Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Useful perhaps but definitely not a must!
I did 8 trips from the UK to Hungary and back all without Satnav. Good forward planning and a map actually work better for me. after all it may be a couple of thousand kilometres but the reality is there are only 4 or 5 actual turns required, all the rest are just one motorway running naturally into the next.
Satnav do have some weird ideas about the most 'direct' or 'easiest' routes.
I use one now for collecting sporty friend from local footy matches etc and it is certainly easier for this but still insists in turn off a main route for a quick detour through the countryside. two side of a triangle on a major road is often much quicker, and easier, than the one side going direct via small roads.

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

That is real risk in Hungary!
It happened to me the first evening I met my wife - on the way back after I had taken her home (not too late, by 9PM) a giant of a deer crossed the road!
Luckily I wasn't driving too fast - and I had Xenon lights, really good.
And I still remember:
Once we wanted to go on holiday, saw a very good price for a flight from Vienna - which is nearer than Bp for us near Hévíz, but the flight was at 6 o'clock in the morning.
So we decided to drive at night, left home shortly after midnight and went on the road from Sümeg to Sopron.
I've never seen so many deer besides the road grazing - just once on our way from Williams to the Grand Canyon.
And one or two foxes crossed, luckily very fast and I was not speeding because I had seen all those signs "animals crossing" before - but i hadn't expected so many animals!

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Tony, many of these dangerous drivers are Hungarians working abroad ...
But you're right, too many drivers don't care for the rules at all.
An old joke of mine which I tell to all my visitors:
If you're driving through a village at the legal 50 km/h, every Trabant or Lada will overtake you ...
If you're driving at 60 or 70 only the black Audis will overtake you - and be careful:
The driver might be a businessman in a hurry who canpay if needed, a mafioso who doesn't care for the law, or a politician who knows he's immune - maybe all of the above in one person ...

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

I saw a mafioso type get very irate on the dualled BP to Szentendre road when a car wouldn't let him overtake, he got past, pulled across in front of him and forced the other car to stop, got out and punched him in the face a couple of times then drove off. You don't want to mess with anybody driving big expensive black German cars.

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

True enough, it won't be Austrians or Germans - who tend to be very good, careful, courteous drivers. If a bit fast!

It'll generally be Hungarians driving a German- or Austrian-plated car. And rather full of themselves in that sharp car. Arrogance being one of the worst sides to many Hungarians.

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Wow Cheers you guys , I was nervous before Lol still its better to be forewarned .
Satnavs get you there in the end I suppose I should say generally but we have known ours to go the scenic route before and I must add that I don't like cities being a rural person , I have had Deer jump out before and somehow manage to skate across the road in the UK although ours probably aren't as large or as numerous However they will have the same peanut sized brain as many others and are very dangerous indeed , as for the bad driving I shall do my best I am more used to driving the 4x4 but on our side of the road and being absolutely honest I am not looking forward to driving on the other side but as someone has already said you get used to it , ( Hopefully)
Just a few days to go now and we get to sample a little of the Hungarian culture , this being our first trip I think will be the hardest and yes nervous but excited also.
Take care and I shall post a quick message to let everyone know how we got on . Thanks for everything.

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Good Luck and enjoy your stay.
I personally never see much of this bad driving, but then I drive a 4x4 pick-up with a large steel rear bumper with a big towbar fitted so it would be a really stupid person who tailgated me.
The tourist season is over now so you should not have too much trouble with people who don't know where they are going making sudden turns without warning, well except for you of course ! :-)

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Had the pleasure of driving from the Pilis Hills to my MIL's place in Zuglo in the XIVth Bp this morning! Whew, some crazy drivers out there. Meant to be a 70 kmph limit on the city ring road but there were plenty of people overtaking me at 90-100.

I was mightily relieved to get back to the village for a bit of gardening and sunbathing :)

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

As promised a quick heads up on how we got on and that was really really good , firstly picking the hire car up was not an easy find probably a little language difficulty that didn't help but we walked all-over even though we had instruction from the hire person it certainly was not clear and we asked everyone we saw especially Taxi drivers so an hour later we picked up the car . Big Thank you to Duztee for your instruction , spot on , clear simple easy to follow took us there brilliantly so after a good nights sleep , breakfast and then off to explore the wider country .
Bad driving , I did my best and I got better , I'm not going to say I didn't make mistakes but I did well and by the end fell into it like a natural , well almost , on the first day I annoyed someone who's use of the horn gave me the concentration needed but to say I drove a small car that was manual gears I did OK .
The roads are very good in Hungary even the smaller country roads unlike ours in Yorkshire plus they are much quieter , my wife has taken some photos from inside the car because she didn't think anyone would believe us , sign posting was excellent , quality of the road surface is a massive improvement on what we have here , so all in all everything went well , I am so pleased and a big Thank you to all who have helped I have read all posts and taken everything in so
Thank you again.

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Well done!
You are right about the road being generally quieter, I am 100 kms from the airport 65 of which are along country roads through a forest and if I see 4 or more cars then it is busy.
As for road condition, I can assure you there are some very very bad roads in Hungary, basically potholes joined together by bits of tarmac, and others that look like the tarmac was laid by helicopter.
So now you are an 'old hand' you will have more confidence for future visits.

Re: Driving in Hungary
 

Yep I had to go to Cegled in the summer, the back road I had to use to meet somebody there just out of town centre was almost impossible to drive. It was a 2-lane road but the potholes on both left and right were really deep and almost totally joined up, so there was a vaguely good strip in the middle that all users were using, if anything met, you had to crawl into your pothole side to let the other car/ bike past then get back in the middle, sort of 10-20 kmph speed max possible. Not to exaggerate, the potholes were often about 30cm/ 1 foot deep.

Then yesterday I had to go to Veresegyhaz, also pretty countrified, and the roads were a pleasure to drive, all nicely maintained.