Looking for a reasonably-priced guide for a multi-day, private tour of Hungary

What is "reasonable" ?

We are aware of the day tour prices listed online on trip advisor, etc. We don't consider $300 for 2 people for day trip that is only a one hour drive from Budapest to be very "reasonable". We have previously been able to find private or semi private tours that last for around a week or more in several countries that were price competitive with doing it on our own. Romania was one of these countries. Perhaps Hungary is just very expensive to travel in/around?

Romania is, economically, quite a different world from Hungary. Back in 2015 I took a 2-day tour in Romania that cost about $100 plus $20 for quite a nice rural B&B with three meals provided. That is not something you can replicate in Hungary.

We don't consider $300 for 2 people for day trip that is only a one
hour drive from Budapest to be very "reasonable".

You got quoted $300 for a 2 hour tour? Does sound a bit steep. But to be honest, I am trying to figure out what you are asking for. You say "multi-day, private tour of Hungary". By definition that is leave Budapest and hit the road for multiple days; presumably returning to Budapest after said "multiple days". Yup, that's going to cost you more than $300 a day.

If you want a guide to drive you around Budapest every day, that's going to cost about $300 for 6 to 8 hours. You will spend most of the time stuck in traffic or waiting to find a place to park, but hey, its a way. Most guides will do this on foot with the assistance of the public transportation and that should lower the price somewhat (and you get to see more, and more efficiently).

If you are coming to Budapest and plan on spending your time leaving Budapest on full day trips, not many you need a guide for. Okay, none really, but you can hire one for Szentendre maybe. That going to be at least a four hour tour so i am guessing $250 to $300 because of the car cost (the train is easier and just as fast). And you could hire one for the "Danube Bend Tour" and I am guessing $300 or more and its a brutal day if you try and do all 3 towns in one day.

Eger, Pecs, Gyor, etc are all overnight trips .... yes you can do each in a day, but what a waste. I would hire local guides in each and take the train to meet them. Why pay a guide to drive 3 hours each way?

But for a experienced quality guide with a car for 8 hours, yes, $250 to $350 is going to be the range.

Also check out Viator, as there are some small group tours there that are a lot cheaper (because they are group and not private)

And I leave you with two guides to contact. He is absolutely not the cheapest. He was my first guide in Budapest almost exactly 20 years ago today. He was good then and while getting a tad long in tooth, he is still excellent. I still put him to work from time to time.

Andras (Andrew) ILLES
http://guideinbudapest.fw.hu/Site_Brown/Private_guide_in_Budapest.html
+36 70 365 4577

And here is another suggestion you might want to contact. I use her when I want to go out the vineyards or anything quirky.. She knows the wine pretty well and has managed some interesting offbeat tours (I've been traveling to Budapest for 20 years, so offbeat is essential)

Lucia Gerard
[email protected]
+33 6 2217 5616

My last tour guide in Romania was about a month ago. She cost me 250 euro to drive me through the countryside from sunrise past sunset. I probably overpaid, but i got quality and enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you for the information. We initial plan was to rent a car at the airport and drive to Gyor, Soprone, Edger, etc., making sort of a ring route for 5 - 7 days and then ultimately dropping the car back at the airport in Budapest and then stay in the city for a few days before heading to Bratislava by train (or bus, or boat). We have driven throughout Europe and have never had any problems getting around. Is Hungary difficult to drive in for some reason? Gas is expensive throughout Europe but is there an availablity issue in some of these smaller cities?

Hungary is fine to drive in. Driving in Budapest is not worth the effort.

Sounds like your plan didn't involve a guide. But a good plan. So enjoy the trip. Sounds like fun.

We rent cars often but didn’t in Hungary. Just for the record we travelled on our own and visited the same four cities you mention over two weeks, entirely by train. It was very easy. Safe travels.

You can rent a car and do the tour, but Eger is East of Budapest and Gyor and Sopron are West of Budapest, so you will be returning to Budapest to get from one end to the other. It is over 700 km of driving and is 8 or 9 hours of drive time.

Almost all train journeys in Hungary originate in Budapest and that isn't really bad because you can break up the trips with time in Budapest.

I would suggest, easier, less expensive and more useful of time. First get an AirBnb in District VI, along Andrassy ut someplace and keep it for the duration. Yes, that means you are paying for nights you are not in town, but they are so much less expensive than an equivalently nice hotel room that it offsets the cost and now you can travel out of town with just overnight luggage.

1. A couple days in Budapest on your own or if there is a particular topic you want to drill down into, hire a guide for that. Jewish Budapest is a good example of that or if you are into Cold War history that might be good. These will be walking and trams and maybe a short haul on the metro. Should be reasonable cost. Do the tour of the Parliament and the one of the Opera House.

2. Morning train to Eger (about 2hrs EAST of Budapest and 2.500 HUF). Hire a guide for a day to see a vineyard and some wine cellars. You are out of Budapest, the guide will be a little cheaper. Night in Senator Haus Hotel, then a train back to Budapest after lunch the next day.

3. Another day or two in Budapest. I can send you some ideas of how to organize the days in Budapest if you want (PM me)

4. Morning Train to Gyor (about 90 min WEST of Budapest and 2.000 HUF) and then a taxi to Pannonhalma Archabbey. Take their tour. Night in Gyor at Hotel Klastrom.

5. Morning train to Sopron (about 60 minutes WEST of Gyor, and 1.700 HUF) walk the city, hire a guide if you want. Late afternoon train back to Budapest or spend the night at the hotel Hotel Pannonia and return to Budapest the next morning. (about 2.5 hours and 3.000 HUF)

6. Another day or two in Budapest

7. Not on your list was Pecs. Worth the trip. Budapest to Pecs on the train is 2.75 hours and 3.000 HUF). Hotel Hotel Palatinus

8. Another day or two in Budapest and depart.

The train tickets will cost about $40 total. Your rental car and gas and parking will be 2 or 3 times more than that.

The hotels I suggested are mostly historic 4star and mostly under $100.

You can pick up guides in the cities you visit, or use a good guide book. For Budapest I like the DK Eyewitness Guide for Budapest (Amazon) and they have a Top 10 version that is small and easy to carry.

Interesting ideas about taking the train. Here is the list of places other than Budapest that we were considering:
Esztergom, Hungary
Győr, Hungary
Sopron, Hungary
Keszthely, 8360 Hungary
Pécs, Hungary
Szeged, Hungary
Eger, Hungary
Hollókő, 3176 Hungary
Lillafüred, Miskolc, 3517 Hungary

It looks like some of these smaller places out in the country would be difficult to get to by train without it taking a lot more time? We have up to 7 days to tour places other than Budapest. Would you add to or eliminate any of these places?

Esztergom, Hungary Győr, Hungary Sopron, Hungary Keszthely, 8360
Hungary Pécs, Hungary Szeged, Hungary Eger, Hungary Hollókő, 3176
Hungary Lillafüred, Miskolc, 3517 Hungary

All depends on your interests. Budapest itself is a solid 4 full days to really understand, if that your goal.
Then, where are you coming from or going next. If Vienna is part of the trip, save Gyor and Sopron for the trip to Vienna.
Hollókő you can do as a day trip from Eger by bus or with a Eger guide. Not one of my more memorable stops, but thats my interest.

Lillafured is really sweet if you are in to nature. But you have to be into chilling and nature.

Esztergom you can do with Szentendre and Visegrad if you drive. But spend a night in Esztergom rather than trying to do all three in one day.

Keszthely, never been there. Those that have say its a beautiful chill town and it is close enough to do in a day.

Eger and Pecs are sort of must do places if you get short on time. both overnights and Eger you can do two nights if you are into the wine.

Sopron is pretty. Good architecture, etc. Well renovated. AND a tourist trap for Austrians looking for cheap shopping.

Narrow it down a bit, send an idea of what you think speaks to you and I can help organize it maybe.

Sopron is pretty and didn't have many tourists wandering around at the time of my visit in May 2018. But I thought Gyor was somewhat similar and larger. It has the benefit of being close to the Pannonhalma Abbey, and it also has a large number of interesting small museums (most but not all art-related). If time is short, I think you can drop Sopron.

I loved Pecs and Szeged, but I like urban environments with quirky architecture--which Budapest also has. Pecs is highly recommended to anyone who likes late-19th and 20th century ceramics.

Here is a good source for what is going on in town: https://xpatloop.com/calendar

We appreciate all the information we have received thus far. We need to digest the information we have received. Our next step is to decide beside Budapest, which locations in addition to the big three (Eger, Gyor, Pecs) we will have time to see. We will then be going to Bratislavia and then most likely take a FlixBus up to Dresden or Berlin. We are fortunate to have in previous years toured Austria, Czech Republic, and a lot of Germany.

We used Anna Sights-Tour Guide Service Budapest and Hungary last fall for several day trips. I felts her prices were fair, she was very responsive to the needs of her guests and is highly knowledgeable of the area. We would highly recommend her tours