8 handy tips for when you’re driving in Budapest
Change language:
As in most big cities, traffic in Budapest is unique in its own way and might represent a challenge, if you’re a first timer in the Hungarian capital. Here are 8 practical bits of advice for you to help you with your adventures.
Traffic in Budapest can be described as busy and pulsating, you have to be very alert and fast if you don’t want to get into trouble. Of course, this is not the typical Hungarian driving style (in fact, there isn’t really one): in the countryside or in smaller cities, traffic is much more relaxed. If you’ve ever been driving in Western Europe, you might feel that you know everything there is to know about the region’s driving customs and unwritten rules, but we can assure you that Budapest is full of surprises.
1 Driving styles in Budapest
If you’re driving, the best advice we can give you is to stay alert. There are a lot of aggressive drivers who will worm themselves into your lane, or will switch lanes in the last second. You have to be quick, traffic here is very fast, otherwise, you will get blinked or horned at.
2 Public transport always enjoys priority
At Budapest, you will find trams, buses and trolleys as well, which complicates your job as a driver, since they enjoy priority. In some areas, buses and trolleys have their own bus lanes, which car drivers cannot use. After leaving a stop, buses go back to the main lane quite fast, since in these cases they have priority, according to the Hungarian driving rules. Luckily, tram rails are separate from car lanes, but the two might cross, in which cases the trams have priority. There are even areas where trams and cars use the same road surface: here the trams are equal to cars, since in those narrow streets it is impossible to give them priority. If you can, try to avoid getting stuck on the rails, because the angry tram drivers will honk at you.
3 One-way streets + turning left is sometimes impossible
Budapest’s downtown is no different from any other cities’ downtown: you will find a lot of one-way streets here. One-way streets represent a difficulty for those who do not know the city that well. If you want to get into a street, but you are not able to do so from your current position, then just take the next street, and then take a turn to your desired one at the end of it.
At most of the boulevards in Budapest, you cannot turn left, so you have to plan your journey with close attention.
What about yielding to drivers on the right, on side road intersections?