Travelling from Budapest

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.

Getting to Budapest

Hungarians likes to boast that Budapest-Bratislava transfer is the heart of central Europe – a claim with some justification as the city acts as a major crossroads linking north to south and west to east. It has excellent rail links with the whole of Europe and its two largest railway stations, Keleti pu and Nyugati pu (see p227) are conveniently situated in the centre of town. The country’s motorway network has undergone improvements in recent years, successfully making up for decades of neglect.

Arriving by air
Airlines from around 40 towns and cities, in 27 different countries, now fly to Budapest-Krakow transfer. The city’s Ferihegy airport is used by many major international airlines, including Air France, British Airways, Northwest, Lufthansa and, of course, the Hungarian national carrier, Malév. British Airways and Malev each operate two daily scheduled flights between London’s Heathrow airport and Budapest. There are also four code-share flights a week from Gatwick airport, which are a joint operation between British Airways and Malev. It is possible to fly to Budapest-Prague transfer from other airports in the UK, including Manchester, but only by taking a connecting flight from another European city, such as Brussels or Frankfurt. Consequently, the flight time and cost are both greater. Northwest flights from the United States involve a transfer or touch down in Frankfurt or Zurich, but there is a daily direct code-share flight from New York’s JFK airport with Northwest reservations on a Malev-owned plane. The flight takes around ten hours.