Travel to Budapest

The best way to come to Budapest is by air. A huge number of flights arrive and leave Budapest every day.

A number of direct flights are available to Budapest. Direct low cost flights from the UK to Budapest are daily from Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle. Scheduled flights with British Airways and MALEV Hungarian Airlines are from Heathrow and Stansted. Prices for low cost flight are subject to limited availability and early booking is advisable. Please check out the current prices of each airline listed below. You can book the flights on the following links but should you have any difficulty then please telephone us and we will gladly assist you.

Arrival at BUDAPEST:

Arrival at LAKE HEVIZ / LAKE BALATON

• By car - all main roads from Vienna lead to Budapest. Toll payable on the M1 (Vienna - Budapest), M3, M5 and M7 motorways. Speed limits are 130 km/h on motorways, 90 km/h on all other roads outside inhabited areas, and 50 km/h within inhabited areas.

Population of Budapest city: 2 Million
Electricity: 220 Volts
Telephone numbers:

• When you call a Hungarian number, for example you dial 00 36 1 1234567, where 00 is the international line, 36 is the country code of Hungary, 1 is the city code of Budapest, and 1234567 is actually the 7 digit subscriber number. If you have the following format: 00 36 mobile-prefix 1234567, then the mobile prefix could be 20 (Pannon GSM), 30 (T-Mobile) or 70 (Vodafone).

• Assuming that you don't have a GSM (handy phone) with you, and you must use a fixed line phone to make a call. When you are in Budapest and you call a Budapest fixed line number, just simply dial the 7 digit number. If you make a long distance call, dial 06 (to get the long distance signal), then the city code, then the number itself.

A symbolic little statue at the Promenade

The Buda Royal Castle has a long history. The first castle was almost completely destroyed in 1686, in the war to recover the city of Buda from the Turks. In 1715 a modest Baroque palace was constructed to replace the Gothic one. The Castle was expanded in the following century, and in 1790 the Palace was almost completed.

Budapest was created by the unification of Buda, Óbuda on the hilly west bank of the River Danube (Duna), and Pest on the flat east bank of the river in 1873. The symbol of the city is the Chain Bridge (Lánchíd). The Buda side of the city is remarkable for the Castle, the Matthias church, the Gellért Hill with the Citadel.

Budapest is not a typical 3-day city

We assure you that Budapest is like a Western European capital city with a number of people and a number of sights to visit. Some tourists think that Budapest is a typical 3-day city, which means that you arrive on the first day, you visit some places on the second day, and you leave on the third day. This is very false. Upon your arrival you will find a lot of interesting-looking places and program opportunities.

Who are Consumption girls?

The typical story is always the same. You are approached by a very attractive girl (usually two of them) on the famous shopping street. They engage you in conversation in English and suggest you all go to a nearby bar to drink (to consume) and to have a chat. You have a couple of drinks and the bill comes with a couple of extra 0s. Conveniently, there is always a nearby cash machine. Always check the price of the drinks before you order them.

Budapest or Bucharest?

Budapest is the capital of Hungary, while Bucharest is the capital of Romania. (please don't mix these two)

• You can see see how a post-communist country has managed to reform the country. People don't ride horses here as a means of transportation, and people don't live in the bush. This is not a corny joke unfortunately. Many people out there think that Hungary is still like in the Medieval times.

• You can see how many gorgeous attractive girls and women Budapest has. Men will surely not forget this kind of experience.

• You should walk along the Váci street, the famous shopping street of Budapest, have a coffee and meet a number of fellow tourists. Although many young people speak English or German, most of the population only speak Hungarian.

Váci utca, the famous shopping street in Budapest

• Be sure to check out the Hungarian cuisine before you leave the city. A number of classy restaurants await you. Don't be afraid of prices, they are way lower than Western European prices.

Eating out in the summer

• The Király, the Rácz and the Rudas baths built by the Turks are very popular with the people of Budapest and tourists alike. At least there are some positive results of the 150 years of Turkish occupation.

Turkish bath in Budapest

• Central Europe's largest Jewish community lives in Hungary, mainly in Budapest. The Dohány street Synagogue is Europe’s biggest synagogue, with capacity for more than 3,000 spectators. Next to this synagogue there’s the Jewish Museum (with a Holocaust memorial room) and the Hall of Heroes (with the Monument of Hungarian Jewish Martyrs). The two towers you can see are 43 meters high. Inside the Synagogue very special concerts are held. Something you probably don’t know is that Theodor Herzl was born not far from here, he was the founder of modern Zionism.

The Synagogue in Dohány street

• Take the funicular railway to go up to the Buda Castle. You can see here the funicular that goes to the Castle District. Because cars are not allowed in the District, this funicular is the best way to get up there. Another way to get there is walking.

This is what we call the Budavári Sikló

• You must see the Statue Park to glace behind the Iron Curtain. Lenin, Marx, Engels, Dimitrov, the Sovie Heroes, the Communist martyrs statues were removed from the streets of Budapest. You can see all these statues in the outdoor museum in the Statue Park.
  Visit the Statue Park at www.szoborpark.hu

The Statue Park

There are a number of other things you may want to see in Budapest. We would recommend that you take your time and walk in the downtown areas. There is no point in taking buses. Trams can take you anywhere while you see where you are going. If you want to be sure that you do not lose your way, take the metro.