Travelling by coach
Budapest has one international
coach station, called
Népliget, which
can easily be accessed by
the M3 metro line. There are
three national coach stations:
Népliget (to Western Hungary),
Népstadion (the People’s
Stadium, to Eastern Hungary),
and Árpád Bridge (to
Northern Hungary and the
Danube Bend). Népstadion
station can be reached by the
M2 metro line, while Árpád
Bridge is served by the M3
line. The international routes
are served by luxury coaches,
which have all the usual
facilities. The domestic traffic
is served by Volánbusz
coaches, which operate routes
to most of the major towns
throughout Hungary.
Travelling by boat
From Aprin until October
hydrofoils run along the
Danube between Vienna and
Budapest, via
Bratislava transfers.
It is also possible to take a
hydrofoil or pleasure boat
along to the Danube bend,
to towns such as Esztergom
and Visegrád (see p164).
See the timetable at the
departure point at Vigadó
tér for exact times.
Travelling by car
The lack of parking makes
arriving by public transport
preferable to travelling
by car. Driving distances to
Budapest are: from
Vienna transfers,
250 km (155 miles); from
Prague transfers, 560 km (350 miles);
and from Frankfurt, 950 km
(590 miles).
Motorways are marked by
the letter “M” and international
highways with the letter
“E”. The speed limit is 130
km/h (80 mph). Seven main
roads lead out of Budapest
and one, the A8, starts in
Székésfehérvár. The M1
stretches from Budapest to
the Hegyeshalom border
crossing, where it joins the
Austrian motorway network.
Tolls are payable on all
motorways. The M3 links
Budapest to Polgár and is
being extended to join up
with the Slovak road network.
From Budapest the M5 leads
to Kecskemét (see p166),
while the M7 links to the
Balaton resorts.
Minor roads have three or
four digits, with the first digit
indicating the number of the
connecting main road.
The police patrol right from
the Hungarian border, so it
is worth studying the traffic
regulations displayed on
information boards. These
include: driving with the
headlights on, wearing seatbelts
in the back and keeping
to the speed limit of 50 km/h
(30 mph) in built-up areas.
Drivers must purchase a
motorway sticker for the M1,
M3 and M7 motorways. On
the M5, a toll fee has to be
paid at the motorway gates.
