Travel Information

Information about Budapest

Budapest, the political and cultural centre of Hungary, is actually two cities: Buda and Pest, connected by nine bridges over the Danube. Buda, with its hills, cobbled streets and castles, is older and more historic than Pest. Óbuda, or Old Buda, was built around 900 A.D. and became the capital of Hungary in the 13^th century. Pest, founded later in the 10^th century, is filled with landmarks and activities including museums, galleries, theatres, cabarets and an abundance of bathhouses. Pest offers cave explorations, as well as an eclectic array of Baroque, Gothic, Renaissance and Secessionist architecture. The city's spiritual centre, Matthias Church, has a distinctive and colourful roof. Pest you'll see the magnificent 19^th-century Parliament building, built in Gothic style with Turkish influences. The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and the recently restored Great Synagogue, the largest in Central Europe, are excellent examples of Secessionist architecture. Along with its abundance of live music venues such as opera, jazz and rock, Budapest is home to the National Zoo, the National Circus and the National Museum, amusement parks, City Gardens and the beautiful Margaret Island.

Travel to Budapest

Visa/Passport

A valid identity card or passport is required for entry. Participants coming from EU valid passport required, but no Visa. Please contact the Hungarian Embassy or Consulate in your country for details entry requirements. If you need invitation letter to the tutorial ask us and we can fax it to you.

By Air

Hungary's international airport Ferihegy, is located about 10 kilometers South-East of Budapest. Budapest International Airport (Ferihegy) is easily accessible from most airports in Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Ground transportation between Airport and Budapest city

• One of the easiest ways of getting from airport to your hotel is by using Airport Minibus Service. LRI, Air Traffic and Airport Administration, operates a minibus service using comfortable six-seats buses between both Ferihegy terminals and any address in Budapest. For the convenience of arriving passengers LRI service desks are located in the baggage claim area and in the central passenger hall.
  Departing passengers can make advance reservation for hotel pick-up by calling the LRI service desk at +36-1-296-8585. Cost: one-way 2100 HUF/person, return 3600 HUF/person
• You can use taxi. Be sure to sit only in the taxi, that has their rate indicated in the rear window and belongs to registered companies. The best idea is to call a taxi by phone, as major cab operators charge lower fees up-front than taxi cars hailed off the street. Recommended taxi companies:
  • "Tele5 taxi" operates fixed price taxi service, called "airport transfer". Cost is about 3600 HUF (Euro 15,00)/car to/from any address in Budapest. Taxis drive to the airport terminal exit door area upon phone call (+36 1 355-5555) and pick you up within a couple of minutes.
  • "Fotaxi" operates fixed price taxi service, also called "airport transfer". Cost is about 3500 HUF (Euro 14,00)/car to/from any address Pest side in Budapest. Taxis drive to the airport terminal exit door area upon phone call (+36 1 222-2222) and pick you up within a couple of minutes.

By Rail

Budapest is an integral part of the European rail network which can be reached by international express trains from neighbouring and numerous European countries. To use a route planner click here.

By Car

Budapest is easy to reach by car. (e.g. two hours from Vienna by motorway.)

Public transport

Budapest has reasonably good public transport: trams, trolley buses, buses and Metro lines.

Weather conditions

Usually, end of November is a cold month, with 0-10 C temperature, usually with rain, sometimes snow.