The Hungarian Telecom has an
Online Information desk for phone numbers.
All public phones in Budapest are callable. (You'll find the number at the phone box.) Hungary's country code is +36 , 1 is the area code for Budapest.
Most of the public phones operate with telephone cards, very few accept coins. Phone cards are available for 800 HUF (50 units card) or for 1800 HUF (120 units card) at central Metro stations and news stands. For international calls you may porchase a Telecard, see www.telecard.hu and save up to to 70%. Toll-Free dial-in number, no incidental expenses, ready to use after purchasing, 0-24 available helpdesk. You get the Telecard in many shops all over Budapest and you can use it on every landline phone, including public phone booths. Other low cost phone card providers are Neophone, www.neophone.hu and www.ezphone.hu/english.
Important phone numbers
Police: 107
Budapest Police Headquarters: 343 0034
Fire and Emergency: 105
Ambulance: 104
If 104 does not answer: 311 1666
Phone Directory Hungary: 198
Phone Directory Hungary in English: 191 Online Information desk on Phone numbers
Phone Information International (if you tell a subscriber's name and address they can tell you the number): 199
Telegrams: 192
International collect calls: 190
Long Distance Calls
Inside Hungary dial 06 and the region code, for international calls dial 00 and country code. If you call Hungary from the US, dial 011 first, then 36 for Hungary, regional code (e.g. 1 for Budapest), and then the phone number.
Faxes
The public fax station is at the office of Hungarian Telecom Company MATÁV: District V., Petôfi Sándor utca 17/19; Monday to Friday 8 am. until 8 pm. Some Internet cafes provide fax services.
International direct access providers (updated January 2004)
AT&T World Connect Service: 06 80 001111
MCI WorldPhone Servive: 06 80 001411
Sprint: 06 80 001411
Australia Direct: 06 80 006111
Canada Direct: 06 80 001211
France: 06 80 003311
Germany Direct: 06 80 004911
Mobile phones
In Hungary, the GSM mobile phone network is operating. Providers:
T-Mobile
Home page: (Prefix is 06 30) V., Petôfi Sándor utca 12. Phone: 06 309 30 30 30 or 266 57 23,
Pannon GSM
Home page: (Prefix is 06 20) Center: 2040 Budaörs, Baross utca 165.
Shop: 1134 Budapest, Fáy utca 4. Shop close to Astoria: VII. Károly krt. 3/a. Phone: 344 26 10
Customer Service Phone: 46 46 020.
Vodafone 1800 GSM Home page
Home page: (Prefix is 06 70)
Mobile phones from North America do not work on the GSM Network.
Internet cafés
Astorianet Internet Café closed.
Cafe Eckermann (belonging to Goethe Institute),
VI., Andrássy út 24, Phone: 353 22 33, Mon-Fri 2 tin 10 pm, Sa 10 til 10 pm (M1 Opera)
Budapest Net Internet Café,
V., Kecskeméti út 5; Phone 328 02 92; daily 10 am til 10 pm (M3 Kálvin tér)
Narancs
VII., Akacfa út (moved from house number 16 to ?) ; Phone ; daily 10 am til midnught (M2 Blaha L tér)
Access for Notebooks
Please be aware that electricity is 220 volts in Hungary and you may need a different power-pack.
Dial Up ConnectionsIf you bring your own laptop to Hungary and you want to be connected to the Internet, you may purchase a CD distributed by www.nextra.hu, that you can get in most computer shops as well as Media Markt Branches. You can choose between 10 or 25 hours access. For sure this is a more reasonable solution than using access/providers like AOL or Compuserve, since they charge approx. 5 USD surcharge for global access.
WiFi Connections
Budapest has a few places where you can have free WiFi internet access. The one that we prefer is the Szoda Cafe (Wesslenyi utca 18, 7th district, phone +36/1/4610007 +36/703896463 or +36/705613798 (mobile),
www.szoda.com, close to the Synagoge and metro stop Astoria). Open Mondays to Fridays from 9 am until midnight and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm until midnight (seldom do they close earlier, sometimes later). Sometimes they close without notice or open earlier or close earlier. Sometimes the wifi access is shut down from 7 or 8pm, but sometimes it works until they close at night. If you go there and its closed there is another coffee shop with free wifi internet connection near to Szoda (walk 4 minutes): The cafe that belongs to the Uránia cinema (1st floor, in Rákóczi út 21, 8th district, phone +36/1/4863400,
also close to metro station Astoria, bus 7 black). Open from 10 am until 10 pm. We use a wifi adapter with 802.11 standard and this works. Both places are maintained by a WiFi provider called HuWiCo, their webpage is in Hungarian only and the opening hours listed at their website are wrong: www.hotspots.huwico.hu
.
DSL Connections
If you are a long-term resident, www.freestart.hu provides a DSL line for 10300 HUF/month as a flat rate with a 1 year contract and without any further charges and It is faster than any modem connection. www.axelero.hu provides the same DSL line, but is a bit more expensive. We are not sure if Freestart has English speaking support staff available, but Axelero has it 24 hours.
Language & Dictionary
If you do not know what it means ... use a free online dictionary (interactive):
There is one from Ectaco:
Online Dictionary
Just a few Hungarian words
road
út
street
utca
square
tér
boulevard
körút
bridge
híd
shop
bolt/üzlet
department store
áruház
pharmacy
gyógyszertár
florist shop
virágbolt
post office
posta
theater
színház
railway station
pályaudvar
open
nyitva
closed
zárva
entrance
bejárat
exit
kijárat
pull
húzni
push
tolni
Translations & Interpreter
If you need a text to be translated or an interpreter for meetings let us know and we will try to find someone who is available. Please let us know the languages involved and if you need a text to be translated (If so: What kind of text is it? A private text, an official text? A text
that concerns legal issues?) or if you need to hire an interpreter (for which dates, at what times and for how many hours?). Please contact us.
Foreign Language Media
Further resources for tourists are newspapers & magazines in foreign languages, purchasable at train stations and newsstands downtown. Practically all the well known international press publications can be purchased in the larger hotels and from news-agents. Some of the foreign language press published in Hungary:
Budapest Week
Budapest Sun
In your Pocket Budapest Web site with general info where to eat, straight nightlife locations, shopping, business, sports etc. Updated 5 times a year. They also publish a printed guide. Their staff really verifies the listings each time before publishing. 750 HUF, available at major hotels.
Where Budapest is a free monthly printed publication that focus on shopping, dining, entertainment & maps. You may get it at major hotels.
A large second hand bookstore for English books (you'll love it!) is Red Bus Bookstoe, located in V., Szerb utca 21-23. Open weekdays from 12 noon until 7 pm., phone: 266 98 33 / 2226.
"Videomania", a video rental store offers a large selection of English language videos. (Andrassy út 33, corner Nagymezö utca, Phone: 269 68 12. Opening hours: Sun-Thu 10 a.m. til 10 pm; Fri & Sat 10 a.m. til midnight) Also foreigners can get a member card - a refundable sum of 2000 HUF deposit and your passport or ID are required.
Radio & TV
There are a lot of American, British, German, Austrian, French, English, Italian and Spanish channels on the Budapest TV cable networks. In some districts CNN and BBC are the only English cable channels. BBC News shown on the Hungarian TV channel MTV1 every night. English news can be listened to on every full hour between 5 am. and 10 pm. at Radio Bridge (FM 102.1 MHz).
Country Facts
Communication
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