Transport and the shape of the city in Budapest

Tickets and the monthly pass

A single ticket is HUF 500, or HUF 700 if you buy it on the spot, and a block of ten is HUF 4,500. Time-based tickets cost HUF 600 for 30 minutes and HUF 850 for 90. Travelcards are HUF 2,750 for 24 hours and HUF 5,750 for 72. The monthly Budapest-pass is HUF 8,950 at full price, HUF 3,450 for students and pupils and HUF 3,330 for pensioners, with the student rate requiring an EU student ID plus proof of a Hungarian address.

• The pass runs from 00:00 on your chosen start day, never earlier than the moment of purchase, to 02:00 on the same date of the following month.
• Carry it with the original photo ID named at purchase — inspectors do not accept a photograph or a photocopy. It is personal and non-transferable.

One flat zone, and where it stops

The Budapest-pass is a single flat zone valid inside the city's administrative boundaries, with no rings to count. It covers BKK's buses, trams, trolleybuses, the metro, the boat service and the suburban HÉV lines as far as the boundary, along with designated MÁV and VOLÁN services on journeys made entirely inside Budapest; BKK's route-by-route validity list settles any particular trip. Crossing the boundary means a different pass rather than an extension: the Pest County Pass is HUF 9,450 a month, or HUF 945 with a Hungarian student ID, and the country-wide Hungary Pass is HUF 18,900, or HUF 1,890 discounted.

The airport

The 100E Airport Express runs between Liszt Ferenc airport and Deák Ferenc tér via Kálvin tér around the clock, every 6 to 10 minutes at weekday peaks, every 7 to 15 off-peak and every 30 to 40 at night, taking about 40 minutes to the centre. It needs its own ticket at HUF 2,500, because no ordinary Budapest pass is valid on it by itself; holders of a Budapest-pass other than the 15-day, a Pest County Pass or a Hungary Pass can buy a HUF 1,000 add-on instead. Buy and validate at a Budapest Pay&GO terminal by the driver's cabin or beside the doors, or in the BudapestGO app. Bus 200E is the alternative, running 24 hours on the ordinary fare, but airport shuttle tickets and add-ons are not valid on it, so you need a normal ticket or pass.

• Deák Ferenc tér, where the 100E ends, is the one station where three metro lines meet.
• From August 2026 a HUF 2,100 airport base fare applies to taxi journeys to and from Liszt Ferenc, in both directions.

Fare-dodging escalates

The base penalty fare is HUF 25,000, reduced to HUF 12,000 if you pay on the spot by card to the inspector or within two working days. If you hold a valid pass but did not have it with you, presenting it at a BKK customer service centre within five working days cuts the penalty to HUF 2,000 or HUF 1,000. Buying a pass on the day of the penalty and presenting it within two working days reduces it to HUF 6,000 for a monthly, HUF 3,000 for a quarterly or HUF 1,000 for an annual. Once those two working days are up the full HUF 25,000 applies, after 30 calendar days unpaid it becomes HUF 50,000, and an unpaid debt goes to court, where legal costs, postage and interest are added on top.

Taxis, parking and bikes

Budapest taxi fares are officially fixed, identical across every licensed operator and identical at all hours, metered from a base fare plus distance and time components, with no night surcharge beyond the official tariff. On-street parking is divided into four zones, A to D, each with its own hourly charge, charging hours and maximum permitted stay, and it applies to every vehicle under 3.5 tonnes parked on public roads, streets and squares. Since 1 July 2026 the meters have been withdrawn entirely, so the fee can only be paid by mobile application, text message or phone call.

• Only get into a qualified taxi (minősített budapesti taxi): a yellow car with yellow number plates, the phrase on the left front door, the official fare table on the dashboard and both rear doors, and an internal licence plate visible in the rear side windows.
• The licensed companies are Bolt, City Taxi, Elit Taxi, Főtaxi and Uber Taxi, and all take cash and physical or digital bank cards.
• MOL Bubi is the public bike-share, run with BKK, with docking stations across the inner districts. Shared e-scooters and bikes are also on offer, and several BKK services carry bicycles on board.