Public Transport in Budapest
Hév, tram and bus!
If you decide to travel by public transportation in Budapest during your stay the first thing you should do is to get a map of the bus, tram, metro, HÉV network. These are the four major transportation ways in Budapest. Usually you get the maps on any big square like Deak Ferenc tér, Oktogon, Moskva tér and so on. But also on the train stations and at the Budapest airport. There you get tickets as well. You can choose between single tickets and weekend tickets or if you stay longer it would be good to get ticket for a complete month.
Budapest Metro
The Metro in Budapest is the fastest way to travel through the city. There are three different Metro lines going through Budapest.
M1 (yellow line) is going from Mexikói ut in the north east of Budapest to Vörösmarty tér in the center of the City.
M2 (red line) is going from Déli pu (west train station) on the Buda side to Örs vezér tér in the eastern part of Budapest.
M3 (blue line) is going from Újpest központ in northern Budapest to Köbánya Kispest in the south of Budapest.
All Metros are running between 4.30 and 23.30 o’clock
Bus and Tram
The bus and tram network in Budapest is very big so there is no chance to describe it like the metro net. We give you some good links you can use.
The tickets are most of the time sol in metro stations. There you can buy one way tickets, weekend tickets or tickets for a month. Here you can find all ticket offices by district.
If you are at a ticket office ask for a bus and tram map.
Budapest HÉV
The Budapest Hév is a train going from different places at the center to the suburbs of the city. In total there are 4 Hévs starting from different points in Budapest. For quick travelling to places like Szentendre the HÉV is a perfect transportation as it is modern and fast and in the same time cheap. In the morning traffic the HÉV in Budapest is unbeatable.
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Explain why my wife was charged 6000 HUF penalty even though see had bought a valid ticket. The ticket did not register when put through validiation machine. All the official was interested in was taking the money. Why should anybody be penalised because of a machine that failed to validate the ticket.
Tourist beware!
After looking at all the negative web site reports about TAXIS ripping you off and inspectos waiting to jump on you on the public transport i have cancelled our trip to budapest and are now going to berlin instead.Thank you web site for your tourist reviews.
p.s Just to let know our trip to berlin is a lot more expensive than budapest. Its not the money but, like all tourists i hate beening ripped off.
Every one has to make a living and i am the first to addmitt, but i am not going to be taken for a ride just because i am a tourist.I know you may not miss my family and i but,i am sure i am not alone in reading these reports.
MAY BE IF YOUR SORT OUT YOUR TAXIS ETC I WILL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR. I WANT TO VISIT BUDAPEST BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER INTRESTING PLACES TO SEE.
P.S I LIVE IN THE U.K.
@latham First of all thanks for your comment.
I personally find it a bit strange not to go to a chosen destination just because you hear that it might happen that you get ripped off by a taxi driver. First of all by far not all taxi drivers rip off and what I (and many others on their website) write about are extreme cases but we want the tourists to be aware of that. Secondly, that can happen to you in any city of the world no matter if Budapest, Berlin or London. In the UK not everything is going 100% correct as well.
Anyways I wish you a nice trip to Berlin. A really nice and fascinating city.
I guess there is a danger everywhere using taxis and public transportation, but in poor countries you experience more scams and trouble than elsewhere (I think). I know several guests who have been overcharged using taxies in Budapest, and even though it is not always a fortune (6000 Forints instead of 2000 etc) it is still the knowledge that you have been foold and tricked which makes such a bad impression on the visitor – and which can totally destroy a nice stay… unfortunately! (the same is when people who do not want to cheat on the public transportation get fined…)
Unfortunately that is the way things are around so we just have to live with it somehow and if something bad should happen, try to forget it and live on and remember the nice stuff instead!