Early flight from BUD: stay near airport or in Budapest the night before?

When we were there 10 months ago, we had a shuttle bus take us to our apartment in the center city. We also made a reservation at that time for them to pick us up and take us back to BUD.

Shuttle is the easiest way to get there.

Hello David!! When are you returning?

The van is fine I guess. I stay near where David stays, and have been a few times a year for going on 15 years. I'm spoiled. I take a taxi. From the airport I follow the black line on the floor in baggage claim and it goes right to the Fotaxi Kiosk where for $25 to $30 they will take the four of you to most any place in town. Good service, well done and reasonable cost. The return trip I call CITY TAXI ( Phone: +36 1 211 1111 )the night before and there is a taxi waiting for me about 5 minutes before pickup time. Same cost to go back. City Taxi has helped me out so many times over the years that I cant help but recommend them.

I hang out at a nice restaurant or a wine bar nearby our apartment, or walk Andrassy ut one last time the night before. Something you cant do at a hotel near the airport. My flights are always at 6:30 am and I have the taxi pick up at 4:00 am which gets me there at 4:30. If I don't have any luggage to check I will call for the pickup at 4:30. The airport can be sort of a mess in the morning an I like the extra time. Just past security is a decent coffee shop so we use the extra time for breakfast.

There is a new airport hotel if that's what you want to do: https://www.budapest.com/news/new_airport_hotel_in_budapest.en.html

James E, thanks for the great info. We will definitely refer to it for our September trip.

It sounds like staying in Budapest rather than near the airport is a better choice for us. Now to decide where to stay...

Thank you to all who responded! -- Louisa

I do as James suggests re timing and taking a taxi--he gave me great info for my first trip in 2014 and I'm now preparing for my 4th visit in May. Never had a problem with City Taxi, love their quick response in the wee hours of the morning and always a friendly driver.

Louisa, where to stay? In the broadest terms, for the first visit, i think you get the most out of it by staying in Pest.

My personal preferences are

1) within a 3 minute walk of Deak Ferenc ter, but outside of District V. Deak Ferenc ter is about as close as you can get to the epicenter of all the sights in Budapest. Its also a major transportation hub so you can reach most anything direct and easy.

2) Within a 3 minute walk of Andrassy ut from its start to the Oktogon. Andrassy ut has the Millenium Metro line, the oldest on the continent of Europe. Called the M1 it connects several of the sights and takes you to Deak Ferenc ter. Andrassy ut is sort of the Champs-Élysées of Budapest and a great place to spend evenings in cafes, bars, restaurants, the opera the operett, etc.....

You will need a map to figure that out. Google Maps works good. If you have trouble identifying District V, its the area withing the inner loop road, closest to the river. It is ground zero of tourism and its a mess.

We are a family of 5 (three teenagers), and use a car service (recommended by James!) because we each carry a checked bag. We stay in Buda because we're closer to family and we enjoy the quietness in the evening. Pest is where the action is for sure!

James is correct about the chaos at the airport in the morning. It's a bit unnerving, but have no fear, you'll make it through in time and you'll have just enough time to enjoy one last pastry and coffee before you board.

Actually, if you are flying KLM/Delta, they have been doing a pretty good job the last few trips. Well organized check in. Very surprising and appreciated. Also, in Amsterdam where we change to the flight to Atlanta, Delta has been amazingly organized compared to what we have had to put up with the other carriers. It's now Delta / KLM or nothing.