Hungary Travel—How to Reach City Center from BUD airport

Video 1.  How to get from Budapest Airport to the City and what to avoid (YouTube link)

Where is City Center

Strictly speaking Budapest City Centre, or the downtown (Belváros) consists of district V. In a wider sense, areas located within the circle of Grand Boulevard (Nagykörút) can be called city center, parts of which you can be easily explore by walk if you plan your itinerary well.

Figure 1.  District V (V. kerület; Source: Google Map)

Withdrawal HUF (Hungarian Forint) from ATMs

If you arrive Budapest from its airport (HUF), probably you need some local cash called HUF (Hungarian Forint).  From xe.com, the exchange rate between USD and HUF is:

1 USD = 347.46 HUF (accessed on 04/09/2022)

To use ATMs in Hungary, follow the below tips:

• Avoid privately owned ATMS (e.g., Euronet)
• Choose bank-owned ATMs
• If you need to withdraw money in Hungary, use the big banks such as OTP, ERSTE, MKB, Raiffeisen, Budapest Bank, UnitBank or K&H.  
• For a full list of banks in Hungary, read [1]

How to Reach City Center from BUD airport

To reach Budapest from BUD airport (Ferenc Liszt International Airport), there are two options:

1. 100E bus (Airport Shuttle Bus)
• Provides a direct connection between Ferenc Liszt International Airport and Budapest city center (Deák Ferenc tér)
• Attention! Passengers require a special ticket for bus line100E: the airport shuttlebus single ticket costs 900 HUF. Other types of tickets or passes are not accepted on this direct service.
• Schedule
• Runs every day of the week, with a frequency of 15-20-30 minutes. Read [3,4] for more details.
• Drop-off points on the way to the city center:
• Kálvin tér metro station
• Astoria metro station
• Deák Ferenc tér metro station
• Boarding points in the city center, on the way to the airport:
• Deák Ferenc tér metro station
• Astoria metro station (this stop is served only at 3:32, 3:47, 4:02 and 4:22 in the morning)
• Kálvin tér metro station
2. 220E bus
• Provides regular, scheduled public transport services to the city
• Hours
• Bus line 200E operates day and night between Terminal 2 and Kőbánya-Kispest metro station. 
• At night, the route is extended to the Határ út station. 
• BKK tickets, multi-day travelcards or passes are required for travel. 
• Please note that the airport shuttle bus single ticket (i.e., only for 100E bus) is not accepted!

References

1. List of banks in Hungary
2. Budapest Card: Is It Worth It? Pros, Cons and How to Use it
3. 100E bus (Airport Shuttle Bus)—Terminal 2 to City Center (Deák Ferenc tér metro station)
4. 220E bus
5. Tickets and Prices (bkk.hu)
• 24-hour Budapest-travelcard (1,650 HUF)
• 72-hour Budapest-travelcard (4,150 HUF)
6. The Budapest Travelcard
• Use www.bkk.hu/salespoints to help find a location near you.
7. From the airport to the city centre by public transport (pdf map)