To ask for advice about Budapest

[HumbertTheBee]

Meant to be going to Budapest on Friday for a week. Not really wanting to take my chances so have already cancelled accommodation however I'm unable to cancel my flights (bloody Ryanair).

I'm wondering if there have been any tourists who've had trouble entering Budapest. Hungarian tourists office says there's a 14 day quarantine in place. Has anyone travelled recently and had a hard time? Or has anyone managed to apply for a refund. I'm a little panicked and can't find too much information about it online that's coherent.

Hungary have been extremely strict with U.K. residents. I was due to travel at the start of July and at this point they weren’t letting anyone with a U.K. passport into the country. Then around a week later if you had a U.K. passport you could only gain entry if you were habitually resident in Hungary (over 90 days).

I’ve applied for a chargeback via my debit card provider but I’m not sure how successful I’ll be as the flight flew. Lesson learned re Ryanair for me

Formula 1 raced in Hungary at the weekend... all UK team members and journalists had to stay in their hotel rooms or risk a €15,000 fine. Think that was down to the quarantine. They all stayed put, if they weren't working at the track they were in their hotel room, were not made to feel welcome at all. Couldn't leave food food or even get petrol. Doesn't sound good.

I thought you were going to be asking for recommendations of restaurants etc and got really excited, I love Budapest!!

Hope you get it all sorted OP and get to go at some point in the future

I wouldn't go if I were you - my family is Hungarian, we're going soon for 6 weeks, but we understand we might not be able to leave the house for 2 weeks if we can't book a covid test. For a week's holiday, even if you have contacts who could arrange a test immediately (I'm guessing not) you'd still have to stay in your accommodation for 72h minimum.

The police and citizens are really vigilant at the moment, and you could face a massive fine if you fail to isolate - you will need to provide details of where you're staying to the police at the airport, who will give you a sticker for your door explaining you are in quarantine. You can only travel directly to that address, if you deviate from the planned route you can be arrested and fined. It's sadly very draconian.