Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE RING ROADS
If you look at a map of Budapest you will see that two ring roads - the big one
(Nagykörút) and the semicircular Kiskörút (the 'little ring road') - link three of the
bridges across the Danube and essentially define central Pest. The Big Ring Rd con-
sists of Szent István körút, Teréz körút, Erzsébet körút, József körút and Ferenc körút.
The Little Ring Rd comprises Károly körút, Múzeum körút and Vámház körút. Import-
ant boulevards such as Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, leafy Andrássy út, Rákóczi út and Üllői út
fan out from the ring roads, creating large squares and circles.
Car & Motorcycle
Driving in Budapest can be a nightmare: ongoing roadworks reduce traffic to a snail's pace;
there are more serious accidents than fender-benders; and parking spots are near impossible
to find in some neighbourhoods. The public-transport system is good and very inexpensive.
Use it.
For information on traffic and road conditions in the capital, check the
Főinform
( 1-317
1173;
www.fovinform.hu
;
7am-7pm) website.
Hire
All the international car-rental firms have offices in Budapest, but don't expect many bar-
János utca 26-28; 7am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-2pm Sat & Sun; M3 Arany János utca), for
example, costs €59/380 per day/week, with unlimited kilometres, collision damage waiver
(CDW) and theft protection (TP) insurance. The same car and insurance with 750km costs
just €65 for the weekend.
Parking
Parking costs between 175Ft and 450Ft per hour on the streets of Budapest (more on Castle
Hill), generally between 8am and 6pm (sometimes 8pm) Monday to Friday and 8am and
noon Saturday. Illegally parked cars are usually clamped or booted.
