The Alternative Guide to… Hungary
Hungary at a Glance
Capital city: Budapest
Population: 9.9 million
Local currency: Hungarian forint (£1 = 400 forints)
Famous face: Ferenc Puskás, the top scorer in football in the 20th century, scoring 84 goals in 85 international games
5 things you never knew about Hungary
This is the birthplace of the Rubik's Cube (main pic, above). Hungarian professor, inventor and architect Ernő Rubik came up with the design as a task for his students to master. He created his prototypes out of wood and elastic bands, and originally labelled it as the "Magic Cube".
Hungarians eat more than 500g of paprika every year, on average - not a bad thing, considering it's packed with four times as much vitamin C as oranges.
Parents need to choose child names from a pre-approved list. If their favourite name isn't already on the list, then they need to submit an application to the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Vlad the Impaler (the real Dracula) spent four years imprisoned in the labyrinths underneath Buda Castle. Today, people looking for a fright can visit the eerie 6-mile-long network.
National dish
Goulash. Many central European countries might knock up an impressive goulash, but for the real deal, you'll have to head to Hungary. It was created by cowboys out on the Great Hungarian Plain and is traditionally spelled gulyásleves - gulyás means herdsman, while leves is soup.
If you see one thing in Hungary, make sure it’s…
... the Great Plain. Let's get more specific - after all, the Great Plain is a wilderness that spans half of the country. Our pick within the region would be Debrecen, where you can experience the cowboy vibes of the area, as well as the city culture. It's got a huge student population, and also a forest within the city limits, so there's no a shortage of things to do.