useful tourist info

Official Tourism Information

Tourism Office of Budapest , 1056 Budapest, Március 15. tér 7., tel: +36 1 438-8080.

Communication

Mobile phones work in the metro, even in tunnels between stations.

Some phone booths take coins (including euro coins), but others only take pre-paid cards. The posted number for credit card calls will lead to unexpectedly high charges (1USD for a one minute call to the US) and is to be avoided. Unfortunately, you cannot trust T-mobile to charge reasonable prices on their pay phones.

There are many internet cafes throughout the city. Prices usually average 100Ft/half hour. In addition, many popular bars and cafes in Budapest offer free wi-fi access.

Money

Currently used coins: 5Ft, 10Ft, 20Ft, 50Ft, 100Ft (from 06/2009: 200Ft)

Currently used banknotes: 200Ft(until 11/2009), 500Ft, 1000Ft, 2000Ft, 5000Ft, 10000Ft, 20000Ft

Be sure when receiving change that all 1,000ft notes contain a vertical silver strip. Older notes without the strip are no longer valid.

(source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Budapest )

Electricity

Electricity in Budapest is the European standard 220 Volt with the two round prongs and generally recessed sockets.

Useful phone numbers

Police: 107

Ambulance: 104

Fire: 105

Central Emergency: 112

24h  English language crime hotline: +36 1 438 8080

Lost and Found : +36 1 322 6613

Budapest Card

Budapest Card is a discount card for tourists, which is valid for 48 or 72 hours, and which offers more than 150 different discounts for visitors to Budapest. http://www.budapest-card.com/en/