man of yorkshire

We shall be landing in Budapest at night soon , my wife said originally that she was ok to drive having already done so before in Europe now though she has had a change of heart saying that it was too long ago but unfortunately this being after we have hired the car from the airport , I must admit being a little nervous I have only driven once before on the opposite side of the road in Canada , New Foundland to be exact and it wasn't very busy to say the least .
we only have about two miles to go as we have booked into a local hotel for a stop over , I think I shall be ok once I've broken the ice so to speak but I was wondering if anyone knew what the road , driving wise was like around the airport busy complicated system or is it simple ?

Peter_in_Hungary

IMO driving in Budapest is like driving in any city - can be a bit manic, however if you are arriving at night when the traffic should be a bit less then obviously this will be easier than rush hour. If you haven't got it already I would suggest that you get a GPS down loaded on to your smart phone (assuming you have such a phone) Google maps works well and you can down load off line maps so that it app doesn't give you data roaming charges. I find using a GPS takes all the stress out of where you are going and leaves concentration for the driving.

The route into Budapest from the airport is fairly obvious with dual carriage ways and flyovers until you get quite close in but then you need to know where you are going which is where the GPS helps (a lot)

wolfi

I've had visitors from Britain too driving my car and on the other hand visited London more than 50 times (in the good old days before tolls). In my experience just following the traffic is not too bad - but when you do a turn you have to consciously decide the "right" side of the road - whether to make a wide turn or not. Happened to a friend of mine that suddenly he found himself on the wrong side of the road - in front of an oncoming car ... Luckily the speeds were not too high, just a few dents.
Imho that's the most difficult situation - the other is overtaking on the "wrong side" away from your steering wheel - but that's only a problem if you have a British car on the continent ...

Sachina

If you're worried about driving on the wrong side of the road in the dark, why don't you arrange to collect the hire car the following morning, and take the airport shuttle bus to your hotel and get them them to pick you up the next morning to take you back to the airport where I assume you're hiring the car? Much simpler!

My grandson is flying out next week and we've arranged for the Kosice/Budapest airport shuttle to drop him off at the MOL petrol station in my nearest town, and to collect him a week later to take him back to the airport. Similarly my granddaughter who is coming to see me later in October, is flying to Budapest and catching the Budapest /Kosice airport shuttle bus to transport her to and from Budapest to the same MOL petrol station. The fare is 25 Euro return which can't be bad!

man of yorkshire

I must say very good suggestion's a satnav is a must and also I think arranging to have the car delivered to somewhere else, the hotel is better than a great idea .
I had been thinking of getting a Taxi to drive in front of us to the hotel so I didn't go wrong but just getting the car delivered is a far better idea I don't know why I was thinking so complicated so thank you for a calm mind .
I am excited to go to for us is a new country and meet the people , getting a feel for the country just experiencing life makes working actually worthwhile , we are fairly well travelled ourselves having been to many of the travellers hotspots including India Sri Lanka , North America the Caribbean and of course all the usual culprits but with due respect Hungary I hadn't until a couple of years ago thought of happily I have now .
Thank you again for your help.

Pilis Nemzeti Park Fella

Paying a taxi to drive in front of you would work fine, just tell them to go quite slowly.

It takes 10 minutes driving on the 'wrong' side to feel sort of happy, a day to feel very happy, 3 days to feel confident & 3 weeks to feel like it's second nature. All provided you're driving a LHD car in a LHD country.

Szentgal

daylight driving is def better..i have done the airport run about 50 times, but still using GPS..
good luck, i hope you get to your destination safely!!!

man of yorkshire

Thank you Its certainly going to be an experience .

Pilis Nemzeti Park Fella

There are quite a few bits to go wrong on when you leave the airport. You need to get the lanes right or you'll be going in completely the wrong direction. Have a dummy go on google maps first.

My Hungarian bro in law still gets it wrong when he picks us up, I shout: Nyiregyhaza fele! and he coasts on by lol

duztee

You don't say if your hotel is towards the centre or not, also your intended direction on the following day.
The airport exit is not particularly complex, if you are going into town just follow the same route as almost all of the taxis take. Only two choices really Budapest (right hand lane) Szolnok (left lane) this will take you onto the N4 which in turn will take you to the ring road in just over a kilometre.
It was so much easier when I first visited since I always arrived via terminal 1 which was far smaller and directly on the side of the 4, as well as only being a short walk from the train station.

As with any new place the important thing is to concentrate on your driving and all the idiots around you, don't worry too much about going the wrong way! it is better to to find your way back safely in a calm state of mind. if all else fails the airport is clearly marked from almost any main road so you can always start over!
The hire company may well offer sat-nav as an extra, and will certainly put your hotel in for you if asked.

Pilis Nemzeti Park Fella

The other thing to bear in mind is that general driving standards are appalling in Hungary -
- very close tailgating EVERY journey
- crazy overtaking manoeuvres (your side/ oncoming side) EVERY journey
- angry motorists having a go at you because you are keeping to the speed limit.

It's all a question of mental preparation - if you say to yourself: 'I'm not going to let this bother me, relax', you'll be fine.

There's also a set of speed cameras just before the M0 turnoff for the airport (both directions, Megyeri Bridge side) - Hungarians take these cameras very seriously so don't go more than 5km over the limit (110 kmph)

FenTiger

It's a good idea to have a look at the airport via Google maps. Alternatively, before you set off have a walk to the exits so you can see which one you need and the road signs ahead. I've only driven once in Hungary and took the wrong exit from the airport and ended up having to turn round back towards the airport and then re-start. Driving back to the airport for the outbound flight I got muddled up looking for the car hire car park! Ended up having to get my wife to ask the car hire guys where I should enter their car park. Sure enough one of their guys decided to get in the driver's side. Scared the s$&t out of me driving way above the speed limit for the car park! Haven't driven in Hungary since partly due to the fact one my of wife's family are always happy to drive us somewhere and we have local friends too happy to chauffeur us around.

man of yorkshire

I think that's the thing Keep Calm . I've got it on my phone google maps and it looks easy as I said earlier the first stop is an overnight stay and its only one and a half miles from the airport , being late at night I'm hoping it wont be quite as busy although I'm not looking forward to the driving bit at all but I shall take it in my stride , I have to be though don't I , plenty of people have driven on the other side before just as long as I don't start driving on my side Lol.
Sarokhaz Panzio is our stop over if anyone is aware of this Hotel and then we shall head to Pecs early the next day , looking forward to the adventure.

duztee

OK Yorkie, it's an easy one even for a complete novice :-)
Right hand lane leaving the airport, signed for Budapest. Look for Tesco on the left, they have a huge roadside sign, easy to see. almost immediately after there will be an equally large impossible to miss McDonalds "M" also over on the left hand side.
Indicate and move over to the left, keep the indicator going and move into the Left turn slip road. (if you want to check the sign it is marked with the figure "4" in a green square).
Now pay attention, you will be driving across the opposite carriageway, this is only a stop sign, no lights so go when you are happy. Only thing to be aware of is that directly after crossing the carriageway is a railway level crossing, so make sure there is not a queue of waiting cars and there is room for you to cross completely. Drive down this road a few hundred metres, VW garage on your (righthand) side Hotel (Panzio) is on the left.

man of yorkshire

Absolutely brilliant Thanks