Many people who come to Hungary have heard about Budapest and somehow believe that the Hungarian capital is all the country has to offer. That is a big mistake, and in this article, we would like to give you some great tips that will help you not only explore the surroundings of Budapest by car but also discover the entire city of Budapest in ways that would be much harder unless you sit behind the steering wheel of a car.
The city of Budapest covers an area of 525 square kilometers, while the country of Hungary has a size of 93,030 square kilometers (similar to a country such as Portugal). Budapest is in the center of the country, which means that you can get to almost anywhere in the country within 2 1/2 hours of driving, making it easy to explore, even the most hidden spots and locations where tourists seldom place their feet.
Budapest has always been a big and important city, which means that it has big and wide streets, and it is fairly easy to drive in the city by car. The biggest problem at times might be finding a free parking lot, but there are more and more parking houses, and also several locations at which you can park your car at a very low cost near the center of Budapest. In this article, we want to share information that you will find useful as you explore Budapest and Hungary by car, some advice on the process of renting a car, and lots of tips on where you should go once you have a car available for use.
Important tips if you want to use a rental car in Budapest and Hungary.
There are several things you need to watch out for and pay attention to in the process of renting a car. The most important is that you will often get better prices if you plan ahead. Do your price research and always use car rental comparison websites, as they provide plenty of choices. Discover Cars is one we highly recommend. In addition to offering a great selection of car rental options in Budapest, the website is user-friendly and provides all the necessary information upfront. As you book your rental car early, it is also important to use a service that allows you to cancel your reservation (without you losing money) as closely as possible to the actual booking date. Even if you have heard about one special brand, keep your eyes open, compare the prices of several companies, and read reviews written by other users.
It is crucial to use a service that gives you easy access to the car. If you arrive at Budapest Airport, you should be able to pick up the car directly in the terminal building, or have a shuttle bus provided by the car rental company that will take you the short distance to where the rental car is located. You will get all the information you need to get access to your car quickly during the booking process, meaning there shouldn’t be any reason to worry!
Are you going to stay in a hotel in Budapest? Do not forget to find a hotel where you can park your car! Not all hotels offer such services, especially in the inner districts, and that might give you lots of stress and a big mess as you need to pay for parking in the street, renew your parking ticket throughout the day, and it will cost you a lot of additional money. In other words, find a hotel that offers car parking at a good price, or a hotel outside the city center where you can park your car for free. As you leave Budapest, most hotels offer parking free parking or at a very low cost.
Driving on the roads of Hungary.
Hungary has very nice highways that take you quickly in the direction of big cities such as Székesfehérvár, Györ, Debrecen, Szeged, Pécs, and Eger. If you drive even further, you can even visit the capitals of neighboring countries such as Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Zagreb (Croatia), and Belgrade (Serbia) within two to four hours. But, do not forget that you need to pay a highway fee in Hungary which you can buy for either 1 day, 10 days, 1 month, or 1 year. If you rent your car, do not forget to check if the car already has a highway vignette, or if you need to buy one yourself for the time of your car rental.
You can buy your e-vignette and check the prices at https://ematrica.nemzetiutdij.hu/en/vignette-purchase.
Like most of the countries in Europe, the steering wheel is on the left side in Hungarian cars, and you drive on the right side of the way. There are gas stations located frequently along highways and in cities, so it is easy to fill gas on the car if it is about to get empty. The prices are always in Hungarian Forint, and as you pay, it is always wise to pay with the local currency, because most gas stations use a very bad conversion rate for those eager to pay with Euro instead of the Hungarian Forint.
The highways of Hungary have a maximum speed limit of 130km/h, but even though you drive at this speed, you should keep to the right, as many drivers come faster and they will start blinking and drive into your “butt” if you keep left and don’t keep right to make way for those eager to drive faster in the left lane.
Where to go with a car in Hungary?
You are sitting in your car ready to explore Budapest and Hungary… what next?
Some places worth visiting outside the city center of Budapest.
If you don’t feel like leaving the borders of Budapest at once, type Zugliget Chairlift into your GPS and drive to the popular chairlift in a beautiful green area of Budapest. Here you can walk for hours and enjoy a splendid view, and it also offers lots of places where you can park your car.
Would you like to shop like the locals? Then you can drive to Budaörs, a popular area where you find Decathlon, Ikea, Auchan, Tesco, Aldi, Intersport, and many other stores. This will give you the chance to shop like a local on the outskirts of the city, instead of shopping like a tourist in the popular pedestrian street Váci utca. Do not forget that you need a vignette to visit this area if you approach it using the main highway (if you don’t have a vignette, you can tell your GPS to lead you to this location without using the highway).
This area also has some minor mountains, so if you’d rather enjoy a splendid view and some hills, then enter “Odvashegy utca” into your GPS and drive until you see a place to park your car on the right side (close to Rudolf király emlékpark). There you can leave your car and start climbing upwards immediately.
Cities and areas you should visit outside Budapest.
If you want to make a photo like the one you see below, you should enter “Nyakas kő alatti parkoló” into your GPS. It only takes 25-30 minutes to get there from the city center of Budapest, and it is a short walk of 15 minutes from the parking lot to the top of the cliff. You should be careful if it is raining and wet as it can be slippery, but besides that, this is a fantastic program opportunity.
Want to see even more of the beautiful nature and special sights and programs of Hungary? Travel to Egerszalok to see the famous Salt Hills. Not only is it fantastic to look at, but the area is full of SPA hotels, and hot springs, and it gives you an amazing opportunity to explore the countryside and enjoy a recreational location at the same time. If you first visit this area, drive to Eger, the city where the proud women of Hungary protected the city’s castle against the Turkish invaders in the 16th century.
Did you know that one of the most famous sweet white wines in the world is produced in Hungary, in the scenic Tokaj region? Why don’t you drive to this area, taste a lot of wine (while remembering that Hungary has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to driving and alcohol), and visit the Hungarian “Jesus statue” a visit at its location in Tarcal?
Another option if you want to explore areas not so far from Budapest is to do a day trip in which you combine the three cities Szentendre, Visegrád, and Esztergom. This is a very popular route along the Danube in which you can see the biggest church in Hungary (Esztergom), a beautiful castle and a location where Dracula was imprisoned in the 15th century (Visegrad), and do some shopping and enjoy a walk in the pedestrian street of Szentendre. If you go to Esztergom and decide to walk across the Mária Valéria Bridge, you will suddenly discover that you are in the city of Štúrovo in Slovakia. Isn’t that cool?
As you probably understand, there are lots of places you can and should visit as you explore Budapest and Hungary by car. We hope this article has given you some good ideas, and if you have further recommendations of comments on this topic, please use the comment field below to share what is on your mind.
