Convert PLN to HUF Polish zloty ↔ Hungarian forint Free Online Secure
Type an amount in Polish zloty and read it in Hungarian forint at once. The page uses the European Central Bank's reference rate, and tells you which day that rate is from.
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Common amounts — Convert PLN to HUF (Polish zloty ↔ Hungarian forint)
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The last thirty days
Where these codes and rates come from
The three letters in EUR, USD or JPY are not an abbreviation someone invented for a website: they are ISO 4217, a standard in which the first two letters are the country's own code and the third is usually the initial of the currency. The figures on this page come from the European Central Bank, which publishes one set of reference rates each working day, around 16:00 Central European time, agreed between the central banks of the Eurosystem. They are a daily snapshot meant for statistics and accounting, not a live trading feed — which is exactly why they are the same number for everyone, rather than whatever one bank happened to quote at one moment.
Where you meet an exchange rate
You meet an exchange rate four or five times a year without thinking about it: booking a trip, paying an invoice issued abroad, buying from a foreign shop, reading a salary offer in another currency, or checking what a card charge really cost. In all of these the reference rate is the honest middle, and the price you actually pay sits a little to one side of it. Knowing the middle is what lets you see how wide that margin is.
Questions people ask
Is this the rate my bank will give me?
No, and no page can promise one. This is the European Central Bank's reference rate: the midpoint published once a day for statistics. A bank, a card scheme or an exchange office adds its own margin on top — usually between half a percent and three percent, sometimes more at an airport counter. Use this figure to judge the offer you are given, not to predict it.
How often does the figure change, and what happens at weekends?
The European Central Bank publishes once each working day, in the afternoon, Central European time. There is no publication on Saturdays, Sundays or TARGET holidays, so on those days the page shows the last working day's rate and says which day it belongs to. The chart alongside is one year of the same daily series.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
"Pole and Hungarian, two brothers": a Polish road trip to Hungary, from Budapest baths to Tokaj wine cellars, priced in forints
Every Pole learns the rhyme in childhood: "Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki, i do szabli, i do szklanki", meaning that a Pole and a Hungarian are two brothers, ready both for the sabre and for the glass. The proverb has been repeated for centuries, through shared kings, shared uprisings and shared exile, and since 2007 the twenty-third of March has been marked in both parliaments as the day of Polish-Hungarian friendship. Poland and Hungary also share a modern border-free zone and a taste for each other's cooking. Every summer, thousands of Polish cars cross the Tatra passes into Slovakia and then into northern Hungary, heading for the Balaton, the thermal baths and the wine cellars. At the border, the wallet changes: Poland pays in zloty, Hungary in forints, and the forint is a currency counted in hundreds and thousands. This page helps with the arithmetic. Use it to Convert PLN to HUF with the daily reference rates published by the European Central Bank, in which the zloty and the forint are both quoted against the euro; the page combines them into a zloty-forint figure and prints its date under the result. The amount you type never leaves your browser.
Using the converter
Zloty in, forints out
Before you leave, Convert PLN to HUF for the whole budget and keep the figure beside the booking confirmations.
Type an amount in zloty and read the equivalent in Hungarian forints. A zloty buys scores of forints, so the figure you get is much larger than the number you entered, and it is usually shown without decimals worth noting. The date of the rate sits beneath the result; at weekends and on public holidays the page falls back to the last working day and says so. A table of round amounts and a thirty-day line complete the page. For the opposite direction, from forints into zloty, open Convert HUF to PLN.
The number behind the offer
The published rate is a mid-market figure, fixed once on each working day, without any bank margin. A card, an exchange counter or a transfer app will give you slightly less, and the shortfall is their charge. Treat every attempt to Convert PLN to HUF as a yardstick against which you measure offers: under one per cent is excellent, two to three per cent is normal at banks, and above four per cent is a reason to look elsewhere. For arithmetic only, the examples below use an invented round rate of ninety forints to the zloty. It is not a forecast and not today's price, so replace it with the real figure from the calculator.
Driving south
Across the mountains
Tolls and vignettes are priced in euros or forints, so Convert PLN to HUF for the forint amount and compare it with the euro one.
From Kraków, the usual road to Budapest goes through the Tatra foothills to the Slovak border, then along the motorway through Slovakia, with a stretch in the mountains near Žilina and a final run down to the Hungarian frontier. The total distance is around 500 to 550 kilometres, a day's drive with stops. Since both countries and Slovakia are in the Schengen area, border posts are empty. Tolls apply in Slovakia and in Hungary, and electronic vignettes are bought online or at petrol stations before driving. Distances are posted in kilometres, and Convert km to mi converts them into miles for drivers from other countries.
By train or by plane
Trains link Kraków and Budapest in about eight to ten hours, with a change, and long-distance services also run from Warsaw. Direct flights connect Warsaw and Kraków with Budapest in about an hour and a half. Poland and Hungary share the same time zone, Central European Time, so no clock needs resetting. If you continue east, Convert CET to EET shows the one-hour gap with Eastern European Time. Buses and car-sharing are cheap for students and families.
Fuel and tolls
Fuel is sold by the litre in both countries, and prices are close. Convert L to gal relates the litre to the gallon for visitors from North America. When you buy fuel in Hungary, Convert PLN to HUF for the price per litre and compare it with a petrol station at home, since the difference can be a few groszy per litre, which adds up on a tank.
Budapest in three days
Buda and Pest
Tickets for the castle, the church tower and a night cruise add up quickly, so Convert PLN to HUF for each before you decide the order of the day.
The Danube divides the capital in two: Buda, hilly and old, with the royal castle, the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church, and Pest, flat and busy, with the Parliament, boulevards, the opera and the market hall. The funicular and the walk up Castle Hill are inexpensive, and a ticket to the church tower or to the castle's museums costs 2,000 to 5,000 forints. A river cruise by night, with the Parliament lit up, costs 4,000 to 8,000. A 24-hour public transport pass is about 2,500 to 3,500. Convert PLN to HUF for each ticket and you will see how a full day in the capital costs less than a day in Kraków.
The thermal baths
A bath ticket looks steep in forints, but Convert PLN to HUF and compare it with a day pool in Poland.
Budapest stands on dozens of hot springs, and bathing is part of the city's life. The Széchenyi Baths, in a yellow neo-baroque palace in the City Park, have outdoor pools where men play chess in steaming water. The Gellért Baths, with Art Nouveau mosaics, and the Rudas Baths, with an Ottoman dome, are other favourites. A day ticket costs 11,000 to 15,000 forints at weekends, and a locker or cabin adds a little more. Bring a swimsuit, flip-flops and a towel, or rent them at the desk. Mornings are quieter, and buying tickets online saves queues.
Ruin bars and street food
The old Jewish quarter in Pest is known for ruin bars, drinking places set up in the courtyards of derelict buildings and furnished with mismatched chairs, bicycles and old televisions. A beer costs 1,200 to 2,000 forints, a glass of wine 1,500 to 2,500. Street food includes lángos, a deep-fried flatbread topped with sour cream and cheese for 1,500 to 2,500, and chimney cake, a spiral pastry for 1,500 to 2,200. A lunch in a simple restaurant is 4,000 to 7,000.
Lake Balaton and the countryside
The Hungarian sea
Beach entry, sunbeds and boat rides are priced in forints, so Convert PLN to HUF for a family of four before choosing a resort.
Lake Balaton, about 80 kilometres south-west of Budapest, is the largest lake in Central Europe, long and shallow, with warm water in summer. The north shore has hills, vineyards and villages; the south shore has sandy beaches and lively resorts such as Siófok. Admission to a public beach is 1,000 to 2,500 forints, and a sunbed a little more. Boat trips, sailing and cycling around the lake are popular. Accommodation ranges from camp sites to hotels, and in July and August prices are high. A room for two costs 25,000 to 60,000 forints per night.
Hévíz, the thermal lake
Near the western end of Balaton lies Hévíz, whose lake is fed by a hot spring and is regarded as one of the largest natural thermal lakes in the world. The water stays warm even in winter, covered with water lilies in summer. Entry for a few hours costs about 3,000 to 5,000 forints, and the surrounding town has spa hotels and clinics. It is a place for rest rather than adventure, and many Poles visit for medical treatments.
Eger and Tokaj
Wine is cheap to taste and expensive to ship home, so Convert PLN to HUF for the bottles you plan to carry and check the allowance.
In northern Hungary, the baroque town of Eger is known for its castle, which withstood an Ottoman siege in 1552, and its Valley of the Beautiful Woman, where wine cellars serve the red blend called Bull's Blood. A tasting costs 2,000 to 5,000 forints. Farther east, Tokaj produces the sweet golden wine called Aszú, praised by kings. Cellars are cut into volcanic rock, and a tasting of several wines costs 3,000 to 10,000. Take a designated driver or book a taxi.
Why the brothers are brothers: five moments from a shared history
Queen Jadwiga and King Stephen
The friendship has royal roots. Jadwiga, crowned in Kraków in 1384 as the ruler of Poland, was the daughter of Louis the Great, king of both Hungary and Poland, and she is revered in Poland as a saint. Two centuries later, in 1576, the Polish nobles elected a Hungarian prince, Stephen Báthory, to the throne. He proved a capable commander and reformer, founded a university in Vilnius and led successful campaigns against Muscovy. Their statues and tombs, in the cathedral on Wawel hill, are still visited by Hungarian pilgrims. A ticket for the cathedral and royal chambers costs about 20 to 40 zloty, which is easy to Convert PLN to HUF for a Hungarian friend who asks.
1848: a Polish general in Hungarian service
During the revolution of 1848 and 1849, when Hungarians fought for independence from the Habsburgs, Polish exiles joined them. General Józef Bem, a veteran of the Polish uprising of 1830, became one of the leaders of the Hungarian army in Transylvania, and he is a national hero in Hungary. A statue of Bem stands on the Buda bank of the Danube, and the square is named after him. Every year on the anniversary of the revolution, Poles and Hungarians gather at the monument. The Hungarian national poet Sándor Petőfi died in battle in the same campaign.
The poet's last march
Petőfi wrote his best-known poem, "National Song", in March 1848, and Hungarians recite it on 15 March every year. The short, stirring lines are among the first things a Hungarian child memorises. For visitors, 15 March is a holiday; museums and shops may close, and processions fill the main squares.
1956: blood for Budapest
When the Hungarian uprising against Soviet domination broke out in October 1956, Poles responded at once. Hospitals and Red Cross posts took donations of blood and medicine, and long queues formed outside donation centres. Poland had just seen its own protests in Poznań in June of that year, and the events fed into each other. The Polish response is remembered in Hungary with gratitude, and a monument and street names recall it.
1989 and after
Both countries, as well as Czechoslovakia, took part in the changes of 1989 that ended communist rule, and in 1991 their leaders met in the Hungarian town of Visegrád to found a regional cooperation known as the Visegrád Group, joined later by the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The group has since worked on trade, energy and transport. For travellers the practical effect is the free movement of people and goods.
Food, wine and bread on both sides
Soups and stews
Both nations love soup and stew. Hungary's goulash, a thick paprika-flavoured soup of beef and potatoes, is eaten with bread, and fish soup, halászlé, is made in huge cauldrons at the Danube and the Tisza. Poland's counterpart is bigos, a stew of cabbage and meats, and żurek, a sour rye soup in a bread bowl. A bowl of goulash costs 2,500 to 4,500 forints in a restaurant, and Convert PLN to HUF will show that it is about the same as a bowl of żurek in Kraków.
Pastries and sweets
A slice of cake in a famous café is a treat, so Convert PLN to HUF for the price and put it in the budget as a fixed item.
Poland has pączki and sernik, Hungary has kürtőskalács, the chimney cake, and Dobos torte, a layered sponge with caramel on top, invented in Budapest in the nineteenth century. Cafés in both capitals serve coffee with cake, and the Gerbeaud café on Vörösmarty Square, founded in the 1850s, is a monument. A slice costs 2,500 to 4,000 forints there, and a coffee 1,500 to 2,500.
The drinks
Hungary produces pálinka, a fruit brandy, in plum, apricot and pear varieties; Poland answers with vodka and herbal liqueurs. A shot of pálinka costs 700 to 1,500 forints in a bar. Wine is more typical for Hungary, and beer for Poland. A beer in a Budapest pub costs 1,000 to 1,800. Drinking and driving is not tolerated in either country; Hungary applies a zero limit for drivers.
Practical details for the road
Speed, distances and units
Hungarian roads are signposted in kilometres per hour, with 130 km/h on motorways, 90 on country roads and 50 in towns. Drive with headlights on at all times outside built-up areas. Fines are payable on the spot to the police in many cases and can be high. Temperatures are in Celsius, and Convert °C to °F is useful for visitors who think in Fahrenheit.
Language
Hungarian is unrelated to Polish or to most European languages, and its grammar is very different. A few words go a long way: "köszönöm" is thank you, "szia" is hello, "kérem" is please. English is widely understood in Budapest and in tourist places. Polish visitors are met with warmth, and the proverb about the two brothers is sometimes quoted back to them, accompanied by an offered drink.
Money in Hungary
The forint in brief
The forint has been Hungary's currency since 1946, and it is not linked to the euro. Banknotes come in denominations from 500 to 20,000, and coins from 5 to 200. Hungary has the highest value-added tax rate in the European Union, 27 per cent, which is included in shelf prices. Hungary is a member of the European Union and Schengen but has not adopted the euro. Many tourist places show prices in euros as well, but pay in forints for a better rate.
Cards and cash
Cards convert for you, but you should Convert PLN to HUF at the till to check that the statement shows a fair amount.
Cards are accepted in towns, hotels and large shops, and contactless payment is common. Small markets, baths' lockers and rural guesthouses may prefer cash. Avoid street money changers and exchange offices with tempting rates displayed on the window but a different one at the counter. Cash machines are plentiful, but some terminals offer to charge you in zloty at a poor rate: decline and choose forints.
A budget for two, for a week
A couple staying in guesthouses, eating one restaurant meal a day, buying thermal-bath tickets twice and paying for fuel can spend 400,000 to 600,000 forints. With the invented rate of ninety forints to the zloty, that is 4,400 to 6,700 zloty. Convert PLN to HUF with the real rate of the day before you fix the budget, and add a reserve of ten per cent.
Other zloty conversions
If your trip continues
Travellers who go on to the euro area can use Convert PLN to EUR, and those who visit Prague Convert PLN to CZK. For Romania there is Convert PLN to RON, and for Switzerland Convert PLN to CHF.
A habit worth keeping
Write down the rate and date of each exchange, and compare them later with your statement. It takes seconds and removes any doubt.
Mistakes to avoid
Forgetting the vignette
Driving on Hungarian motorways without a valid electronic vignette brings automatic fines. Buy it online before you start.
Exchanging on the street
Street changers and unlicensed offices are a classic trap. Use banks, licensed offices or cash machines.
Using an old rate
A rate from last month can be wrong by several per cent. The date beside the result protects you each time you Convert PLN to HUF.
In short
The only thing fetched from the network is the table of daily rates, while your amount stays in the browser and no account is needed. From the shared proverb to the bill at a Budapest bath, the routine is the same: Convert PLN to HUF, read the date and compare every offer with the number on this page.