@aszechy

11 months ago

Hungarian here, I live and work in the center of Budapest, so I encounter many tourists daily and have also worked occasionally as a guide. I have absolutely nothing against Americans - they are generally very friendly and while they might not know too much about my country they usually seem genuinely interested to learn which for me is a big plus. Most of the tips in this video are spot-on. Regarding the currency, proper, bank-affiliated ATMs will charge a withdrawal fee but will give you a good exchange rate, whereas at change booths, the rate will be worse but there is no one-off charge. So try to get by with one or two large ATM withdrawals and use the exchange booths for small amounts if you miscalculated things and need just a bit more cash. A big yes to the public transport as well, and I would like to add: don't limit yourself to the metro! The metro will definitely be the best option in Paris or London where there are dozens of metro lines and the surface traffic is horrible. But in Budapest and many other Central-European cities, we have trams that also avoid traffic and are much more dense than the metro network, and some will even be a great sightseeing experience. (Buses are of course also an option.) So you're making a big mistake if you try to go everywhere by metro just because you don't want to bother figuring out the other options. The only thing in the video I actually disagree with is the usefulness of learning the language basics. While I certainly appreciate the intent, and it might be a fun thing to do anyway, learing to say hello or sorry in the native language will have zero practical added value - these things can be understood from the context and for anything more complex you will need to find an English speaker anyway (which is not difficult to do in any big city in Europe). Oh, and about the water: while they certainly won't give you any free mineral water in restaurants in Europe, you're perfectly entitled to ask for tap water (which in the vast majority of Europe is perfectly fine to drink). They don't advertise it, and you might even get a disapproving look from less polite waiters, but they can't really say no. I've decided to stop paying for mineral water I don't need years ago and never have problems with this - you just have to work up the nerve to ask. Although, on second thought, this might not be an option for Americans who are generally not willing to drink anything that's above freezing point, even in winter 😅

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