Looking for an overnight along the train line from Zagreb to Budapest

If i guessed correctly, then these are your stops

https://jegy.mav.hu/menetrend/vonat?d=2024-10-14T00:00:00%2B02:00&v=1038336&i=007872480&e=005501016&lang=en

Do some research and see if any light your fire. The two I know about would be good, but very close to the end of the trip., so naaaaa. Remember, once you get to Budapest Deli, you still have 30 to 45 min into town.

Remember, once you get to Budapest Deli, you still have 30 to 45 min into town.

I'm puzzled by that time estimate, as I've been considering Regiojet from Deli to Vienna, and according to the M2 schedule, trains run every five minutes between Deli and Deak ter - it is the fourth stop - travel time calculated at nine minutes, including time walking in/out of the stations.. Obviously a bit more time once you reach the central city, depending on your final destination... I'm sure you could take more time using bus and/or tram...

markcw: I was thinking a taxi, assuming one had luggage. One piece like a carryon is fine on the trams and metros, but beyond that not as easy but people do it. Here are the luggage rules. The fine is 25.000 ft on the spot. file:///C:/Users/james/OneDrive/Desktop/veg-100-a420x297mm1903_homeprint.pdf

With a taxi its a 20 minute to 30 minute trip to the Opera House during rush hours. Figure not more than 10 minutes wait time for the taxi. Do call one, its a bit better than taking one from the curb. I like CityTaxi and they have a good app: https://citytaxi.hu/en/home/ So 30 to 40 minutes maybe.

By public transportation, I travel to and from one stop shy of Deli from my home 300m from Opera House a few times a week. I do it in 20 minutes if I do the two metro lines required, but I know where I am going and since I am an old fart I never have to wait in line to show a pass at the metro (a 1 in 10 thing otherwise).

But I'm not a big fan of starting a tourist visit underground. If you want to start out like a local and ride the public transportation, then ....

1. From Budapest - Deli take tram 17 marked to Bécsi út two stops to Széll Kálmán tér (you could also take the M2 one stop to the same place).
2. Then you get on either the 4 tram marked to Újbuda-központ or 6 tram marked to Zsigmond körtér Either will take you to the Jászai Mari tér where the 2 Tram will take you to the river front hotels, or the Oktogon where the M1 is for Andrassy hotels (actually I would walk Andrassy ut).

That is closer to a 45 minute trip but its all above ground and the views are great. You will understand a lot about the city, cross the Danube, see Margrit Island, Nyugati, the Comedy Theater, typical streets and neighborhoods.

There is a bus that comes close but will require 5 to 10 minutes of walking to the bus stops. A bus isnt as good an introduction as the trams.

And to be honest, if you are coming into Keleti its only about 10 minutes faster. From Nyugati, maybe 15 minutes faster.

Thanks! The only train that gets to that lake in a reasonable amount of time from Zagreb is the same direct train that goes all the way to Budapest and it doesn't get to the western most town on the lake till after 8pm. I am assuming there isn't much traffic on a Tuesday night around 11pm when that train arrives in Budapest.

Its good to know I will probably need a cab to get to the rooms. The Deli station looks like its in the middle of the city on Google Maps. Is it in the wrong part of town? -Bill

From a tourist point of view, the center of the city is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/zNVuedonUMLhxv8E7

The city is about the same size as Chicago if you need a reference, and its all "inner city" so there are no highways or fast roads. All city streets with very few exceptions. That late, I would take a taxi. Where is your hotel?

The metro stops at 11pm I believe. Then it is replaced with a night bus. Nope 11:30 pm https://bkk.hu/apps/menetrendek/storage/menetrendek/809/105770.pdf

I am pretty sure that your train stops at Kelenfold station before Deli. If it does and its before 11pm and you want to ride the metro then get off and take the M4 into town. But that all depends on where in town your hotel is located.

We have not picked a hotel yet, as I didn't know where we would want to be to walk around. I see from your google pin its on the other side of the river near the Ferris wheel. Good to know. We are looking to stay in the older sections of most towns so we can walk most places and not have to use transit just to get to the old town areas we would want to frequent. -Bill

Pretty much the entire town is the older part. There is no "Old Town" My preference is along a street called Andrassy ut. It's sort of our Avenue des Champs-Élysées but more interesting, prettier and with less pretense. But I am biased. The hotels in that area are here:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/rs-forum-favorite-hotels-and-their-cost.

But, the city is so large and the general tourist sights are so spread out that a transit pass sure helps. The place inbetween the sights are pretty beautiful and interesting as well so getting ftom one sight to the next is part of the discovery. Do get a transit pass and do ride the trams. It's cheap and with a pass when you see something out the window along the way you can hop on and hop off at will. The trams are sort of fun.

Click on my name "Mr É (Ressurrected)" and it takes you to my profile page. There you will find a couple of videos on Budapest, which guide book I like and a link to a pdf file with a lot of the information you will need to get the most out of the trip.

To give you an idea of scale. Google maps says the walk from the start of Andrassy ut to the Széchenyi Thermal Bath is 48 minutes (if you don’t stop and look at anything). Along the way you will find some of the best shops in town, a café that has been doing business for 100+ years, the Opera House, the Operett Theater, a museum dedicated to the oppression under fascism after WWII, stunning old apartment blocks that look like they are out of some period movie, wonderful old mansions (many now embassies), Heroes’ Square with two more museums, City Park with two stunning modern buildings, the Hungarian House of Music and the Museum of Ethnography a zoo full of art nouveau buildings, and the Széchenyi bathhouse. Now, the walk is worth every minute of it, but getting back …. Well …. The M1 Metro line runs directly under Andrassy ut the entire length and beyond to near the river. The M1 is the oldest electrified underground on the continent of Europe and some of the stations still have the look. That’s just one street :-)

Walk to the river the first time (at least) then use the M1 for the next trip. At one end of the 2 Tram that runs the river is the Parliament Building (the largest in Europe constructed before WWII) at the other end of the 2 Tram is the Great Market Hall opened in the 19th century. Google says that’s a 40-minute walk. But a beautiful one and there is a lot of Budapest culture and style and atmosphere along the way. Or you can look out the window of the 2 Tram hop off and on when you see something interesting. Its 12 minutes if you just stay on.

Trains in Croatia are notoriously slow and late. Have you considered a bus? That’s how I travel to Zagreb from Vienna on a monthly basis. Flixbus is the company.

The bus is about an hour faster, but the dining car isnt as nice. It goes to Kelenfold the fastest. Kelenfold is served by the M4 line which would require a change to reach Andrassy ut, but not terrible. Busses also go to the Népliget bus station but take about 30 minutes longer. But Népliget is seved by the M3 which is easier if you are going to the center of town.

The price is about identical to the train if you buy the train tickets from MAV.

Personally I would do the train, but .....