Prague to Budapest Transportation Options

I would fly (and have a few times). Right now for June 18: Ryan Air 4:30 pm to 5:40 pm price starts at $35 but plan on spending closer to $100 with all the gimmicks paid for. June 17: Ryan Air 5:25 pm to 6:35 pm. On June 16: Ryan Air from 9:05 pm to 10:15 pm.

Private transfer? If it were a group of 6, maybe then I would think i a reasonable idea. But for two its sort of pricy. But I do know a company that will do it for you. I am guessing 600 Euro.

Here is my take on train vs plane.

Prague Old town to the main station (by taxi) is about 10 minutes.
Me at least, especially in a new station, I arrive no less than 30 minutes early find the platform, validate the ticket, find the new platform when it changes, get my reserved seat before anyone else sits in it, etc…..
The fastest train is 7:10 hours
The time from the Nyugati or the Keleti Train Station to the Opera House by taxi or metro is 15 minutes but throw in another 10 to call and find your taxi. Same would be true about buying metro tickets.

So, door to door = 8:15 hours
Now for me personally, I will have my morning coffee and croissant first so add 25 minutes for an even 8:40 hours.

Prague Old Town to the airport by taxi is about 30 minutes.
Pre Arrival time 2:00 hours (to be honest I never arrive more than 1.5 hours early)
Flight time 1:10 hours
Deplane, luggage, passport control, walk to taxi stand: 30 minutes
Order taxi, wait for taxi: 5 minutes (really is that fast they way they have it set up)
Ride to Opera House 30 minutes on average (it can be half that if there is no traffic). Metro will take you that long too.

So, door to door = 4:45 hours
Now for me personally, I will have my morning coffee and croissant first so add …. Well nothing … I get it in the airport. So, still 4:45.

Cost? Well the train is about $35 last time I checked, the flight $35 to $120. Then you might spend another $40 extra per couple for the longer taxi ride if you fly. For what its worth the Budapest Airport and the taxi service from it is a breeze....

While the plane is at least 4 hours faster, the time options are limited; right now one flight a day with departure time varying by the day of the week, but anything from morning to late night. There are a lot more train options, but few with the 7:30 time, many take more than 8 hours.

The train prices mentioned above are a tad on the expensive side. If you book in advance, you can get a ticket on the Eurocity trains for €21, or with the low cost competitor Regiojet for €16.

But if you have limited time, my suggestion is the overnight train. You have dinner in Prague in the evening before you board the train, and wake up next morning in Hungary.

You can read more about the different options at: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-budapest-by-train.htm

Also, there is nothing stopping you from having coffee and a croissant on the train.

Badger, you are correct. The coffee is just my routine and part of my pleasure of travel. I didnt comment on the fact that the other poster referenced the https://tickets.oebb.at/en/ticket?cref=oebb-allgemein instead of the Czech train site. Might be why he got crazy expensive ticket prices.

I looked on the MAV site for the night train (I am just familiar with the site and read it easy). It shows the night train has a change at 2 in the morning. Like i suggested above, you might do better going to the Czech site. Otherwise fine if you like trains. Gets in to Nyugati Station about 8:30 am. Nyugati is a bit of a pain for taxis and metro but not terrible if you know where to go. I would head from there to the Lion's Locker, have breakfast, drop my bags there for the day and then go out exploring.

EDIT: Went to the Czech site and found the direct train

IntercityIC 575 Metropol /477V³České dráhy, a.s.
22:34 Praha hl.n. #
Traffic restrictions
8:20 Budapest-Nyugati pu

Yes, the night train is direct, but sometimes there are bugs in the systems. I didn't check the MAV website, but sometimes international trains can show up as having a change close to the border. Since they usually change number when they cross the border the system might interpret that as two different trains.

Badger, thx, trains aren't my strength. I grab one Vienna to Budapest and the occasional to Pecs or Eger once in a while but thats it.

tdw, sorry

I'm planning to take the overnight train in May. Haven't booked yet but tickets when I looked last on the Czech train site where around $50-$70. There were no transfers. The timings are perfect get dinner in Prague get on the train and land in Budapest decent time for breakfast. The seat61 website is really good for trains info. Though the train booking is a tad complicated - one has to be careful when selecting.

Jis Ganga, Nyugati is a bit of a pain for taxis and metro but not terrible if you know where to go. I would head from there to the Lion's Locker, have breakfast, drop my bags there for the day and then go out exploring.

thanks James E. i haven't booked yet and plan to consider the flight option as well (but train for the experience!)

Train or plane, its all good, if you need help to your first stop, let me know.

One option not mentioned is by shuttle car/van. ckshuttle.cz, which I have used and like very much, does do Prague to Budapest in about 5.5 hours. They will pick you up at your hotel and bring you to your hotel in Budapest. It is cheaper per person if others (up to 7) are doing the same ride.

Bruce

I booked two train tickets from Prague to Budapest ( about 7 scenic hours with no change of train) on the Czech Train website last fall (www.cd.cz). One ticket was the equivalent in Czech Crowns of US$23 and the other was US$15. For these amazing prices you must book them in advance on the Czech website. See “The Man in Seat 61” website (www.seat61.com) for details on how to get these tix. They go on sale about 60 days in advance of your train day so look to book them around April 17.

Cheers!

knkouns, good advice. Have you taken the trip yet? Can you post some of the photos someplace we can see them? Beautiful scenery? Is there food service on board or should we pack a lunch?

Jis Ganga, when you arrive in Budapest at about 8am, if you need a place to dump your luggage, generally the hotel will hold it till check in time, but if you are doing an AirBnb or something similar, there are a few luggage storage places around town. My favorite is a place called "The Lion's Locker" and they serve a great breakfast too. Family owned and operated place and dad will talk your ear off and make you feel welcomed into Budapest. And its near the Opera House and Andrassy ut so not a bad place to begin exploring from. https://www.lockerbudapest.com/

James,

Yes- the Prague to Budapest train trip was part of a greater month-long trip I took last September that included Hamburg, Lubeck, Wismar, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Budapest , Vienna and then a flight to Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar, and, last but not least, Split.

The Prague to Budapest route is very bucolic and rural- picture rolling green hills, lakes and a few city stops. I think the train had a cafe car, but we supplemented our Prague apartment breakfast with bakery goods at the Bratislava stop.

Usually I mix up travel itineraries a bit with big cities and small towns/National Parks, but on this trip I was taking friends on a “Grand Tour” that included a lot of Capitals.

There’s a reason close to a third of Czechs, Hungarians and Austrians live in their respective capitals- they are magnificent cities!
Stayed mostly 4 nights in most capital cities in apartments in the Altstadts. ( old towns in the medieval center) That made it far more relaxing than hotels and you can walk to 90% of the points of interest.
I highly recommend 🚂 trains, especially for Prague to Budapest. It’s far more relaxing than shlepping to the airports 2 hours before your flights, dealing with Passport control and immigration ( there is none on the trains though they do match the name on your e-train ticket with the name on your passport) and attempting to translate Hungarian getting from the Budapest Airport into the city. And beware the “taxi mafia” in Budapest if you go there. Google it up if you need to be briefed.
Cheers!

I highly recommend 🚂 trains, especially for Prague to Budapest. It’s
far more relaxing than shlepping to the airports 2 hours before your
flights, dealing with Passport control and immigration ( there is none
on the trains though they do match the name on your e-train ticket
with the name on your passport) and attempting to translate Hungarian
getting from the Budapest Airport into the city. And beware the “taxi
mafia” in Budapest if you go there. Google it up if you need to be
briefed.

Knkouns, you had me till you got to the taxi mafia. I have ridden part of the trip from Prague to Budapest and found it boring, but that's subjective and personal so I wasn't going to argue. But then when you came up with the taxi mafia it just sort invalidated everything.

Google it till you are blue in the face and the only thing of truth you will find is the current system is a well regulated (possibly over regulated) taxi industry that is more professional than a lot of major cities; and certainly less expensive. How do I know? I have used the service from the airport no less than 40 times. Around town, maybe another 80 times.

The airport does have a single company licensed for departures from the airport and it is Főtaxi. Outside the arrival terminal is well run kiosk where you tell them where you want to go and they assign you a taxi number and give you a slip of paper with you address and the most you can be charged. Typically, to the center of Budapest figure 8.000 forints (try that in Rome). Dont be surprised if the cars are spotless, and the driver is wearing a tie (maybe one in three do). If traffic is bad might take longer, but typically its 35 minutes.

Around town and back to the airport, I prefer City Taxi; but that's a personal thing based on a relationship that goes back over a decade. A relationship where they have done me a lot of favors. Főtaxi and any of the others are good as well.

The term "Altstadt" is German and maybe inappropriate for any city outside of Germany that survived the holocaust. And as point of fact, Budapest does not have an "old town". Imagine what a major European city might have looked like just prior to WWII, and that is Budapest as a whole, well at least a third to a half of it. If you want "old town" go to Prague, it has an excellent preserved "old town".

James, So you are saying there is not an Altstadt in Vienna? And the “Stare Mesto” in Prague is not the equivalent of “Altstadt?” A re-read of what I actually wrote is that we “stayed in most capital cities in the altstadts…” Why you read Budapest into that is anyone’s guess.

The government in Budapest does not regulate ALL taxis in Budapest. This is precisely the problem. Moreover, if the government does not enforce the regulations, you have an even bigger problem. What are called “Freelance Taxis” and “Fake Taxis” have been a problem for years in Budapest. If you are saying that unlicensed “freelance” taxi drivers don’t rip off unsuspecting tourists in Budapest ( as they do in other cities around the world). then I think you need to learn more about the topic. Both company and freelance taxis are yellow
making it difficult for a newly arriving tourist to tell which is which. The corrupt Orban government passed legislation banning Uber from Hungary in 2016– thereby limiting competition with the existing taxi drivers. It sounds as though your personal experience may be only with licensed, taxi companies such as Fotaxi and City Taxi— ones regulated and playing by the rules. But that does not include every taxi on the streets of Budapest.
Were you to unknowingly step out of a train station into the closest unregulated yellow “freelance” taxi, your experience might be quite different.