MathiasHostelBudapest: Public transportation in Budapest

When you arrive in Budapest, you have to travel from point A to point B. First I write about how you can reach the Ferenciek tere (which is the most visited place by tourists) from different arrival points, such as Keleti Train Station, Déli Train Station, Nyugati Train Station, Népliget International Bus Station, Ferenc Liszt International Airport.

I will show you on a map where these points are located and how you get there:

View Budapest Transportation in a larger map

From Keleti Train Station to Ferenciek tere:
Take a Metro line 2 at Kelet Train Station and get off at Ferenciek tere. It takes around 15 minutes.
Or you can take Bus 7, 7E, 173, 173E or 5 and get off at Ferenciek tere. This is the same time to arrive there.

From Nyugati Train Station to Ferenciek tere:
Take Metro line 3 at Nyugati Train Station and get off at Ferenciek tere. Less than ten minutes.

From Déli Train Station to Ferenciek tere:
You can take Metro line 3 from Déli Train Station and change the line at Deák Ferenc tér to Metro line 2. Travel until the Ferenciek tere and take off. It takes usually 15 minutes and is important to know that you need just one single ticket.

From Népliget Bus Station:
Take a Metro line 3 and get off at Ferenciek tere. It takes 10 minutes to go there.

From Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal I (or Ferihegy Terminal I):
Take the bus 200E and change your line to the Metro line 3 at Kőbánya-Kispest and travel to the Ferenciek tere. Usually it takes 35 minutes.

From Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal II (or Ferihegy Terminal II):
It is a little bit more complicated. When you arrive at Terminal II, you have to walk 420 meters to reach the Vecsés-Nyugat bus stop of bus 200E, get on the bus and change lines to the Metro line 3 at Kőbánya-Kispest and travel to the Ferenciek tere. It takes one hour to get there.

The Budapest Public Transportation is operated by the BKV, that is a state-owned public transportation company. When you arrive at any station, you have to be responsible for buying your fare tickets. You cannot buy tickets on the vehicles. At every subway (metro) station you can buy tickets for sure. But
usually after 8PM they are closed, so make sure you have enough tickets for the rest of the day. If they are closed, you can buy single tickets from ticket vending machines. This makes it a bit trickier because sometimes people have bad luck using the vending machines.
You can find more information about public transportation in Budapest here: www.bkv.hu

You can plan your itinerary - english version: http://utazastervezo.bkv.hu/tervezo/index.php?lng=eng

I would recommend this site to plan your route (it is only in hungarian and romanian, but with google translate you can use it): http://utvonalterv.hu/

Best route planner in Budapest hands down.

Now let's take a look at the ticket prices: http://bkv.hu/en/single_tickets - that is a really good description, but I think you need to know mostly the following prices:

Tickets
Single ticket	HUF 320
Single ticket bought on board	HUF 400
Transfer ticket	HUF 490
Short section metro ticket	HUF 260
Discount coupon book (10 pcs)	HUF 2,800
24-hour travel card	HUF 1,550
72-hour travel card	HUF 3,850
Seven-day travel card	HUF 4,600
Family ticket (for 48 hours)	HUF 2,200
Discount group ticket for students (for 24 hours)	HUF 600/capita
Budapest card (for 24 hours)	HUF 5,500
Budapest card (for 48 hours)	HUF 6,900
Budapest card (for 72 hours)	HUF 8,300
Budapest junior card	HUf 4,200
Valid on metro, bus, trolleybus, tram, cogwheel tram on the whole length of the line, but on suburban railway (HÉV) only within the administrative boundaries of Budapest.

Passes with photo
Monthly Budapest pass	HUF 9,800
For disabled	HUF 8,500
For students	HUF 3,850
For pensioners	HUF 3,700
14 day Budapest pass	HUF 6,500
Quarterly Budapest pass (for 100 days)	HUF 29,400
For students	HUF 11,550
For pensioners	HUF 11,100
Budapest semester pass	HUF 18,000
Valid only within the administrative boundaries of Budapest on metro, bus, trolleybus, tram, cogwheel tram, suburban railway (HÉV) and on certain suburban lines of MÁV-START and VOLÁN-BUSZ.

Passengers traveling without a valid ticket or pass are liable to a fine.
The amount of the fine is:
Paid on the vehicle	HUF 16,000
Paid within 2 working days in the Surcharge Office	HUF 8,000
Paid afterwards within 30 days on a cheque	HUF 12,000
With late payment charge beyond 30 days	HUF 24,500

Handling charges for showing your pass after control, within 8 days
14-day and monthly passes	HUF 2,000
quarterly, annual and semester passes	HUF 1,000
travel certificates of passengers entitled to travel free of charge	HUF 1,000

http://bkv.hu/en/prices/prices - i know it says that these are the prices of 2011, but not, these are 2012 prices

Some interesting rules that you must be aware of:
1. You cannot use your international student card to get discount.
2. If you are in Budapest for more than one week and you look like a student(!), just buy a monthly student pass for 3,850 HUF and you will be fine. Believe me, I haven’t gotten caught for 5 years! You can save a ton of money.
3. Never forget to have at least one single ticket with you at all time. You don’t want to pay 16,000 HUF because of forgetting to validate your ticket.
4. You cannot get on the night buses without having a valid ticket or pass.
5. If you feel lost in Budapest, feel free to ask any student-looking people, you have a good chance to get help.

Useful timetables: