One of the things that surprised me after moving to Hungary was just how much food seems to grow around you once you start paying attention.
Before Hungary, I lived in Malta for ten years. Malta is beautiful in its own way, but it is a rocky Mediterranean island, and the landscape is completely different. After moving to Budapest, I suddenly started noticing fruit trees, berries, nuts and plants everywhere, not only when we went hiking in the Hungarian countryside, but sometimes right along the streets in our neighbourhood.
We have found figs and walnuts growing in public areas around Budapest and brought them home. On family walks in forests and parks, I’ve come across rose hips and hawthorn berries, which I have dried to use for tea. I regularly notice elderberries around our neighbourhood too, although that’s one I haven’t yet felt confident enough to collect and prepare myself.
And then there are plums, cherries, sour cherries, sunflowers and countless plants that make me stop and wonder: Can we actually use this? That’s actually why I originally started researching foraging in Hungary. I wasn’t an experienced forager looking for new territory. I simply wanted to learn more about what was growing around me and how we could make use of some of what nature gives us for free.
If you’re wondering about the word itself, foraging means searching for and gathering wild food or useful plants. In Hungarian, you’ll commonly encounter words such as gyűjtögetés or vadon termő növények gyűjtése when reading about collecting wild plants. And autumn in Hungary is a particularly interesting time to start looking.
Foraging in Hungary Changed the Way I Look at Autumn
Since moving here, our walks have changed. I’m almost always exploring with my family and children, and now I find myself looking at what’s growing around us rather than simply walking past it. A red berry isn’t just a red berry anymore. I want to know what plant it belongs to, what its Hungarian name is, whether it’s edible, when people traditionally collect it and what they do with it.
I don’t consider myself an expert forager. I’m learning. That’s an important distinction because identifying wild plants isn’t something you should do by looking at a single photograph on a blog. Some edible plants have dangerous lookalikes, some species are protected, and where you’re allowed to collect also matters.
So consider this article inspiration for what you might encounter in autumn in Hungary, not an identification manual.
Before You Forage: What Are the Rules in Hungary?
Before filling a bag with wild fruit in Hungary, you need to know that finding something growing in nature doesn’t automatically mean you’re free to take as much as you want.
According to Hungary’s National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih), in state-owned forest areas you can generally collect non-protected mushrooms, wild fruit and medicinal herbs for your own needs, with a maximum of 2 kg per person per day. Produce collected under this personal-use allowance cannot be sold. Nébih also notes that you must respect restrictions and signs in protected or otherwise specially regulated areas.
Hungary’s official nature-conservation authority adds another important rule: protected plants remain protected even when they happen to grow outside a protected natural area, and collecting them requires authorization. It also recommends collecting only plants you can identify with certainty and taking only part of a population rather than clearing an entire spot.
Official Hungarian guidance on collecting plants and mushrooms.
I also wouldn’t assume that fruit growing beside a street or path is automatically public property. Around our neighbourhood I’ve collected things growing in clearly public areas, not fruit hanging over someone’s garden or obviously belonging to private property.
My personal rule is simple: if I’m not sure what something is, whether I can collect it, or whether the land is private, I leave it alone.
With that said, here are some of the wild berries and fruits that inspired me to start learning.
1. Blackberries – Szeder
Blackberries (szeder in Hungarian) are probably among the most familiar wild berries on this list. Their appearance makes them much easier for beginners to recognize than some of the small red berries you might encounter on an autumn walk, but identification still matters. Depending on the location and weather, blackberry season can begin before autumn really arrives, so late summer into early autumn is the time I’d start watching for them.
Wild blackberries are one of those finds that immediately demonstrate why foraging can become addictive. You’re walking somewhere you might have walked dozens of times before, and suddenly you realize that something edible has been growing beside you all along. If I find a good patch, though, I wouldn’t strip the bush. Wild fruit is part of the ecosystem too, and leaving plenty behind is part of responsible gathering.
2. Elderberries – Fekete Bodza
Elderberry (fekete bodza) is particularly interesting to me because after moving to Hungary, I started noticing elder everywhere. I see it around our Budapest neighbourhood, and bodza is also a flavour you quickly become familiar with in Hungary. Elderflower drinks are especially common, you’ll see bodzaszörp and elderflower lemonade on menus, and I’ve even encountered the flavour in desserts and ice cream.
Despite seeing elderberries frequently, I haven’t personally collected and prepared the berries. I don’t yet feel confident enough about processing them correctly, so this is one of those plants that I currently prefer to observe rather than experiment with. That’s another lesson I’ve learned from becoming interested in foraging: you don’t have to pick everything you identify. Sometimes noticing it, learning its Hungarian name and understanding how people traditionally use it is enough.
3. Hawthorn Berries – Galagonya
Hawthorn, or galagonya, is one of the red berries I’ve personally encountered while walking in forested areas with my family. Its bright berries can make the bushes particularly noticeable during autumn, but this is also where I think beginner foragers need to become more cautious. Once you start looking, you realize just how many different shrubs can produce little red fruits.
I’ve collected hawthorn berries on our walks and dried them at home for tea. For me, the process is almost as enjoyable as actually drinking it. You bring something home that you found during a family walk, dry it, and weeks later that same walk somehow ends up in your cup. But don’t use my experience, or photographs online, as your only identification method. If you want to collect hawthorn yourself, learn to identify the entire plant confidently rather than simply looking for “red berries.”
4. Rose Hips – Csipkebogyó
Rose hips, called csipkebogyó in Hungarian, are another autumn find I’ve personally collected. These are the fruits that develop on wild roses, and their red-to-orange colour makes them particularly beautiful when the landscape begins changing in autumn. I’ve found rose hips during our forest walks, brought them home and dried them for tea.
This is probably one of my favourite parts of learning about wild plants in Hungary. It isn’t necessarily about collecting large quantities of food. Sometimes it’s simply the experience of recognizing something, taking a small amount home and finding a way to use it rather than buying the same type of product already packaged in a shop.
Rose hips are also a good example of why the keyword “red berries” isn’t enough to identify something. Hungary’s forests and hedgerows contain many red fruits, and you should never eat a berry simply because it resembles something you’ve seen in a photograph.
5. Sloe Berries – Kökény
Sloe berries, or kökény, are the dark blue-purple fruits of blackthorn. They’re another plant worth learning about if you start paying attention to the Hungarian countryside in autumn. Unlike sweet supermarket berries, sloes are known for being intensely tart and astringent, so they’re more commonly processed than eaten by the handful. This is one I have researched but haven’t personally collected and used yet. And I think that’s worth saying.
When I originally wrote about foraging, it was tempting to create a simple list of everything that could theoretically be found. But the more I learn, the more important I think it is to distinguish between something I’ve personally collected and something I’m still learning to recognize. Kökény remains on my list for future autumn walks.
6. Cornelian Cherry – Húsos Som
Cornelian cherry, known as húsos som, is another interesting Hungarian fruit to learn about. Despite the English name, it isn’t the same thing as the cherries we buy at the supermarket. Its elongated red fruits grow on a type of dogwood and have traditionally been used in various preserves and preparations in this part of Europe. This is another plant I haven’t personally foraged yet, so I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But that’s partly what I enjoy about this subject. Every walk gives me something else to research. When I first arrived in Hungary, I might have walked straight past these plants. Now I’m much more likely to stop, photograph something I don’t recognize and research it when I get home.
And Then I Started Finding Figs and Walnuts in Budapest
Not everything I’ve found has required a trip into a Hungarian forest. This is perhaps what surprised me most. I’ve found figs and walnuts growing around the streets of our Budapest neighbourhood in places that were clearly public, rather than hanging over someone’s private garden. We’ve collected some and brought them home.
Walnuts in particular made me realize how rich Hungary can feel during autumn. Once you learn what you’re looking for, you start noticing them everywhere. I’ve also become much more aware of plums, cherries, sour cherries, sunflowers and other Hungarian fruits and plants growing around us.
I wouldn’t call all of this “wild foraging” in the strictest sense. Some trees may have been planted decades ago and simply remain in public spaces today. But it has created the same change in my mindset: I look at my surroundings differently now. Instead of seeing only trees and bushes, I’m starting to recognize individual plants and understand when they fruit.
There Are So Many Potential Plants for Tea
This is another area I’m becoming increasingly curious about.
When we’re out walking, I see so many plants that make me wonder whether they have traditionally been dried for herbal teas. Rose hips and hawthorn were among the first berries I actually brought home and dried. But medicinal herbs are an area where I think it’s especially important not to become overconfident.
Something being “natural” doesn’t automatically mean it’s safe for everyone, and traditional use isn’t the same thing as medical evidence. There are also plants that can interact with medicines or be unsuitable in certain circumstances. So I’m deliberately not turning this article into a list of supposed health benefits. For me, this is about learning what grows in Hungary first. Anything involving medicinal use deserves considerably more research.
What About Dandelion, Nettles and Hazelnuts?
Once you start researching foraging, the list becomes much bigger than six berries. Dandelion (pitypang or gyermekláncfű), nettles (csalán) and hazelnuts (mogyoró) are just a few of the other plants you may start reading about. My original version of this guide included several of these additional finds. I still think they’re interesting, but I’ve deliberately kept this updated guide centred around the six autumn fruits and berries in the title.
There is enough to learn about each plant without trying to turn one article into an encyclopedia of everything edible growing in Hungary. And there is another reason to be cautious with roots in particular. Hungary’s official nature-conservation guidance recommends avoiding pulling plants out by the roots where possible and collecting in a way that allows the individual plant and population to survive.
What About Wild Mushrooms in Hungary?
Hungary can be fantastic for mushroom hunting, especially in the right conditions, but I do not collect wild mushrooms for eating myself, and this article should absolutely not be used to identify them. This is one area where I would not experiment based on photographs, an app or an article online.
Nébih explicitly warns that there are no simple universal characteristics that reliably distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible ones. Its primary rule is that wild mushrooms collected for eating should always be shown to a qualified mushroom inspector (gomba-szakellenőr) before consumption. Nébih also maintains information about mushroom inspectors and markets offering inspection services, while local municipalities organize mushroom-inspection services in many Hungarian towns and cities.
Nébih guidance on collecting and eating wild mushrooms
For me, mushrooms are currently something to admire on our walks rather than something to put in our basket.
Foraging With Kids in Hungary
Most of my exploring happens with my family, which has added another dimension to it. Children are naturally good at noticing things. A bright red berry, an unusual leaf, walnuts on the ground, they spot things adults often walk straight past. But I think there needs to be a very clear rule when doing this with children: they shouldn’t eat anything they find simply because it looks like a berry or fruit they recognize.
Our walks are much more about discovery. What is this? What’s its Hungarian name? Can we identify the tree? Is it edible? Is it protected? Can we collect it here? Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is, I have absolutely no idea. And then we leave it there. In a strange way, that’s part of the fun.
Why I Love Autumn in Hungary Even More Now
Foraging wasn’t something I moved to Hungary planning to do. It grew naturally from living here. After ten years surrounded by Malta’s rocky Mediterranean landscape, the richness of Hungarian nature immediately stood out to me. Then I started seeing the same abundance inside Budapest itself: walnuts on the ground, figs growing beside streets, elderberries around the neighbourhood and fruit trees that made me stop and look twice.
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I still don’t recognize. And perhaps that’s what I like most about it. Foraging isn’t only about getting something for free. It has made me pay attention. A family walk through a forest isn’t quite the same anymore because I’m looking at what’s growing around us, noticing the season changing and slowly learning the names of plants that previously would have simply blended into the landscape.
This autumn, I want to do more of it, and this time, take my camera with me. Maybe I’ll finally learn what to do with all those elderberries I keep walking past.