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Hungarian art and architecture is laced with Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau influences. The country has one of the finest folk traditions in Europe, producing excellent examples of embroidery, pottery, ceiling and wall painting, and objects carved from wood or bone. Its musical contributions are just as rich, and range from the rhapsodies of Franz Liszt and the operas of Ferenc Erkel to Gypsy and folk music. Literature has been shaped by the monumental events of the nation's history, which have given rise to swashbuckling odes, stirring poems of independence, gritty tales of realism, and strident polemic. Soccer is far and away the favourite spectator sport, while chess is also popular.

Hungarians tend to have a sceptical view of faith (some suggest this is why they have a high success rate in science and mathematics), but of those declaring religious affiliation, most would say they're either Roman Catholic, Calvinist or Lutheran. The country also has a small Greek Catholic and Orthodox population, and a thriving Jewish community in Budapest.

You'll have to dig a little to unearth the wonders of Hungarian cuisine. The natural abundance of fruits and vegetables should make eating here a delight, but unfortunately this is often not the case. Generally, basic dishes consist of fatty meat (pork is generally preferred) or overcooked fish, some sort of starch, and a teensy-weensy garnish of pickles. These include: pörkölt (stew, and what everyone calls 'goulash' abroad); gulyás (a thickish beef soup); and halászlé (spicy fish soup cooked with paprika). If you keep your eyes open for jokai bableves (bean soup), hideg gyumolcsleves (cold fruit soup made from sour cherry) or palacsinta (stuffed crepes) your tastebuds will thank you for it. Decent wine isn't difficult to find (but you'll have to look hard for the very good stuff), while the beer is good, and the brandy (pálinka) strong.