Hungary

Getting around

Hungary's domestic transport system is efficient, comprehensive and inexpensive. In general, almost everything runs to schedule, and the majority of Hungary's towns and cities are easily negotiated on foot.

Boat

From April to late October the Budapest-based shipping company Mahart PassNave runs excursion boats on the Danube from Budapest to Szentendre, Vác, Visegrád and Esztergom; and hydrofoils from Budapest to Visegrád, Nagymaros and Esztergom between late May and early September.

Mahart also schedules three to five excursions in summer from Budapest to places like Kalocsa and Solt on the Great Plain. Its services on certain sections of the Tisza River between April and mid-October - Sárospatak to Tokaj (2¼ hours, 36km), for example, and Szeged to Csongrád (4¼ hours, 72km) - are only available to groups of at least 40 people and cost between 19, 000Ft and 29, 000Ft per hour.

Other passenger ferry services are the Budapest transport company BKV (Budapest Transport Company; 369 1359; www.bkv.hu), which operates on the Danube in Budapest, and the Balaton Shipping Co (Balatoni Hajózási Rt; 84-310 050; www.balatonihajozas.hu; Krúdy sétány 2, Siófok), on Lake Balaton.

^ Back to top

Public transport

Urban transport is well developed in Hungary, with efficient bus and, in many cities and towns, trolleybus services. Budapest, Szeged, Miskolc and Debrecen also have trams, and there's a three-line metro (underground or subway) system and a suburban railway known as the HÉV in the capital.

You'll probably make extensive use of public transport in Budapest but little (if any) in provincial towns and cities: with very few exceptions, most places are quite manageable on foot, and bus services are not all that frequent except in the largest settlements. Generally, city buses meet incoming long-distance trains; hop onto anything waiting outside when you arrive and you'll get close to the city centre.

You must purchase transport tickets (usually from 150Ft) at newsstands or ticket windows beforehand and validate them once aboard. Travelling without a ticket (or 'riding black') is an offence; you'll be put off and fined on the spot. Don't try to argue; the inspector has heard it all before.

^ Back to top

Hitching

Hitching is never entirely safe in any country and we don't recommend it. Travellers who decide to hitch are taking a small but potentially serious risk. However, many people choose to hitch, and the advice that follows should help to make their journeys as fast and safe as possible.

Hitchhiking is legal everywhere in Hungary except on motorways. Though it isn't as popular as it once was (and can be very difficult here), the road to Lake Balaton is always jammed with hitchhikers in the holiday season. There is a ride-sharing service in the capital called Kenguru that matches drivers and passengers for a fee.

^ Back to top

Car & motorcycle

Fuel

Ólommentes benzin (unleaded petrol 95/98 octane) is available everywhere. Most stations also have gázolaj (diesel).

Hire

In general, you must be at least 21 years old and have had your licence for a year to rent a car. Drivers under 25 sometimes have to pay a surcharge. All the big international firms have offices in Budapest, and there are scores of local companies throughout the country, but don't expect many bargains.

Insurance

All accidents should be reported to the police (107) immediately. Several insurance companies handle auto liability, and minor claims can be settled without complications. Any claim on insurance policies bought in Hungary can be made to Allianz Hungária (06 40 421 421, 01-269 0033) in Budapest. It is one of the largest insurance companies in Hungary and deals with foreigners all the time.

^ Back to top

Bus & tram

Bus

Hungary's Volánbusz (www.volanbusz.hu) network is a good - and sometimes necessary - alternative to the trains. In Southern Transdanubia and many parts of the Great Plain, buses are essential unless you are prepared to make several time-consuming changes on the train. For short trips around the Danube Bend or Lake Balaton areas, buses are preferable to trains.

In most cities and large towns it is usually possible to catch at least one direct bus a day to fairly far-flung areas of the country - for example, Pécs to Sopron (5½ hours, 285km) or Eger to Szeged (five hours, 240km).

National buses arrive and depart from Budapest's távolságiautóbusz pályaudvar (long-distance bus stations), not the local stations, which are called helyiautóbusz pályaudvar. Outside the capital the stations are often found side by side or in the same building. Arrive early to confirm the correct departure bay or kocsiállás (stand), and be sure to check the individual schedule posted at the stop itself; the times shown can be different from those shown on the tábla (main board).

Tickets are usually purchased directly from the driver, who gives change and will hand you a receipt as a ticket. There are sometimes queues for intercity buses (especially on Friday afternoon), so it's wise to arrive early. Smoking is not allowed on buses in Hungary, though a 10- or 20-minute rest stop is made about every two or three hours. Seats on Volánbusz are spaced far enough apart for you to be able to fit your pack or bag between your knees.

Posted bus timetables can be horribly confusing if you don't speak Hungarian. The things to remember when reading a timetable are that indulás means 'departures' and érkezés means 'arrivals'.

Numbers one to seven in a circle refer to the days of the week, beginning with Monday. Written footnotes you might see include: naponta (daily), hétköznap (weekdays), munkanap (workdays), szabadnap (Saturday), munkaszünetes nap (Sunday and holidays), szabad és munkaszünetes nap (Saturday, Sunday and holidays), szabadnap kivételével naponta (daily except Saturday), munkaszünetes nap kivételével naponta (daily except holidays) and iskolai nap (school days).

In general bus services to/from most inland destinations, but especially north and north-central Hungary, are served by Népliget bus station (1-219 8080; IX Üllői út 131; M3 Népliget; ticket office 6am-6pm Mon-Fri Sep-May, 6-8pm Mon-Fri Jun-Aug, 6am-4pm Sat & Sun). Generally the Stadionok bus station (1-251 0125, 252 2995; XIV Hungária körút 48-52; M2 Stadionok; ticket office 6am-6pm Mon-Fri, 6am-4pm Sat & Sun) serves cities and towns to the east of the capital while buses to southwest Hungary use Etele tér bus station (1-382 4900; XI Etele tér; red bus No 7; 6am-6pm) in Buda.

The Árpád Bridge bus station (1-329 1450; XIII Róbert Károly körút; M3 Árpád híd; ticket office 6am-8pm) on the Pest side of Árpád Bridge is the place to catch buses for the Danube Bend and some towns in the Northern Uplands (eg Balassagyarmat, Szécsény and Salgótarján). The small Szénatér bus station (1-201 3688; I Széna tér 1/a; ticket office 6.30am-4.30pm; M3 Moszkva tér) in Buda handles some traffic to and from the Pilis Hills and towns northwest of the capital, with a half-dozen departures to Esztergom (from bay No 5) as an alternative to the Árpád.

A few of the larger bus stations have left-rooms, but they generally close early (around 6pm). Check your bag at the train station, which is almost always nearby; the left-luggage offices there keep much longer hours.

Costs

Bus fares are between 20% and 30% more expensive than comparable 2nd-class train fares. At the time of writing Volánbusz charged:

fare to distance

97Ft for up to 5km

133Ft for 10km

605Ft for 50km

1210Ft for 100km

2410Ft for 200km

3630Ft for 300km

^ Back to top

Train

MÁV (www.mav.hu) operates reliable and relatively comfortable train services on just under 8000km of track, exactly a third of which is electrified. All the main railway lines converge on Budapest, though many secondary lines link provincial cities and towns. There are three main stations in Budapest. In general, Keleti station serves destinations in the Northern Uplands and the Northeast; Nyugati station the Great Plain and the Danube Bend; and Déli station Transdanubia and Lake Balaton. But these are not hard and fast rules; confirm the departure station when you buy your ticket. The 24-hour number for domestic train information is 06 40 49 49 49 nationwide or 1-461 5400 in Budapest.

Tickets for egy útra (one way) and oda-vissza (return) journeys in 1st and 2nd class are available at stations, the MÁV central ticket office (1-461 5400, 322 8082; VI Andrássy út 35; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri Apr-Sep, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri Oct-Mar) in Budapest and certain travel agencies.

There are several types of train. Express (Ex on the timetable) trains usually require a seat reservation. The InterCity (IC) trains, the fastest and most comfortable in Hungary, and EuroCity (EC) ones levy a supplement, which generally includes a seat. Gyorsvonat (fast trains), indicated on the timetable by boldface type, a thicker route line and/or an 'S', often require a seat reservation. Személyvonat (passenger trains) are the real milk runs and stop at every city, town, village and hamlet along the way.

Depending on the station, departures and arrivals are announced by loudspeaker/Tannoy or on an electronic board and are always on a printed timetable - yellow for indul (departures) and white for érkezik (arrivals). On these, fast trains are marked in red and local trains in black. The number (or sometimes letter) next to the word vágány indicates the 'platform' from which the train departs or arrives.

If you plan to do a lot of travelling by train, get yourself a copy of MÁV's official timetable (Menetrend; 850/1550Ft in small/large format), which is available at most large stations and the MÁV office on Andrássy út in Budapest. It also has explanatory notes in several languages, including English.

All train stations have left-luggage offices, some of which stay open 24 hours. You sometimes have to pay the fee (300/600Ft per normal/large bag per day) at another office or window nearby, which is usually marked pénztár (cashier).

Some trains have a carriage especially for bicycles; on other trains, bicycles must be placed in the first or last cars. You are able to freight a bicycle for 25% of a full 2nd-class fare.

Tickets & fares

Domestic 2nd-class train fares vary according to distance. To travel 1st class costs 50% more.

Passengers holding a ticket of insufficient value must pay the difference plus a fine of 2000Ft. If you buy your ticket on the train rather than at the station, there's a 500Ft surcharge. You can be fined 500Ft for travelling on a domestic IC train without having paid the supplement and the same amount for not having a seat reservation when it is compulsory.

On Hungarian domestic trains, seat reservations may be compulsory (indicated on the timetable by an 'R' in a box), mandatory only on trains departing from Budapest (an 'R' in a circle) or simply available (just a plain 'R').

Express trains usually require a seat reservation costing 130Ft, while the IC ones levy a surcharge of between 200Ft and 480Ft, which includes the reservation.

Special trains

Some 16 keskenynyomközű vonat (narrow-gauge trains) for the most part run by Állami Erdei Vasutak (ÁEV; State Forest Railways) on 220km of track can be found in many wooded and hilly areas of the country. They are usually taken as a return excursion by holiday-makers, but in some cases can be useful for getting from A to B (eg Miskolc to Lillafüred and the Bükk Hills).

An independent branch of MÁV runs vintage nosztalgiavonat (steam trains) in summer, generally along the northern shore of Lake Balaton (eg from Keszthely to Tapolca via Badacsonytomaj) and along the Danube Bend from Budapest to Szob or Esztergom. For information contact MÁV Nostalgia (1-238 0558; www.mavnosztalgia.hu) in Keleti train station.

The only other train line in Hungary is called GySEV and links Győr and Sopron with Ebenfurth in Austria.

^ Back to top

Tours

A number of travel agencies, including Vista and Ibusz, and Cityrama and Hungary Program Centrum offer excursions and special-interest guided tours (horse riding, cycling, bird-watching, Jewish culture etc) to every corner of Hungary.

By way of example, Cityrama has a 4½-hour tour by boat and bus to Szentendre or Gödöllő by bus (11, 000Ft; children under 12 free or half-price); and an 8½-hour tour of the Danube Bend by coach and boat, with stops at Visegrád and Esztergom (14, 000Ft). Cityrama also offers day trips to Lake Balaton (Balatonfüred and Tihany) and Herend (16, 000Ft, nine to 10 hours), as well as to Lajosmizse on the Southern Plain (18, 000Ft, eight hours). Hungary Program Centrum offers similar tours at almost the same prices, as well as an eight-hour trip to Bugac in Kiskunság National Park (19, 000Ft) and a nine-hour tour of the Eger wine region (22, 000Ft). Vista has a six-day tour of the country that takes in parts of the Northern Uplands, Great Plain, Southern Transdanubia and Lake Balaton region. The tour includes accommodation and half-board and costs €599/499 per person single/double-sharing.

^ Back to top

Air

There are no scheduled flights within Hungary. The cost of domestic air taxis is prohibitive (eg from at least 150,000Ft for up to three people from Budapest to Szeged and back), and the trips can take almost as long as the train, when you add the time it takes to get to and from the airports.

Two air taxi companies are Farnair Hungary (1-347 6040; www.farnair.com), which flies to/from the airstrip next to Ferihegy Terminal 1, and Jetstream (06 20 399 6782; www.jetstream.hu in Hungarian), based at Tököl airport on Csepel Island opposite Százhalombatta, about 30km southwest of central Budapest.

^ Back to top

Bicycle

Hungary offers endless opportunities for cyclists: challenging slopes in the north, much gentler terrain in Transdanubia and flat though windy (and hot in summer) cycling on the Great Plain. The problem is bicycle rentals. They can be very hard to come by and your best bets are camping grounds, resort hotels and - very occasionally - bicycle repair shops. See Activities under the various cities and towns for guidance.

Remember when planning your itinerary that bicycles are banned from all motorways and national highways with a single digit, and bikes must be equipped with lights and reflectors. Bicycles can be taken on many trains but not on buses.

^ Back to top