Once you've landed in Budapest, the next thing to do is to reach the city center. Luckily, there are three ways to get you from the airport to the heart of Budapest.

Once you collect your luggage from baggage claim you will exit and easily find your way around.

Depending on your travel group, time and budget you have, there are enough airport transfers options for you.

Once you are done wandering through Budapest airport’s shops and food places, you can hit the center of the city.

By Bus

At Terminal 2, the bus stop is on the lower level between terminals 2A and 2B. If you use single tickets, do note that you have to validate a new ticket on every vehicle you use. The only exception here is the metro, meaning that if you validate one ticket, you can use it on all metro lines for 60 minutes straight. However, you cannot leave the metro, and cannot use it to go back to the airport.

To save yourself the trouble, do note that there’s a direct bus line No. 100E, traveling between the city center and the airport. And if you want to catch it from the center to the airport, you can do so at the Deák square at every 30 minutes. The commute time takes approximately 35 minutes to/from the airport, with one stop at Kálvin tér. You can buy your ticket at the driver or from the ticket machines at the stops. No other regular tickets are valid for the 100E airport bus. The first bus line from the city starts at 4am until 23.30pm. From the airport, the first bus line is at 5am until 00.30am.

Another option is the BKV Bus 200E to Köbánya-Kispest (the end of line M3) metro and the Airport Terminal 2. This bus can be boarded at the Airport Terminal 2 (stops halfway between 2A and 2B on the arrivals level), continuing through the following stations: Határõr Igazgatóság, Repülõtér - D porta, Old Terminal 1, Csévézõ utca, Felsõcsatári út and Kőbánya-Kispest Metro Station. Once you arrive at the Kőbánya-Kispest station, you’ll need another ticket for the metro (costing HUF 350) to take you in the city. Perhaps it is best to get off at Deák tér (after a ride of 15-20 minutes), where all 3 underground lines meet, serving as an interchange for trams and buses. In all, it takes a 24 minutes ride if you board at Terminal 2. At night, just look for the Night Bus 900 from Airport Terminal 2 to Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út & Del-Pest, taking approximately 27 minutes. In order to get to the city center, you need to transfer at Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út station to other buses such as 950 or 950A and validate another ticket.
 

Airport Shuttles

The airport shuttles are providing door-to-door transfer services, being one of the most popular ways to travel from Budapest Airport to anywhere in Budapest actually. Transfers can be booked in advance with miniBUD. Operating through an extensive fleet of modern minibuses offering shared rides, the staff combines several passengers that are traveling to the same region of the city and then drops them off in the most convenient order possible – in front of their hotel doors. Having this in mind, it might actually take a bit longer to reach your destination with this service than it takes to use public transportation, however there’s the added comfort and convenience of not having to handle luggage on the bus and the metro, being well worth the extra expense and time. You can get more details on the miniBUD website.

From 2017, another Luxembourg-based company called flibco.com has been offering direct bus-transfer services between downtown Budapest and the airport with a departure frequency of every 30 minutes round the clock. The bus stops at several transport hubs citywide, including: Deák Square, Népliget Bus Station and Nyugati, Keleti and Déli railway stations.
 

Taxi Service

Undoubtedly, the fastest, the most comfortable and most direct way of getting from Budapest Airport to downtown Budapest is definitely by getting a yellow cab, with services provided by taxi stands in front of both Terminal 2A and 2B, staffed by English-speaking attendants. There’s only one company currently authorized to provide unreserved taxi service with curbside pick-up at Budapest Airport called Főtaxi. They guarantee regulated rates with prepaid vouchers available at the taxi stands. To reach the downtown Budapest hotels, Főtaxi charges approximately 8-9,000 forints (or about 25-29 euros). Official taxis work with a taximeter and charge a starting fee of 700 HUF (~2,5 euro) and 300 HUF per km (~1 euro), and there is also a waiting fee, which also counts when the taxi is standing in the traffic.

Always be aware that there are other taxi companies that operate at the Budapest Airport, with plenty of shady individuals awaiting fresh visitors in the arrivals area with the promise of extremely cheap fees for taxi service. However, if you happen to decide to use their services, there will be some unexpected fees and services added on your final bill, draining your budget even before you reach Budapest’s city center. Just to be on the safe side, always make sure to use reliable and authorized taxi companies and never trust the pesky individuals approaching you at the arrival area. If you are not sure which company to choose once you arrive, always ask for more details on some of the information desks at the airport.

Budapest is becoming an even more popular city, where over 20 million tourists visit every year. Hence, you don’t need to worry about how to get to the city center, since there are enough airport transfers options you can use. The only concern you should have is to make space in your agenda to visit some of the best local bars and nightclubs for tourists in the city. Happy travels!