Location
BME
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
MIT - Department of Measurement and Information Systems
FTSRG - Fault Tolerant Systems Research Group
Building I, Part B, Floor 4
Magyar Tudósok körútja 2.
1117 Budapest, Hungary
The location of our building on Google Maps: N47.472602 W19.059674
Hungary
Hungary is a member of the European Union and the Schengen Border Treaty. The official language is Hungarian, and do not expect everybody to speak English, but you can easily get by with English or with German in places frequented by international tourism.
The official currency in Hungary is the Forint (shortly, Ft or HUF), and not the Euro. Of course, there are many places where they accept Euros as well, but you should not depend on it, and exchange rates are typically biased against the customer. You can exchange currency in banks and at dedicated exchange offices, or withdraw HUF from ATMs. The exchange mid rate today (2010-04-13) is 264,98 HUF for 1 EUR. Please note that according to a recent regulation in Hungary, 1 Ft and 2 Ft coins are withdrawn, and prices are rounded up (or down) to the next number divisible by 5. Ft. So, shopkeepers are not cheating if they do not give you back a change of 1Ft or 2 Fts.
Further sources of information
- the official page of Budapest
- the official page of the Budapest Transport Ltd.
- a 10 days weather forecast
- the official page of Hungary
- the page of the Hungarian National Tourist Office
- the CIA World Factbook: Hungary
Arriving by flight
The two terminals of the Budapest Ferihegy Airport is connected to various main European airports by several flights a day including various cheap flights. Low-cost airlines arrive at "Ferihegy Terminal 1" while main international flights land on "Ferihegy Terminal 2". More information available at the homepage of the airport: http://bud.hu/english/transport.
For getting to the city from the airport, there are two main options:
- If you are travelling alone, the best choice is the Shuttle Bus called “Airport Minibus”, also known as "Airport Shuttle". The company has a desk at both terminals (“Ferihegy 1” where most cheap flights arrive and “Ferihegy 2”) where you can buy tickets. The price is 2990 HUF for a single ticket and 4990 HUF for a return (or 1495 HUF one way if you fly with Malév and reserve the shuttle online) The company operates white Ford Transits.
- For those travelling together, maybe sharing a taxi is a better option: “Zóna taxi” is the official company taking passengers form the airport to the city. The company also has two desks at the arrival side of both terminals. The price of a ride depends on the destination zone. Most of you will most probably stay in zones 2 or 3, costing 5000 HUF per taxi for leaving the airport, and somewhat less for returning. Please note that this price is only valid for the first stop in the city, after that the taxi operates on a per-distance basis costing an extra 180 HUF/km.
Taxi companies usually accept Euros, just as the shuttle bus company, therefore getting from the airport to the city is possible without having HUF. Public transportation tickets, however, are to be paid in HUF. There are teller (ATM) machines at the airport where you can buy HUF at a better exchanged rate than in banks.
Arriving by train
When arriving by train at the Western Railway Station (Nyugati pályaudvar) take tram number 4 or 6 in the direction of Móricz Zs. körtér or Fehérvári út directly. The Western Railway Station is a major hub for public transportation with the Metro line 3, trams 4 and 6, and many bus lines.
When arriving at the Eastern Railway Station (Keleti pályaudvar, main railway station for international trains) or at the Southern Railway Station (Déli pályaudvar) you can take the Metro line 2, go to the Blaha Lujza tér and change to the tram lines 4 or 6.
Please note that there are special reduced fares for various trains from Vienna, Munich, and many other cities.
Transport from the hotels to the university
Budapest has an excellent public transportation system. Recently a ticket costs 1,00 EUR but different combined and daily tickets offer a good “go as you please” opportunity.
The nearest stop to the university is at the Petőfi bridge, where the tram lines Nr. 4 and 6 and the bus line 12 stop.
From Danubius Hotel Gellért:
- On foot: Just take a walk along the Danube (the Danube should be on your left while walking), go across below the next bridge (Petőfi bridge) and turn to the right just before the first building after that bridge. Then you are at the north end of our semicircle street, pass the building directly at the Danube, and on the inner side the next one will be our building (20-25 minutes walk).
- By tram: Take the tram lines Nr. 18, 19, 41, 47, 49, 118 (any tram lines that cross the square), start with them away from the Danube, the second stop will be the Móricz Zs. körtér. Take the tram Nr. 6 for two stops, and take off at the Buda-head of the Petőfi bridge. On the first corner turn to the right, and start to go around on that semicircle street. We are in the only building on the inner side of the semicircle.
From Hotel Mercure Budapest Duna:
- Go across Danube on Bridge Petöfi either with trams Nr. 4 or 6 for one stop or by foot. Take the foot-walk on the left at the tram-station. On the first corner turn to the right, and start to go around on that semicircle street. We are in the only building on the inner side of the semicircle.
From Flamenco Hotel:
- The hotel lies west from Móricz Zs. körtér. From there take the tram Nr. 6 for two stops, and take off at the Buda-head of the Petőfi bridge. On the first corner turn to the right, and start to go around on that semicircle street. We are in the only building on the inner side of the semicircle.
From Professor’s Guest House:
- On foot: walk to the south direction through the university campus, cross below the road coming from Bridge Petőfi and take the foot-walk on the opposite side. On the first corner turn to the right, and start to go around on that semicircle street. We are in the only building on the inner side of the semicircle.
For seeing the above information on Google Maps please visit this page.
Furthermore, there are many nice hotels neer Kálvin tér, which is still not very far and has good connections.
General remarks about public transportation in Hungary
First of all, the site utvonalterv.hu provides invaluable help in planning routes in Hungary (especially in Budapest) by public transport, by car, or by other means of transport. Alternatively, we recommend the pages of the Budapest Transportation Company (BKV) to find bus, tram or subway connections within Budapest. For public transport outside Budapest, the ELVIRA service is helpful in finding domestic train connections, and for the schedule of the national coach services please visit the official timetable of the Volán company. (The latter site speaks only Hungarian, but the search function is almost self explaining: The first 3 fields are “from”, “to”, “via”, then the date in year/month/day order. Leave everything else as default.)
In Budapest, you have to purchase a ticket before taking a public transportation vehicle, fares cannot be paid on board (excluding taxis, of course). Ticket vending machines or cashiers are usually available at railway stations, coach stations and stops of the subway system. On many lesser tram or bus stops, however, you will need a pre-purchased ticket or resort to newsstands and other miscellaneous ticket vendors.
For coach or train services connecting towns, you have the option to buy the ticket on the vehicle, but only if you board it at a lesser stop where no tickets are sold. Be careful that many coaches and cheaper trains have no visual or audible announcements indicating which stop is next, therefore travellers have to watch out for signposts, trust the timetables for accuracy, rely on their familiarity of the surroundings or ask for help from other passengers to decide when to get off. Fortunately express train services like InterCity and EuroCity usually do have a stop indication, but they require a more expensive and pre-purchased reserved seat ticket.
Mobile phone providers in Hungary
In Hungary there are 3 mobile phone providers:
- Telenor - a member of the Telenor group, formerly Pannon, Pannon GSM
- T-Mobile - a member of the Deutsche Telekom group, formerly Westel, Westel900
- Vodafone