons... so many ideas, so many niches, so little time

heli2010

Balaton was definitely busy in July bit like Blackpool at May bank holiday

on our travels we did come across one that was for sale at low money it was diofahaz ady endre ut 12 szilvasvarad charming old lady was looking to sell up and retire

Rural Hungary

It seems busier than I have seen it before, especially around the area West of the lake and over to the borders, a lot of French and British camper vans which is quite unusual - I think they are getting more adventurous.

Pollypaprika

I agree, this end (east) of the Lake has been very busy too.

Rural Hungary

Surprisingly, Zalakaros has been the busiest place I have seen this summer - going by the numbers at the spa and more importantly, the crowds at my favourite two restaurants!