by car, parking

So you decided to use your car for travelling to Budapest- big advanture! J Please find our tips here to avoid problems and read the information about driving to/in Budapest.

 Still at home:

Don’t forget to buy a good map where one-way alleys are marked, it’s never easy to find your way in a city you’ve never been before. That’s why  it’s also useful before leaving your hometown to check the appr. location of your accomodation, for example on the www.utcakereso.hu , www.utak.hu  websites. For further details you can contact of course also our collauge.

Reaching the town: you can reach Budapest on highway M1 from Vienna, on M5 from Serbia, road No 8 from Italy, M7 from Croatia and Slovenia, M3 from Romania, road No. 2 from Slovakia.
Arriving from M1, M7 (Buda side) take directions toward Elisabeth Bridge (Erzsébet híd), that will take you to the centre.

 Parking in the town: In most streets of the downtown one has to pay for parking Mo-Fri 8-18. Parking is free on weekend an public holidays. Parking fee in the street is 150-400 HUF / hour. Maximum lenght of parking is 2 hours which can be extended again.
On parking a ticket must be purchased from the nearsest machine and it should be displayed behind the windscreen.

When parking in the street please make sure that you didn't leave any valuables or bag at a visible place of the interior space of the car, and remove the cover of your car cd player or radio. There are many guarded parking facilities (Parking Houses, multilevel garages, parking courts) which are recommended to use in case of traveling by a higher category car. (Fee is 300-400 HUF/ hour or 2000-4000 HUF/ day.) Fortunately, the numbers of car thefts are strongly decreasing for the last few years.

 The best option would be to place your car into a garage or into one of the several guarded parking courts of the center – our collauge can help you on arrival to place your car to a safe place.

Driving in town: Hungarian driving is not good, to tell the truth. :) Drivers are unpatient, want to overtake you in the most impossible places, jump traffic lights.But could be even worse. It is due to traffic jams, streets are very crowded on weekdays, the weekend is ok. During the summer there are roadworks and detours almost all over the town. The quality of roads is quite good but after cold winters need some work.
If you want to move around the city we could highly recommend you to park your car and take public means, you'll save lot of time and anger.

Finally, Some general rools: The Hungarian Highway Code is based on the Vienna and Geneva Convention, traffic signs and road markings are similar to those found in other European countries. However, it is important to highlight a few important traffic regulations that tourists visiting Hungary most observe at all times:

- use of seatbelts in the front and rare seats is compulsory
- only mobile phones fitted with loudspeaker and microphone may be used in cars, and it is recommended that drivers making or receiving a call pull over to the side of the road in a safe area,
- drivers may not consume any alcohol before driving (blood-alcohol level has to be 0,00% - any drinking before driving is illegal
- speed limits are 130 km/h on motorways, 110 km/h on main roads, 90 km/h outside built-up areas and 50 km/h in built-up areas
- use of the horn in towns is only permitted in moments of danger (despite which, unfortunately, Hungarian drivers frequently use their horns without proper reason).

Hungarian Automobile Club 24 hour helpline: (+36-1) 345-1755

Roadside breakdown service: 188

 Have a safe trip to Budapest!