The 2007 Rubik’s Cube World Championship winner solved the puzzle in 12 seconds.

Not only is the “Rubik’s Cube,” invented by Hungarian Ernő Rubik, a global sensation, but it’s also a colorful and cheap souvenir. When in Budapest, we recommend picking up a couple cubes for the folks back home.

Solving the low-cost souvenir puzzle

Patented in Hungary in 1974, the Rubik’s Cube became a world-wide obsession within a few years. Today, puzzle aficionados can choose between numerous variations of the classic 3×3x3 cube, including a 2×2x2 Mini Cube, the 4×4x4 Rubik’s Revenge, and the 5×5x5 Professor’s Cube.

Not only do these puzzles makes great souvenirs, but they can also help pass untold hours on the metro, bus or tram rides while still visiting Budapest or during the long flight back home. All items sell locally for HUF 850 to HUF 3,300 (about €3.50 to €14).

Rubik’s inventions (and the knock-off key chains, pens and other trinkets) can be found in souvenir shops all over Budapest. We don’t recommend purchasing anything on the expensive Váci U. pedestrian street, where souvenirs can be up to five times more expensive than on nearby Rákóczi Út.

While you’re at it…

Tourists visiting Budapest already have a cheapo souvenir jingling in their pockets: the forint currency itself. Due to be replaced by the euro in 2013, forint coins can’t be cashed out at exchange centers, making them an appropriate—and unavoidable—souvenir.

Also see: Our guide to budget hotels in Budapest, more on the history of the Rubik’s Cube, and an attempt at a Rubik’s Cube Cake.

Popularity: 9% [?]