| Getting Around Budapest |
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Transport services in Budapest are improving rapidly. The historic quarters is most easily – and enjoyably – negotiated on foot. But the cheap and efficient public transport system run by BKV (Budapest Transport System) means that few sights on interests are more than 30 minutes’ journey from the centre.
| Arrival
Budapest Ferihegy International airport has two terminals
roughly 15 kilometres from the city. Terminal 1 is reserved
for freight. Hungarian Airlines MALÉV flights use
Terminal 2A. All other airlines fly into and depart from
Terminal 2B.
The Airport Minibus will take you directly to your destination.
Tickets can be bought in the luggage-claim hall while you
are waiting for your bags, or in the main concourse; you
give your address then have to wait five to twenty minutes
until the driver calls your destination. To book a return
trip to the airport call 296-8555 some hours beforehand
(or a day in advance if you’re on an early flight),
and allow a couple of hours to get there.
Airport buses (Reptérbusz) run between Terminals
2A and 2B and the faded, red and yellow Kõbánya-Kispest
metro terminus. Though less convenient than the minibuses,
they’re not much slower, and certainly cheaper. Here
you switch to the blue metro line, alighting 10 stops later
at Deák tér. This takes about 45 minutes and
tickets are available at the airport information desk or
from the machine by the bus stop.
City Centre
Transport services in Budapest are improving rapidly. The
historic quarters is most easily – and enjoyably –
negotiated on foot. But the cheap and efficient public transport
system run by BKV (Budapest Transport System) means that
few sights on interests are more than 30 minutes’
journey from the centre.
Metro
Budapest’s metro can take you fairly easily to most places of interest. It has three lines and they all intersect at Deák tér in downtown Pest. From here, trains run at two- to twelve-minute intervals between 04.30 and 23.00. The yellow line (line 1) runs out beneath Andrássy út to Mexikoi út, beyond the Városliget. The red line (line 2) connects Déli Station in Buda with Keleti Station and Örs vezér tere in Pest. The blue line (line 3) describes an arc from Kobánya-Kispest to Újpest-Központ, via Ferenciek tere and Nyugati Station. There’s little risk of going astray once you’ve learned to recognise the signs bejárat (entrance), kijárat (exit), vonal (line) and felé (towards.) Drivers announce the next stop between stations and the train’s direction is indicated by the name of the station at the end of the line.
Buses and Trams
For journeys around hilly Buda that can’t be made by metro, there are the buses (autóbusz). Most of the buses run every ten or twenty minutes from 05.00 to 23.00. Bus stops are marked by a blue sign with the label ‘autóbusz’ or with a picture of a bus in the centre, and have timetables underneath. Regular services are numbered in black. Buses numbered in red make fewer stops, and those with a red ‘E’ suffix run non-stop between terminals. Punch your own ticket upon boarding and push the button above the door or on the handrail beside the door to get the bus to stop. Busy routes are also served by night buses (up to four every hour).
Taxi
Budapest’s taxi drivers have a long and ignoble reputation for grossly overcharging tourists. However the radio taxi system can help you to avoid this fate. City Taxi, in particular, has reputable drivers and English-speaking operators. It can be called locally at 211-1111.
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