How Budapest and Athens 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.
$1,030 to $1,250£770 to £940 a month
$915 to $1,180£688 to £883 a month
White Card
The catch. Nobody can join you on it, and owning even a share in a Hungarian company gets it withdrawn.
Digital nomad visa and residence permit
The catch. Since February 2026 you must apply at a consulate before you go: applying from inside Greece no longer works.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budapest | 3° | 6° | 11° | 18° | 23° | 26° | 28° | 28° | 23° | 16° | 9° | 4° |
| Athens | 13° | 14° | 16° | 20° | 25° | 30° | 33° | 32° | 29° | 23° | 19° | 15° |
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.
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.
Remote workers on a solid foreign salary who want winter sun and a proper city rather than a resort, and who treat spring and autumn as the best months. Daily life is cheap even where rent is not: lunch is a EUR 4 gyros, the transport pass is EUR 27 a month and the Acropolis Museum stays open until 10pm on Fridays. It works best if you arrive on a D visa arranged in advance, and either stay under 183 days or budget for Greek tax.
Anyone who needs a bearable summer: July and August heatwaves reach 38 degrees and more, and in July 2025 the Acropolis shut in the afternoons. Anyone who needs fast home broadband guaranteed, or a bureaucracy in English. Remote employees counting on the famous 50 per cent tax break, which does not cover them. And anyone planning to fly in visa-free and sort out a permit later: that door closed in February 2026.
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