By air

You will be landing at Budapest Ferihegy airport. From there the easiest and most comfortable way of coming into town is to take an Airport Minibus. This will pick you up along with a few other passengers and will take you to the address you indicate (the name of the hotel usually suffices). You may buy your minibus ticket already in the baggage reclaim area or in the arrival hall. As of February 2001, the price of a trip was 1800 HUF (ATM's and exchange bureaus are available in the airport) with a 10% discount if you buy a return ticket. You may order your return trip by phone 1 or 2 days before leaving.

Taxis:Those you see when walking out of the airport are rather expensive. It is better to call 6X6 Taxi (2 666 666) working with fixed rates (currently 3000 HUF for the Pest side, 3500 for the Buda side). There is also Fôtaxi (2 222 222) which is also reliable and costs only 500 HUF more. City Taxi (2 111 111) doesn't have a fixed rate for the airport but isn't more expensive and is reliable. All these companies send you a car within 5 minutes time. In general, when taking a taxi while in Budapest it is better to call or take one belonging to these companies; otherwise you should inquire about the fare in advance in order to diminish the risk of an unpleasant surprise.

There is also a regular (blue) bus service (Airport bus/Reptér busz) leaving roughly every 15 minutes which for a normal Budapest bus ticket takes you until the end station of underground line No 3. Exceptionally on this bus you can also buy a ticket from the driver. Buses are available till midnight but keep in mind that the last underground train leaves at 23.10.

A shuttle by rail is planned but construction has not yet begun.

By rail

Trains from abroad arrive usually at Keleti railway station, from where you can take underground line No. 2 and several buses. If you arrive late at night it is better to take a taxi (see above).

How to get to the Institute

The Institute is situated in downtown Budapest, at 13-15 Reáltanoda St, in the proximity of several underground stations and bus stops.

If you take underground line No. 2 (red), get off at Astoria. Walk past the main entrance of Hotel Astoria in Kossuth Lajos St., then take the first side-street on the left, which is Magyar St. Then Reáltanoda St. will be the first on the right. Once there, you can't miss the building of the Institute, painted in red (for a picture click here.)

If you take underground line 3 (blue), get off at Ferenciek tere. Walk out of the tube station and take the exit which is behind you on the left. Then continue straight ahead on the left side of the street, walking past the church and Restaurant Kárpátia. Reáltanoda Street will be the first on the left.

If you take trams Nos. 47 or 49, get off at Astoria and continue as above. Buses 7, 7A or 7-173 stop both at Astoria and at Ferenciek tere. From Charles' Apartment House take bus No. 8 or 105 till the end station (3 stops) which is a 2 minutes walk away from Ferenciek tere.

Public transport in Budapest

In Budapest, there is a great variety of public transport: underground (metro), buses, trams, even trolleys. Passengers taking any of them should use pre-purchased tickets that should be validated at the beginning of the journey (in the underground at the entrance, otherwise on the bus/tram etc.) Prices are constantly rising; as of July 2001, the price of a single ticket (valid for any form of tranport for one journey of arbitrary length) was 100 HUF. You can buy blocks of 10 or 20 tickets which are somewhat cheaper than buying just single tickets; a block can be used by several people but tickets in the block must remain together and must not be torn out (otherwise you'll get fined). There are also monthly passes but they are worth buying only for those staying for at least a month and are regularly using public transport.

If you are taking the underground for a journey of at most 3 stations, you can buy a Metro Section Ticket whose current price is 70 HUF.