Light trains, trams, buses on the roads from today: here is everything you should know – UPDATED

Decorated trains and buses have started to run on the streets of Budapest and other Hungarian towns from today. MÁV-HÉV, MÁV and Volánbusz, the state railways and bus companies will all begin to operate such vehicles. Let us show you the details and how you may travel with them below.

According to Helló Magyar, you may travel with MÁV-HÉV’s unique nostalgia train this weekend in the early evening hours on the line of H5 (Szentendre) HÉV. You will not have to pay more for travelling on it, ordinary passes and tickets will allow you to do so. Furthermore, it will stop at each stop of the line.

On 6 December (next Wednesday), it will commute as Santa HÉV thrice in the afternoon. There will be an event with Santa Claus, singing reindeers and presents. You will have to buy a ticket to take part. It will cost HUF 3,000 (EUR 8). HERE you may check out some photos of the Santa HÉV. It looks astonishing despite the outdated train.

The Santa HÉV will commute from Szentendre to Budapest’s Batthyány Square at 2.34 and 5.49 PM, and it will carry passengers back to Szentendre at 3.47 PM. HERE you may find more information about how to buy your ticket. Since it is a private route, there will be no discounts.

And some photos taken last December:

Decorated buses, Lake Balaton and international trains

On 6 December, Volánbusz, Hungary’s state-owned bus transport company, will also wait for kids and adults mad for retro. One of the oldest Hungarian buses, the 70-year-old Nejlon Piroska, will carry passengers to Budapest Airport and back. Furthermore, it will shine in holiday decorations between 2 and 23 December.

You may travel on 2, 9, 16 and 23 December from 2 PM with it to Budapest Aeropark, the aviation museum of the Ferenc Liszt International Airport. There, you can enjoy a tour while drinking hot chocolate.

The bus will arrive back to Budapest by 5 PM. Afterwards, a one-hour-long sightseeing tour starts at 6 PM. The route will be the following: Népliget–Üllői Road–Nagykörút–Andrássy Avenue–Heroes’ Square–Dózsa György Road–Ajtósi Dürer sor–Stefánia Road–Stadion–Népliget.

On 6 December, the arrival day of Santa Claus in Hungary (we wrote about that HERE), there will also be a sightseeing tour from 6 PM. The Aeropark tour with the sightseeing costs HUF 6,000 (EUR 15.8), while the ticket for the city sightseeing will be HUF 2,500 (EUR 6.5). Moreover, kids will receive Santa presents each day. However, there is no heating on the nostalgia bus, so you should keep your warm clothes close.

Photo: FB/Volánbusz

On 6 December, another light train will start operation in Balatonfenyves, near Lake Balaton. Here is a photo of it:

MÁV-Start’s Advent EuroCity train will commute twice between Vienna and Budapest: 16 December and 23 December. As a result, you can easily visit the Christmas fairs in the two capitals in only one weekend.

UPDATE – Light trams and buses in Budapest

Light trams and two buses started to operate in Budapest from today, Impress Magazin said. Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote that the length of their LED lighting reaches 5 kilometres, and they will carry passengers until 7 January. If you hold a ticket or a pass, you can travel with them. Last year, they did not commute due to the high energy prices. Here are some photos:

Read also:

• Leading foreign newspapers rave about Budapest Christmas markets – Read more HERE
• Hungary’s Christmas tree looks astonishing near the Parliament – Details and photo gallery in THIS article