Poland or Hungary? When each is busy and when it is quiet

TL;DR

In 2025, Poland's busiest month was August (13.9% of its tourist nights) and Hungary's was August (14.7%). The quietest were January (5.8%) and January (5.0%). Poland's two busiest months carried 27.0% of its year, against 28.2% for Hungary, so Poland's year was less concentrated.

Poland and Hungary, month by month

Each chart shows what share of the place's 2025 tourist nights fell in each month, on the same scale; the two busiest months are highlighted.1

Poland

JFMAMJJA13.9%SOND

Hungary

JFMAMJJA14.7%SOND

Share of the year, every month

Poland had the smaller share of its own year in five months (April, July, August, October and December), and Hungary in five. A smaller share means a quieter month for that country, not fewer visitors than the other.1

Poland and Hungary: share of 2025 tourist nights by month
MonthPolandHungary
January5.8%5.0%
February6.5%5.2%
March6.0%5.9%
April6.4%7.3%
May8.4%8.4%
June9.7%9.6%
July13.1%13.5%
August13.9%14.7%
September9.0%8.4%
October7.8%8.3%
November6.7%6.7%
December6.6%7.0%

The key facts side by side

Poland and Hungary: key facts
PolandHungary
Busiest monthAugust, 13.9%August, 14.7%
Quietest monthJanuary, 5.8%January, 5.0%
Two busiest months27.0% of the year28.2% of the year
Busiest vs quietest2.4 times as busy2.9 times as busy
From abroadIn 2025, guests living abroad spent 19.3% of Poland's tourist nights. Source pageIn 2025, guests living abroad spent 48.9% of Hungary's tourist nights. Source page
Length of stayGuests stayed an average of 2.4 nights each time they checked in at tourist accommodation in Poland in 2025. Source pageGuests stayed an average of 2.4 nights each time they checked in at tourist accommodation in Hungary in 2025. Source page
How seasonalJuly and August together carried 27.0% of the year, making Poland the 23rd most seasonal of 35 European countries we measured. Source pageJuly and August together carried 28.2% of the year, making Hungary the nineteenth most seasonal of 35 European countries we measured. Source page
Public holidaysIn Poland, public holidays fall on 14 days in both 2026 and 2027. Source pageIn Hungary, public holidays fall on 11 days in both 2026 and 2027. Source page

Each sentence is copied from the page it links to, where its source is cited.

Weather: Warsaw and Budapest

Averages for 1991–2020 at the weather station each page uses: WarszawaOkecie for Warsaw and BudapestBelterulet for Budapest.2

Average high and rain by month, Warsaw and Budapest, 1991 to 2020
MonthHigh, WarsawHigh, BudapestRain, WarsawRain, Budapest
January1.0 °C4.7 °C31 mm33 mm
February2.6 °C7.1 °C30 mm30 mm
March7.4 °C12.3 °C29 mm31 mm
April14.5 °C18.8 °C35 mm32 mm
May19.8 °C23.1 °C56 mm57 mm
June23.1 °C26.8 °C64 mm60 mm
July25.2 °C28.8 °C82 mm54 mm
August24.7 °C28.9 °C61 mm54 mm
September19.1 °C23.1 °C50 mm46 mm
October12.9 °C17.2 °C40 mm44 mm
November6.5 °C10.6 °C36 mm46 mm
December2.3 °C5.1 °C36 mm38 mm

One station per place; weather varies within every country. Not a forecast.

What this comparison cannot tell you

  • A share of each place's own year, not a crowd count. A low share means that month was quiet for that place. It does not mean the place had fewer visitors than somewhere else, and a small country's busy month can still be far quieter than a big country's quiet one.
  • Nights, not queues. A national or prefecture total cannot show crowding at one sight, beach or old town. Day trips do not count at all, because nobody stays the night.
  • One year. These are 2025 figures. Another year can differ, for example when Easter moves between March and April.
  • We have not been to these places and make no judgement about which is better to visit.

Want a different pair? Open these two in Compare and add or swap places.

Key takeaways

  • Busiest in 2025: Poland in August, Hungary in August.
  • Quietest: Poland in January, Hungary in January.
  • Two busiest months: 27.0% of Poland's year, 28.2% of Hungary's.
  • What we would skip: picking one over the other on these figures alone. They show when each is busy, not which you would enjoy more.

Sources

The tourism figures come from Eurostat and the weather from the World Meteorological Organization's 1991–2020 normals, published by NOAA. We copied every figure from the two places' own pages, where each source is cited in full. See how we research.

  1. Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_NIM, accessed 25 September 2026. Dataset last updated by Eurostat on 22 September 2026. Extract: number of nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests and split by guests resident in the country and abroad, January–December 2025.
  2. Weather: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), the station named for each country in the table (the same station its country page uses), mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation, normals computed from at least 24 years; also station MilanoLinate (station ID 00016080); also station BariPalese (station ID 00016270), from the same files, downloaded 24 September 2026. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi:10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed 22 September 2026. Released by NOAA under CC0.

Modified data. The monthly shares, orderings and comparisons are our own calculations from Eurostat's counts and the Japan Tourism Agency's figures (「宿泊旅行統計調査」(観光庁)を加工して作成). Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Neither body is responsible for these calculations or for how the figures are presented here.