Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Of the other bus stations, the
ÚjpestVároskapú
in the XIII district (on the blue metro line)
is the jumping-off point for buses to and from Szentendre and the Danube Bend; the
Stadion
bus station
in the XIV district (on the red metro line) serves the Northern Uplands and the
Etele tér bus station
in the XI district (take bus #7 or #7E to the centre) serves the Buda
hinterland. None of the city's bus stations has any tourist facilities.
Hydrofoils
(operated by Mahart; 1 484 4013,
mahartpassnave.hu
)
from Vienna
(June-Sept) dock at the
international landing stage
, on the Belgrád rakpart (embankment),
near downtown Pest.
By car
Most drivers enter Budapest along the M1 motorway from Vienna via Hegyeshalom, which
is a busy road, heavily policed to fine speeding foreigners. It approaches Budapest from the
southwest, and goes straight through to Erzsébet híd in the centre, with turn-offs signed to
Petőfi híd in the south of the centre, and Széll Kálmán tér and Margít híd to the north.
GETTING AROUND
Budapest's well-integrated transport system comprises the metro, buses, trams and
trains, all of which reach most areas of interest to tourists, while the outer suburbs are
well served by the overground HÉV rail network. Services operate generally between
5am and 11pm, and there are also night-time buses covering much of the city.
There is a whole array of
tickets
available for use on public transport, but since validating
your ticket can be complex and is easy to forget, it's best to get a
travel pass
if you're
staying for more than half a day. The local transport authority, the
Budapest Transport
Centre
(BKK;
bkk.hu
) operates an increasing number of customer service points (Bud-
apesti Közlekedési Központ), and also has a useful website with full timetable and ticket in-
formation.
