Long weekend in Hungary: shop opening times change considerably

Pentecost Sunday and Monday are holidays in Hungary. Therefore, between 27 May and 29 May, there will be a long weekend in Hungary, and the shops will be open differently, so you should not follow the usual routes when you go shopping.

According to 24.hu, Saturday is not a holiday but a simple rest day. Therefore, everything will be open following their usual Saturday opening times. But everything will change tomorrow. Based on the main rule, no shops, malls, shopping centres, hypermarkets, supermarkets, and food stores will remain open on Sunday and Monday in Hungary. But, of course, there will be some exceptions.

The usual way of life will return on Tuesday. On Monday, even post offices will remain closed. The Monday longer opening time of the post offices prescribed by the law will take place on Tuesday (30 May) next week. The exceptions that will be open during the long weekend, even on Sunday and Monday, are the following shops:

• fuel stations and shops operating there. For example, in Hungary, there are a lot of Spar shops at OMV gas stations, which can remain open. On MOL stations, there are Fresh Corners where you can buy many things from milk to toilet paper.
• flower shops
• newsstands
• sweet-shops
• non-stop groceries
• tobacco shops (if the owner or his family member works in them)
• restaurants and clubs

If you need drugs, you must go to non-stop pharmacies that are open during the holidays. HERE is the official pharmacy search site of the OGYÉI (National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition). The easiest way to use it is to type the locality after “Ügyeletes gyógyszertár”, and select the day after it to the right. Then the program lists where you can go.

Children’s Day is on 28 May, this Sunday this year. Provided you plan to go to a beach or a bath, you should check whether they are open. HERE is the updated list of termalonline.hu.

Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday, which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).