Getting Here & Onward

Vienna, Bratislava, Belgrade and Krakow — the station, the journey time, and whether a pass beats singles.

Inside Budapest Keleti railway station
Photograph by Slyronit, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Budapest's airport has no rail link to the centre. That is the fact to know before you land, because everything else about arriving follows from it.

From the airport

The cheap way is the 100E airport bus to Deak Ferenc ter, which needs its own ticket — an ordinary transport ticket or travelcard does not cover it, and it is sold from machines at the terminal. The cheaper-still way is bus 200E to the M3 metro, on a normal ticket, with a change. Official taxis operate from a marked stand with fixed pricing to the centre; the ones that approach you inside the terminal are not that.

A tram on a Budapest boulevard
Trams 4 and 6 connect all three main stations. Photograph by Sir Morosus, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Onward by train

Budapest has three main stations — Keleti, Nyugati and Deli — and which one your train leaves from is not obvious from the destination. Check it on the ticket, not on the map.

Vienna is the busiest route, under three hours, with several trains a day. Bratislava is around two and a half. Belgrade, Krakow and Zagreb are all reachable, and are overnight or long-day journeys rather than excursions. Where a group of two or more travels together, ask about a group or regional fare — on several of these routes it beats singles by a wide margin.

Checked on 4 September 2026 against published sources. Fares, hours and closing days change without much warning — confirm before you travel.

The Chain Bridge and its lion at night
Arriving by train puts you in the centre, not at an airport with no rail link. Photograph by Wilfredor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Budapest across the Danube at night
Vienna is under three hours away, and has its own site in this portfolio. Photograph by Karelj, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

This section is being written. The guide above is the section for now. New articles are published across the site about twice a week rather than a section being filled in a day, so this page grows steadily — it is worth looking in again. In the meantime the sixteen sight pages and the plans by trip length are finished, and they are the best place to start.

Coming next in this section

  • Budapest to Vienna by train: the route, the time and the fare structure
  • Budapest to Bratislava, Belgrade, Krakow and Zagreb
  • Arriving in Budapest by train: which station and what is around it

About what you read here. Everything on Access Budapest is general information and our own editorial opinion. We research carefully and we say when the evidence is unclear, but we can be wrong, things change, and no article can know your particular situation. Please do your own research and make your own judgement rather than treating anything here as the final word. Prices, products and specifications around the topics we cover change constantly, and what suits one person will not suit another. Check current details yourself, and where a decision involves real money, safety or something you cannot undo, it is worth confirming with a qualified professional before you act.