It is a nightmare – cycling in Budapest

A journalist of szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu gathered her experiences about how cycle-friendly today’s Budapest is, but the results are crushing.

She wrote that when she finished her studies, she had to choose between a 33 EUR monthly season ticket or buying a bicycle, and she chose the latter. Since then, she has been cycling a lot in Budapest and says that one of the biggest problems is that there are

far from enough parking racks in the city.

She says that, at first, she biked slowly in the city so she did not have any conflicts and thought that what her friends said about the disagreements between cyclists and non-cyclists are simply not true.

But then it started.

At first, drivers shouted at her in one-way streets only, in which cyclists are allowed to enter from both directions; however, most drivers just ignore the sign that says this. Downtown, bicycle paths disappear because of there being too many cars. Furthermore, since the quality of the road is very bad, and it is

full of pot-holes,

it is very hard not to cycle sometimes in the right lane, which makes drivers angry.

For example, near the House of Terror Museum, only 1/5 of the bicycle path can be used because of the many tourists taking photos there. 

Another potential threat for all cyclists is taxi drivers who stop without a sign on the bicycle path to allow their passengers to get into or out of their car. There are streets where cyclists are unable to move because of parking cars. So, they have to use the pavement where pedestrians shout at them.

There are

bicycle paths that just disappear without any notifications

and continue somewhere else in the next street, which is very dangerous in places full of cars.

Tourists are also very dangerous for cyclists because they just ignore them while they are taking photos or just stop to admire the beauties of Budapest. Walking pedestrians using their phone pose an even greater danger and already caused many accidents.

The journalist declared in her last lines that she would like a Budapest with fewer cars and more empathy towards cyclists.

We reported HERE about the new bicycle route map of Budapest, and HERE you can find the heat map of Hungary’s most beloved bike routes.

Source: szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu