Good to know
Useful phone numbers
Police: 107
Ambulance: 104
Fire: 105
Central Emergency: 112
Directory Assistance: 198
English Phone Directory: 191
International Operator: 199
If you loose your passport report it to the following authority:
Budapest and Pest County Directorate of the Office for Immigration and Citizenship. (1117 Budapest, Budafoki u. 60.)
24 hour hotline: +36-1-4639165
24 hour english language crime hotline: +36-1-4388080
Lost and Found: +36-1-3226613
Tourism Info center
Tourinform offices are located in both airport terminals and at
1051 Budapest, Sütő u. 2. (Deák Ferenc tér)
1061 Budapest, Liszt Ferenc tér 11.
Alternatively, just call their 24 hour hotline: +36-1-4388080
or email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Public transportation
Budapest’s network of public transport services includes buses, trolleybuses, trams, underground trains (Metró) and above-ground suburban trains (HÉV).
Schedules:
• Buses, trams and trolleybuses run daily from 4.30am until 11pm. Once tram and metro service has ended for the night, there are night buses running along the major routes. Frequency is about every 25 minutes.
• All three underground lines connect at Deák tér station. Service frequencies range from 15 minutes late in the evening to every two minutes at peak times.
• The HÉV runs to and from Csepel Island and Ráckeve in the south, Szentendre in the north, and Gödöllõ in the east. Once you get outside the Budapest city limits, you will need to buy a supplementary ticket, available from the conductor on board the train.
Ticket purchasing:
• Tickets have to be bought before boarding. They are available at Underground stations, tobacco and news kiosks, and from vending machines at many bus and tram stops in the city center.
• A new ticket has to be validated at the beginning of each journey, and this is done by inserting it into the slot in the small orange box situated at waist height near the doors of buses, trolleybuses, trams and HÉV trains, and before the escalators at metro stations
• Tickets are valid for one single journey of any length (without changing) on all routes (including the Cogwheel Railway, but excluding those parts of the HÉV that lie outside the metropolitan boundary of Budapest).
• Special tickets can be purchased that allow a change of route, and that cover the HÉV outside Budapest.
• There is also a range of pre-paid books of tickets and value-for-money passes.
• There are lots of ticket inspectors: some are uniformed and others plain-clothed, but they always wear a blue armband and carry a photographic identification badge. They can ask to see tickets and passes on any vehicle and anywhere on the Underground system, including after you have got off – so please remember to validate your ticket and keep hold of it! Also, inspectors are wary of foreigners "playing dumb" with the ticket-validation process. Rest assured, they will not let you get away just because they don't speak English!
• You can find all the information related to public transport at www.bkv.hu.
Driving
Speed limits:
• 130 km/h on motorways
• 110 km/h on dual carriage ways
• 90 km/h on other roads
• 50 km/h in built-up areas
• Drinking and driving is illegal. Your blood-alcohol level must be 0.00%.
• When driving, use your seat belts and the headlights.
On the highway
Hungary has excellent highway connections with the surrounding countries, making it easy to get to many other cities throughout Europe. There are more than 60 entry points into the country. There are three basic types of roads in Hungary. Motorways, preceded by an ‘M’, link Budapest with Lake Balaton and Vienna via Gyõr and run to Miskolc via Debrecen and Szeged via Kecskemét. National highways are numbered by a single digit and fan out mostly from Budapest. Secondary and tertiary roads have two or three digits. Fuels of 95, 98 (unleaded) and 100 octane as well as diesel are widely available. Third-party insurance is compulsory. If your car is registered in the EU, it is assumed you have it. Other motorists must be able to show a Green Card or will have to buy insurance at the border. To use the Hungarian highways you have to pay a fee. Highway stickers can be bought at petrol stations and at some kiosks.
Parking in Budapest
Always park your car in permitted spaces only, as the police will ticket or immobilize (put a lock on the tire) it if you aren’t careful. In such a case, there should be a ticket explaining who to call and how much it will cost to have the lock removed. If you are lucky, you will only have to pay a fine for parking in the wrong place. If your car is missing entirely, it has likely been stolen, and you should call the police to report it.
• Check out the website www.motorway.hu and www.utvonalterv.hu for traffic news, maps, route planners, ticket information and prices.
