Hungary by campervan: food and supermarkets
Where to buy food in Hungary, which supermarkets to use, opening hours and practical tips for eating on the road. What to know before you go.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026
Currency
Hungarian forint
HUF, not the euro. 363.47 Ft to €1 on 18 September 2026
Language
Hungarian
Related to nothing on its borders. English in Budapest and at the Balaton
Driving
Right
Motorway 130 km/h, 80 km/h over 3.5 tonnes or with a trailer
Power
230V, type F
The round earthed socket used across most of Europe
Tap water
Safe to drink
Ask for csapvíz
Emergency
112
Reaches the police, the ambulance service and disaster management
Food and shops
Food and shops
Hungarian shops set their own opening hours and most of them open on Sundays. The trade act leaves opening hours to the trader and lets a municipality regulate only the hours between 22:00 and 06:00. The Sunday trading ban Hungary tried in the middle of the last decade was repealed, so a Sunday is an ordinary shopping day and the public holidays are what to plan around instead.
Where to shop
- Best value: Lidl or Aldi.
- Full range: Auchan, Tesco or INTERSPAR.
- Camper access: Auchan and Tesco hypermarkets outside towns offer the easiest van parking.
National average consumer prices, August 2026
| Item | Price | In euros at the 18 September 2026 rate |
|---|---|---|
| Two course set lunch, napi menü | 2,490 Ft | about €6.85 |
| Lager, per litre in a shop | 786 Ft | about €2.16, so roughly €1.08 for a half litre |
| White bread, per kilo | 856 Ft | about €2.36 |
| Ten eggs | 810 Ft | about €2.23 |
| Chicken breast fillet, per kilo | 2,500 Ft | about €6.88 |
Every figure in that table is the Hungarian Central Statistical Office's national monthly average for August 2026, from the series last updated on 8 September 2026. They are averages across the whole country, so Budapest runs above them and a county town below them. Restaurant prices in the Balaton resorts in July and August are their own market and bear little relation to the national figure.
Eating out without overpaying
- The weekday napi menü is the value meal. Soup and a main at a fixed price, roughly 11:30 to 14:30, and gone at the weekend.
- An étterem is a restaurant and a vendéglő or csárda is the cheaper, plainer version. The second is usually the better food.
Stocking the campervan
- The big chains all have car parks that take a van. Village CBA and Coop shops do not, so park on the edge and walk in.
- Sunday is a normal shopping day, which makes Hungary easier than most of its neighbours to restock in.
