How to Get to Budapest and Get Around

Budapest's public transport network (run by BKK) is dense, frequent and cheap. Once you arrive from the airport or main rail stations, four metro lines and a fleet of yellow trams will get you everywhere without a car.

From Budapest Airport (BUD) to the centre

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport sits 16 km south-east of the inner city; all flights use Terminal 2 (2A and 2B), linked by the SkyCourt hall. There is no train station at Terminal 2, leaving three sensible ways into town:

• Bus 100E (Airport Express): the fastest and simplest option. It runs 24 hours a day from the arrivals kerb to Kálvin tér, Astoria (at set hours) and Deák Ferenc tér in 35 to 40 minutes. It requires a dedicated Airport Shuttle Bus Single Ticket; regular BKK single tickets and 24/72-hour travelcards do not cover it (15-day or monthly pass holders can buy a discounted add-on in the app). With BudapestPay&GO, simply tap your contactless bank card or phone directly on the onboard reader.
• Bus 200E + Metro M3: the budget route, included in standard BKK 24/72-hour travelcards or covered by a 90-minute transfer ticket in the BudapestGO app. Bus 200E runs to Kőbánya-Kispest, the southern terminus of the renovated blue M3 metro line into Kálvin tér and Deák Ferenc tér (50 to 60 minutes total).
• Official airport taxis (Főtaxi): ordered at the Főtaxi kiosk outside the Terminal 2 exits, where the dispatcher prints a slip with your destination zone, or booked via the Bolt app. Never follow anyone soliciting rides inside the terminal.

Arriving by international train

Budapest has three main terminus stations, each on the metro:

• Keleti pályaudvar (Eastern Station): on metro lines M2 (red) and M4 (green). Railjet trains from Vienna (2 hours 40 minutes), Salzburg, Munich and Zurich arrive under its 1884 iron-and-glass train shed.
• Nyugati pályaudvar (Western Station): on metro line M3 (blue) and trams 4 and 6, built by Gustave Eiffel's company in 1877. EuroCity trains from Bratislava, Brno, Prague and Berlin terminate here, alongside trains to the Danube Bend.
• Déli pályaudvar (Southern Station): in Buda on metro line M2, serving trains to Lake Balaton.

Metro, trams and the BudapestGO app

Download the official BudapestGO app to plan routes and buy digital single tickets, 30- or 90-minute transfer tickets, and 24-hour or 72-hour Budapest-travelcards. Passes carry a start timestamp and do not need stamping on each ride. Paper single tickets must be stamped in the punch box at the metro entrance or onboard the tram; digital single tickets require scanning the QR sticker by the vehicle door.

Four metro lines cross the city (M1, M2, M3 and M4, with M1, M2 and M3 meeting at Deák Ferenc tér), while above ground Tram 2 glides along the Pest riverbank past the Parliament, Trams 19 and 41 follow the Buda bank beneath Castle Hill, and Trams 4 and 6 run 24 hours a day around the Grand Boulevard.