Transport from Budapest airport

Pick up your luggage, then look down and follow the black line that will take you out of the baggage area, through the departures hall and out the doors to the Fotaxi curbside kiosk. Tell the attendant in the kiosk your destination and they will take good care of you. Credit cards accepted. Cost will be about USD25.

But do yourself a favor, except for sleeping stay as far away from that hotel as possible.

For the trip back to the airport use City Taxi +36 1 211 1111

Why James?

Cause it's in the heart of the high density tourist zone; sort of an Eastern European Disneyland; and the best of Budapest is blocks away. Not a bad location. Fairly central, just go see the real town

Whew! You scared me. I thought it was a bad hotel. LOL. Yes, of course, I know. However, because it is central and still has lots to see...or so I hope 😊

Naaaaaaa, it's all good in Budapest.

We took the bus and metro from the airport into the city. It was very reasonable and there was room for our luggage. Not sure I'd do it after a long trip, though my husband always wants to use local transportation.

All the options are here: http://www.bud.hu/english/passengers/access_and_parking

If you do the public transportation option it will take you about an hour to reach downtown Pest, then add the walk to your accommodations. Many do it. The cost if you are wise enough to purchase Transfer Tickets is about USD2 per person.

James,
So do I pick the "taxi" option? You said "transfer"... Also, should I purchase this in advance, like now, for November? I already pre-ordered for our Prague stay with their local company. Just want to be prepared ☺
Thanks.

I always just use a taxi. With a taxi you will reach any hotel in Pest in 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic and its an interesting drive so even that time isn't wasted.

With the other metro and shuttle options figure over an hour to get to your accommodations and then the hassle of luggage if you use the metro.

The biggest drawback of private transfers is that they are not granted curbside waiting rights. So the driver will meet you in the arrival hall, then walk you to the second floor and on to the curb; then he runs to the parking lot to get the car and pick you up. No way around it. The guy in the taxi will be well on his way before you step into the private driver's car. Private drivers, like hotel drivers, will get about $35 on average.

If you want to make a little more out of the trip from the airport you can hire a driver and have him do a tour on the way to the hotel. I do a few charity events in Budapest each year and I do this for our VIP contributors when they arrive in town. Sets me back about 100 euro but its a great drive and takes about 1.5 hours from airport to accommodations. I want them to get an overview so they know where to start their sightseeing. I know a guy if that helps.

OH!!!!! "Transfer" as in "Transfer Ticket". Its a type of metro ticket. There are single tickets for 350ft and Transfer Tickets for 530ft. The transfer ticket allows you one change of ride (from the bus to the underground metro line for instance) otherwise you would have to use two regular tickets.

Best bet is purchase a TRAVEL CARD and not worry about any of it.

More on tickets here: http://www.bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/

James,
Yes, we would absolutely love a reliable guy that could show us around, If it is no more than $100 for 3 of us ☺. And yes, I think we will be getting a Travel Card for the 4 days we are staying in Budapest.
Thanks again!

Laszlo MARKUS
http://www.silverwings.hu/

Hello good people. We are leaving for Europe in 2 days andnI was wondering if an expert can look this Over and tell me if that's a good price? All price is for 3 people:

23rd.
1. Тransfer from airport to hotel: 40€
2. One-hour evening river tour with a glass of champagne(including 2 transfers from the hotel and back) -99€

24th
1. 4 hour tour around Budapest - 90€
2. Dinner - 51€
3. Transfer to Parliament - 20€
4. Parliament - 70€
5. Folklore program with 2 transfers (to and from hotel) and dinner- 163€

25th.
1.Tour/drive to 3 cities on Danube: Szentedre, Vishegrad, Estergom- 180 €
2. Dinner - 51€
3. I already bought tickets to the Opera theater.

26th.
Tour to Balaton and Tihan - 235 €

27th.
Тransfer to airport - 40€

Thanks in advance!

23rd.

1. Тransfer from airport to hotel: 40€

A Taxi will cost you something less than 20€. The airport contract taxi company is Fotaxi and they run a good service, honest and efficient. From baggage follow the black line painted on the floor to the Kiosk outside the arrival hall doors.

1. One-hour evening river tour with a glass of champagne(including 2 transfers from the hotel and back) -99€

That one sounds too good to be true. That’s 33€ a person? Why do you need transfers? Where are you staying?

24th

1. 4 hour tour around Budapest - 90€

That’s the high end of the going price. But not unreasonable. Who are you using?

1. Dinner - 51€

Not some sort of Tourist Tour Package dinner I hope? Too many good places to eat in Budapest to have to hire one.

1. Transfer to Parliament - 20€

Unless you are staying way out in the boondocks someplace you don’t need transfers in Budapest. Ride the trams and the Metros. They are safe, clean and sort of fun for visitors.

1. Parliament - 70€

I haven’t been there in a while. If its 70€ for the three of you, okay. Otherwise sounds way too much.

1. Folklore program with 2 transfers (to and from hotel) and dinner- 163€

Here we go with the transfers. I bet this is at the theater down the road from the Basilica. I went to one of these once and discovered it wasn’t something I enjoyed. If you go, really, don’t pay for a transfer.

25th.

1.Tour/drive to 3 cities on Danube: Szentedre, Vishegrad, Estergom- 180 €

That’s about the going price. It’s a hard, hard day and you don’t really spend enough time in any of the three cities. I would opt for a do it yourself trip to Szentendre. Will cost you about $15 a person.

1. Dinner - 51€

See my dinner comments above

1. I already bought tickets to the Opera theater.

Excellent. “Countess Maritza” have a blast. And don’t hire a transfer.

26th.

Tour to Balaton and Tihan - 235 €

Actually sounds to be a pretty good price

27th.

Тransfer to airport - 40€

Call City Taxi.

Send me a PM with a real email address and the name of the hotel and I can send you some information that might help.

Hi James E.
We are using a Russian guide (for my mom) that also speaks English (for my husband). We are staying at the Cosmo hotel. Thebtransfers he is talking about are taking usnto and from places, since he will be our personal guide with a car.
Dinners...I am sure there are lots of places to eat, do maybe we'll obstain from the pre-set one.
Folklore dinner...yeah, I am also not very sure about that one...
Theater...we actually decided to go see "Don Quixote". I know...We've seen Martza several times, but it is not my fave. I was hoping for the Circus Princess...
The 3 cities...even though its gonna be fast, I still would love to visit them.
Balaton is a must. It's personal.

We are going with my mom and she can't always walk for too long. Doing the metro transfers and such, I dont know, just wanted to avoid, since it is a winter time..

My email is [email protected].
Looking forward to your input.
Thank you!

I will send you a guide I give to guests when they are in Budapest. Might give you some ideas.

I understand about your mother. Under those circumstances I think you are choosing wisely. But there might be a few transfers you can do on the trams. The trams are like wonderful yellow tour busses. For instance it’s a 4 minute walk from your hotel to the Number 2 tram on the river front by the Great Market Hall (it parks under the road so you have to walk down the stairs). The Number 2 tram is one of the world’s great scenic rides (sit on the left side) and it will take you right to the door of the Parliament. I will send you a link to a video.

You will also be about 3 minutes from the 47/49 Tram that runs up to Deak Ferenc ter, Andrassy ut, Kiraly utca, the Great Synagogue, Museums, etc.

Your guide’s transfer prices are about twice the going taxi rate and I would suspect his car isn’t that much better. But again, I do understand. Around town I use CityTaxi, as I just like them a lot. I also use them for return trips to the airport. The service is exceptional. They have even called competitors to pick me up when they didn’t have a cab available. The number is +36 1 211 1111

From the airport using a private driver it will work like this.
Pick up your bags
Walk to the arrival hall
Look for someone holding a sign with your name on it.
Follow him up the stairs, out the doors and then wait at the curb while he goes and gets his car (cause he can’t park curbside – only Fotaxi can do that)
Then off you go.

Using Fotaxi it works like this:
You follow the black line outside the doors (no going upstairs), and a nice person at the kiosk will ask where you are going and hand you a printed slip.
You walk to the taxi que about 20 feet away and another nice person will open the door and help with the baggage.
The driver will ask for the slip so he knows where he is going, then return it.
Printed on the slip is the max he can charge you, but if the meter is less, you pay the meter.

You will be long on your way before the other you with the private driver has even gotten his car to you.

You're all set, but for anyone else flying into Budapest on Ryan Air, DO NOT opt for the shuttle which you can add to your airline tickets. Cheaper than a taxi, but way inconvenient -- had to wait about 45 minutes until the car came to pick up people from ALL the Ryan flights (but you don't learn this until after they get your money)

There is an airport operated shuttle service that can save you a few dollars. It will take you right to your hotel; once the have a full shuttle and once they have stopped at every other hotel between the airport and your hotel. The 30 to 40 minute taxi ride could end up being over an hour. BUT, it is cheaper.

Hello. We got back a month ago, but with the holidays I totally forgot to post about our experience. Thanks to James E. we saved some money and had no problem going places. FoTaxi is a great company, always on time and no problem arranging. I could not download their app while in Budapest, so you can try downloading it here. That was the only glitch as far as transportation.

I am glad you had a good trip. I am sitting in Budapest right now waiting for my significant other to get ready for dinner. Beautiful clear sunny day (16F)

I am heading to Budapest in a couple of weeks to see my daughter who is studying in Budapest for the semester. She will be near Raday Ut, so we were planning to stay in the Cosmo City hotel, too, which would be close to where our daughter is living as well as her school. James E mentioned that was a terrible place to stay. Lina 7277 did you have a good experience there and was it a good central location?

Cosmo was a bad hotel: bad beds, awful mattresses, tiniest bathrooms Ive ever seen, with a quarter of a door, do when you take a shower, the water is everywhere. The breakfast was pretty disgusting.
Location: on one hand it is good, because you are right by a bunch of restaurants and shops, a very short walk to Danube, as well. On the other hand it was very noisy and the windows didnt help. In addition, they turned off the AC for the winter, but it was pretty warm in the room, yet, we couldn't sleep with our windows open due to the noise.
The customer service was very good.

Raday ut is sort of a long road but based on your hotel choice I am guessing she is staying near the north end of the street. Is she going to Corvinus? If you will look at the Vámház krt / Múzeum krt / Károly krt road (don't you just love it, one road three names) you will see a couple of Metro Stops and the 47/49 Tram. If it were me I would look at one of the hotels n the 47/49 tram line like the Astoria or the Mercure. I don't recommend hotels so do your research. A second option and a little more upscale would be to look along the 2 Tram line which would be the Marriott or the Intercontinental.