Hungary Road Trip Notes — Zalaegerszeg & Budapest, September 2026

Sep 2026Driven

2Cities visited

~€1.04LPG per litre

30+ GBMobile data, Maltese SIM

A blue Hungarian border entry sign at night showing speed limits of 50, 90, 110 and 130 km/h, beside a road lit by street lamps — Night crossing into Hungary: the entry sign with the Hungarian speed limits.

Where we went

In by car from Serbia at night through the Kelebija–Tompa crossing, west across the country on ordinary roads to Zalaegerszeg, then east past Lake Velence to Budapest and back south across the plain toward Serbia. Route map, stops and every photo are in the Zalaegerszeg & Budapest road trip.

Kelebija–Tompa — the border crossing from Subotica, driven at two in the morning; back into Serbia at the old-road Roszke–Horgos crossing.
Zalaegerszeg — the seat of Zala county, in the far west near the Slovenian and Austrian borders.
Lake Velence — groceries at the Lidl in Gardony on the way from Zalaegerszeg to Budapest.
Budapest — a night at a hotel in Soroksar, then the Corvin quarter on the 23rd: parked underground at Corvin Plaza, coffee, lunch nearby.

Small border crossings. Smaller crossings are not open to everyone. Kubekhaza–Rabe, for example, is open 07:00–19:00 and only for citizens of Serbia, the EU, the EEA and Switzerland (and EU citizens’ family members), according to the Hungarian police rules. With a Montenegrin, North Macedonian or Bosnian passport you would be turned back there — those countries do not border Hungary. Use a main crossing, or check the rules of the small one before you go.

Crossing at Kelebija–Tompa with a non-EU passport. On the Hungarian side there are two stops: first the small white booth in the far-right lane, about 50 metres before the police booths, where you get out and have your photo taken, then the normal car lane and passport control at the police booth. Twice out of the car — in winter, keep a jacket within reach.

The yellow curved facade of the Corvin cinema in Budapest with its lettering, graffiti and a closed grilled-chicken kiosk on the square — Early morning at the Corvin cinema, Budapest, during the September 2026 drive.

What we paid

Item	Price (September 2026)
LPG — MOL, Solt	about 41 L for €42.61 (~€1.04/L)
Parking — Corvin Plaza underground garage, Budapest, about 8 hours	€8.82 (3,200 Ft)
Food and coffee — one day in Budapest	€21.39
Groceries — Lidl, Gardony	4,966 Ft
Motorway vignette	€0 — not bought, toll roads avoided

We did not buy a motorway vignette, in either direction. With Waze set to avoid toll roads, the route from the Kelebija crossing to Zalaegerszeg ran on roads 53 and 8 — slower, but no toll. The official 2026 tariff for a car (D1: up to 3.5 t and 7 seats) is 5,550 Ft for a day or 6,900 Ft for ten days (official rates). Third-party purchase sites show different euro prices: on 27 September one seller (hu-vignette.com) quoted €19.65 for a day, another €21.39, and €26.59 for ten days. We were not in a hurry, so we paid €0.

Internet & SIM

Option	What we used
Our mobile plan	Existing Maltese mobile plan, used in Hungary
Data in the package	30+ GB
Local Hungarian SIM	Not needed — local prices not checked on this trip

We used our existing Maltese mobile plan the whole time in Hungary. The package includes 30+ GB of data, so there was no need to buy a Hungarian SIM.

A coffee vending machine with Hungarian instructions for paying by bank card and a card terminal

A wide road through trees under a blue sky with light clouds, seen from the driver's seat with the steering wheel in view

Left: five in the morning in Soroksar, on the edge of Budapest. Right: heading south across the plain on the way back.