How Lisbon and Budapest compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
Rent, a coworking desk, a cheap lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around: the same four costs our budget calculator uses. The rent figures aren't always the same kind of figure (some are furnished one-beds, some are averages across every size of flat), so read the note under each.
$1,490 to $2,520£1,120 to £1,890 a month
$1,030 to $1,250£770 to £940 a month
D8 digital nomad visa
The catch. The bar is four times the minimum wage, so it rises every January. And a partner can now join you only once you have held the permit for two years.
White Card
The catch. Nobody can join you on it, and owning even a share in a Hungarian company gets it withdrawn.
See where your own income stands in every country. Check your income
A 9am to 5pm day in the employer's city, shown in local time, for today's date, so it allows for the clocks changing.
Different hours or another employer city? Use the time-zone planner
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon | 15° | 16° | 19° | 20° | 23° | 26° | 28° | 29° | 27° | 23° | 18° | 15° |
| Budapest | 3° | 6° | 11° | 18° | 23° | 26° | 28° | 28° | 23° | 16° | 9° | 4° |
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 1: normal precautions
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
From each city guide, word for word.
You want a European base that works for a London or New York working day, you would rather eat in a tasca than a restaurant, and you are coming for at least a season rather than a fortnight. It rewards staying: the third month is better than the first, because by then you have a market, a cafe and a couple of people, and you are no longer paying tourist prices for anything.
You are on a tight budget, or you want to work from cafes all day. Lisbon is no longer cheap — rents have gone up faster than almost anywhere in Europe and you are competing with people earning in dollars. And it is not a laptop city: the cafes tolerate you, they do not want you. If you cannot afford a desk somewhere, you will have a worse time here than the internet suggests. Come for the winter and the flat will be colder than you think.
Employees of a foreign company, or owners of a profitable one, earning EUR 3,000 a month net or more, who want one or two good years in a central European capital. It suits people who like real seasons, cheap and complete public transport and a deep cafe culture, and who are happy renting in Pest's central districts or across the river in Buda.
Anyone hoping to settle, because the White Card stops at two years and cannot turn into residence. Couples and families, because your partner cannot join you on it. Freelancers without a company, who have no clear route at all. Anyone who might take a single Hungarian client or buy into a local business, since either gets the card withdrawn. And anyone who hates winter: from November to February the city is grey, with highs of 3 to 9 degrees.
Most visas want health cover for the whole stay. Compare nomad health insurance · Build your trip checklist