PHOTOS: Everything you need to know about Budapest’s nostalgia tram, bus routes

Travelling on 50-100-year-old vehicles in Budapest’s downtown is a unique experience only a few people ever had. Here is everything you need to know about the vehicles and their May program. Furthermore, we are sharing information about the tickets you should buy to use these buses and trams since the Budapest passes and tickets are not valid for a ride on them.

This is the first weekend in 2023 when nostalgia trams and buses circulate in the illustrious Hungarian capital’s downtown. But there is information worth knowing before stepping out of your hotel room to try one. First, you need to buy special tickets for them. A one-route ticket is valid for only one ride, while with a 24-hour travelcard, you can use all nostalgia routes commuting on the given day. The former costs HUF 500 for adults, HUF 300 for kids (EUR 1.34 and 0.81). The latter is HUF 2,000 and HUF 1,000 (EUR 5.4 and 2.7). You may find additional details about that HERE.

The nostalgia trams and buses will commute to Budapest between May and October in 2023. These historic vehicles have become a symbol of the Hungarian capital. They carry passengers in the most spectacular sections of the downtown, so it is worth jumping on at least one, provided you are in Budapest. HERE is a map of the heritage transport services during May.

N2 and N19 trams are from different eras of the history of Hungarian transport. The former commutes on Saturday afternoons on the Pest Danube embankment, while the latter on the Buda Danube embankment on Sunday afternoons. The former route has been chosen as one of the world’s top 10 most beautiful multiple times. The N2 tram line touches the Parliament, the most spectacular bridges, and provides an excellent opportunity to take panoramic photos of the Buda Castle and Gellért Hill. N19 is N2’s counterpart in Buda, touching famous baths, markets, the Clark Ádám Square and the Buda Castle funicular.

Nostalgia on photos

N2 and N19 on photos. N19’s frame is made of wood:

N2 touches Budapest’s Deák Ferenc Square:

Here are some additional photos of the N19 route:

There are additional historic trams, including N18 commuting in Buda among the trees of the Városmajor and the Danube embankment of Buda. That commutes only once a month, every second Saturday.

N18, the so-called “bengáli” (after the Bengal tiger) in the woods of Városmajor, Buda:

Meanwhile, there are other retro vehicles from the 1980s and 1990s. One is the cabrio bus Ikarus 630 and Ikarus 60, commuting from the Bem Quay to the Parliament, the Margaret and Elizabeth bridges. HERE you may check out the May schedule of these nostalgia routes.

Cabrio bus:

Ikarus60 (left-down):