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By way of introduction we would like to establish that Budapest is generally a friendly and relaxed place. According to the British embassy's information: "The main type of incident for which British nationals required consular assistance in Hungary in 2006 was petty crime, often including the loss of money and/or passports." However, you never can be too careful and also local scams are around. We hope beside offering various program possibilities and organizing your whole stag weekend we can help with the following list also to avoid any problems during your stay and to have an unforgettable and fantastic stag weekend! Local scams Restaurants Taxi Striptease bars The scams and how to avoid them Drugs Petty Crime Money Traffic Local scams We would like to underline these scams are not general but they can happen and ruin your stag weekend! Like in several cities of the world, in Budapest the major scams for the tourist are restaurants, taxis and erotic bars. With using a local stag organizer company and hiring a local guide from them you can avoid to get ripped off during the stag weekend! TOP ^
Restaurants The majority of restaurants and pubs in Budapest are reliable. However there are some that want to mislead their customers. If you want to avoid them and have great meals for reasonable prices on the weekend than take our advice: -
Eat only where locals eat, drink where locals go. -
In Hungary it's compulsory to put the menu card outside the entrance! If it's not the case, don't enter. -
Try to avoid the restaurants and bars of the zone of Váci utca in the touristy heart of Pest.
- Don't befriend with the girls hanging around mostly in Váci utca and never accept an invitation for a drink or dinner from them. Be sure that they will have the most expensive dishes from the menu and fake French champagne. And the only thing that you will get on the end is the bill!
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Taxi In Budapest the night life is spread out so you can not really avoid taking taxis. Above that you don't know the city so you don't know where to go. Taxis don't cost much if you take our advice. As the general rule for your stag weekend: it is better to phone for a taxi from one of the reputable local companies and make sure the taximeter is on or haggle the price with the driver beforehand. - Never ask a taxi driver to recommend you a bar, club or restaurant. They might receive a commission to do so and the money is then recovered by charging you extortionate prices.
- Never take a Taxi that has no company name and/or company logo on it and just says Taxi. They could be extremely expensive compared to other taxis!
- If a taxi driver come up to you outside a night club and offer to take you to your hotel or anywhere else just say no! Walk a little bit further and call one or if you have no other choice hail one cab on the street that has company name and/or logo on it.
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Striptease bars Perhaps a stag party is not a real stag party without visiting a gentlemen's club and most stag groups don't want to miss this visit! Above that Hungarian girls are really pretty! However if you are not careful enough it can be an extremely expensive fun weekend, you can be charged exorbitant prices in certain striptease bars. Most of the erotic bars in Budapest are tourist traps but not all of them! We strongly recommend using a local stag organizer company to give you advice. We can definitely say that the clients of Adrenalinebomb never had any bad experience as long they took our advice which strip club to go to. TOP ^
The scams and how to avoid them - If you are approached on the street with an invitation to enter into a striptease club, you should treat that advice with extreme caution.
- Taxi drivers often recommend striptease bars to their passengers! They receive a commission to do so, and the money is then recovered by charging extortionate prices. Never ask a taxi driver to recommend you a bar or club.
- If you ask a taxi driver to take you to a certain club, check twice the name of the club - especially at late night - to be sure you are there where you wanted to go! If not just don't go in!
- Many times they over-charge you for your drink! The standard trick is to produce a menu with small print at the bottom stating that the first drink costs HUF 15,000 (≈ €41 - EUR 60) and consumption is compulsory. If during the stag weekend you decide to go to an erotic bar please ask for a drink list before you order and read it carefully!
- In many striptease bars the girls will come up to you, start to chat and order themselves a drink in many cases even without asking you! Usually a drink for the girl has the same price as a lap dance! However if you decide to invite a girl for a drink anyway then ask the waiter to bring you a drink list and check the prices so they don't surprise you after! You have to pay for the drink at the end and you might be accompanied by the club's security guards to a cash machine and made to withdraw the money to settle your bill.
- Never ever enter into any striptease bar during the day!
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Drugs Hungarian laws on the possession and use of drugs are strict! Stag parties can go too wild many times! If you are looking for drugs perhaps you will find it or even you can be approached in a night club. It's not so hard to obtain drugs in Budapest but please don't forget that Hungarian law considers the consumption of narcotic drugs a criminal act. In Hungary, both dealers and consumers of narcotic drugs are punished. You might end up somewhere where you don't want to be on a stag weekend or any other time! And above that you never know what you are buying or to be more precise what are they selling you! TOP ^
Petty Crime Bag snatching and pick-pocketing are common in Budapest just like in Western Europe, particularly on busy public transport, crowded bars and other places frequented by tourists. You should take sensible precautions (keep all you valuable stuff -money, cell phone, keys etc. - in you front pockets, do not carry a lot of money with you, don't show off your money, keep your money close with you, don't wear flashy jewellery, try to stay in public places, etc...) against the sort of risks that are common in Western Europe also. TOP ^
Money Please check carefully the note you are using to pay with. The smallest note in Hungary is 200 (≈60pence / 80 euro cent) and the biggest is 20.000 (≈£55 /€ 77). It is common that foreigners mix the note 2000(≈£5 /€ 7) with the note 20.000 (≈£55 /€ 77). Also from the 1st of September 2007 the note 1000 without the silver thread is not acceptable. If you receive any of those notes you will not be able to pay with them but you can still change them in the banks or post offices. Notes: 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, and 20000 Coins: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 TOP ^
Traffic Hungarian drivers are mad so please don't even try to cross the road when the lamp is red for you. If the zebra crossing is not controlled by traffic lamp be sure the drivers will let you pass! Also please don't forget the cars are coming from the left. At the zebra crossing look left first! TOP ^
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