Budapest Card Vs Budapest Travel Card Vs Budapest Pass
The differences between Budapest tourist cards, travel cards and passes
- travel tips
- September 8, 2024
If you’re going to Budapest and want to know how to navigate the city, it’s important to understand how its public transportation works. There are lots of different cards that you can get to use public transportation, depending on the duration of your stay, or on what you really want (for example: you just want to use the metro, or you want to visit some museums too).
In short, there are three types of travel cards in Budapest:
- Budapest Travel Card, a fairly cheap public transportation card that you can use for the period of your stay
- Budapest Card, the tourist option that includes free entry to many Budapest attractions, besides unlimited public transportation.
- Budapest Pass, which you can buy for a longer time, usually 15-30 days
Let’s look at them in detail before you choose your favorite.
Quick links:
• Budapest Card
• Budapest Travel Card
• Budapest Passes
Holidays in Budapest?
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• Get a Budapest Card for free public transport and entry to the best attractions
Budapest Card
The Budapest Card is an official city pass designed to make exploring Budapest more convenient and affordable for tourists. It offers unlimited free access to public transportation, free or discounted entry to many museums, guided tours, and deals at various attractions, restaurants, and thermal baths around the city. The card is available in several options, ranging from 24 to 120 hours, catering to different lengths of stay. It’s a handy tool for visitors looking to make the most of their time and budget while exploring Budapest.
Budapest Card prices and options
You can choose your Budapest Card according to how long you’ll be in Budapest, or how long you’d like to use its main benefits.
- 24 hours: €39 / £33.20 / $42.53
- 72 hours: €69 / £58.75 / $75.24
- 96 hours: €87 / £74.07 / $94.87
- 120 hours: €96 / £81.73 / $104.68
- 72 hours+ (extra benefits): €99 / £84.29 / $107.95
Included in the Budapest Card
With a Budapest Card you’ll get lots of perks to explore the city. It includes unlimited free travel on public transport, entry to top museums, guided walking tours, entry and discounts on the most famous thermal baths, savings on sightseeing tours, river cruises, and bike rentals, plus deals at restaurants and cafés. The card even offers discounts on airport transfers and select shops.
Some of the Budapest Card partners offering free entry or discounts include the Hungarian National Museum, Széchenyi Thermal Baths, Hungarian National Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest History Museum Castle Museum, Saint Stephen’s Hall of Buda Castle, Museum of Contemporary Art (Ludwig Museum), Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Memento Park, Lukács Thermal Bath, and Pál-völgyi Cave. But there’s many more.
You can see find all partners and discounts here.
Budapest Card alternatives: Tourist Pass and e-XPLORER Pass
The Tourist Pass and e-XPLORER Pass are alternative city passes similar to the Budapest Card, as they belong to the same program. But please note that, unlike the Budapest Card, none of these two have public transportation included.
The Tourist Pass is a more budget-friendly option, with prices between €34 and €89. It offers comparable discounts and free entries to attractions but does not include public transport.
The e-XPLORER Pass, priced between €87 and €129, provides more extensive benefits than the Budapest Card, making it a premium option. However, it also doesn’t cover public transportation. Both passes are good choices for those seeking extra perks or looking for a slightly different experience from the standard Budapest Card.
Is the Budapest Card worth it?
In our view, the Budapest Card is a great value if you plan to visit several attractions and use public transportation during your stay. Starting at €39 (around 15,000 HUF), the card can quickly pay for itself with just two or three of attraction visits, like museums or thermal baths. And don’t forget the unlimited access to public transportation included: for comparison, a block of 10 individual tickets costs about 4,000 HUF (around €10), so a fourth of the card already gets paid off. Plus, you’ll get a discount on door-to-door airport transfer or even get it for free, depending on the card option you choose.
Budapest Travel Card
Now that we’ve covered the Budapest Card, time to understand how the Budapest Travel Card works.
The Budapest Travel Card provides unlimited travel on public transportation within Budapest for a specified duration. Depending on the card you choose, it can be valid for 30 minutes, 90 minutes, 24 hours, or 72 hours. Unlike the Budapest Card, there are no other benefits, like entry to museums or discounts on attractions. This card works solely as a public transportation ticket.
How the Budapest Travel Card works
Each travel card is valid for the duration specified from the start time, allowing unlimited trips within Budapest’s boundaries. The cards cover almost all BKK services, suburban buses, HÉV suburban railway lines, and MÁV-START trains in 2nd class (excluding trains with supplementary charges). Please note that the cards do not include travel on the 100E Airport Express.
Where to Buy: You can purchase these travel cards at BKK ticket offices, newsstands, and vending machines located in metro stations across Budapest. But you can also buy and manage your travel cards using the BudapestGO app. Simply download the BudapestGO app from your app store, select the travel card you want, and purchase it directly on your mobile device. When using a mobile ticket, scan the QR code or NFC sticker when boarding and present the animated image or ticket details if requested by an inspector.
Budapest Travel Card: options and prices
There are many options of travel cards that you can buy in order to enjoy the city’s public transport.
- 30-Minute Ticket: Ideal for short trips, this ticket costs 530 Ft and is valid for 30 minutes from the time of first use.
- 90-Minute Ticket: Priced at 750 Ft, this ticket allows unlimited travel for 90 minutes from the time of first use.
- 24-Hour Budapest Travelcard: Provides unlimited travel within Budapest for 24 hours from the start time, available for 2,500 Ft.
- 24-Hour Group Budapest Travelcard: Suitable for groups of up to five people, this card offers unlimited travel for 24 hours and costs 5,000 Ft.
- 72-Hour Budapest Travelcard: Offers three days of unlimited travel within Budapest for 5,500 Ft.
Is it worth it?
Whether a Budapest Travel Card is worth it depends on how frequently you plan to use public transportation. For reference, a single ticket costs 450 Ft. If you make 6 trips in a day, it’s already more economical to get a 24-hour Travel Card, which costs 2,500 Ft.
For a 3-day stay, if you use public transportation 15 times, buying single tickets would total 6,750 Ft, which is more than the 72-hour Travel Card priced at 5,500 Ft. Even if you opt for a block of 10 tickets, which is cheaper than buying tickets individually, 15 trips would still cost 6,250 Ft, making the 72-hour Travel Card a better deal.
Budapest Passes
If you want something more specific, like if you want unlimited public transport for 15 days, or if you’re student, then you can check one of the other options.
- Block of 10 Tickets: 4,000 Ft
- Monthly Budapest Pass: 8,950 Ft
- Pest County Pass (Full Price): 9,450 Ft
- Pest County Pass (Discounted,
- Hungarian Student ID Required): 945 Ft
- Hungary Pass (Full Price): 18,900 Ft
- Hungary Pass (Discounted, Hungarian Student ID Required): 1,890 Ft
- Monthly Budapest Pass for Pupils (EU Student ID Required): 3,450 Ft
- Monthly Budapest Pass for Students (EU Student ID Required): 3,450 Ft
- Monthly Budapest Pass for Pensioners: 3,330 Ft
- Monthly Budapest Pass for Parents: 3,450 Ft
- Monthly Pass for Job Seekers: 0 Ft
- 15-Day Budapest Pass: 5,950 Ft
- 15-Day Budapest Pass for Pupils (Hungarian Student ID Required): 2,300 Ft
- Monthly Dog Pass: 5,250 Ft
- Bicycle Pass: 540 Ft
- Quarterly Budapest Pass: 26,850 Ft
- Quarterly Budapest Pass for Pupils (EU Student ID Required): 10,350 Ft
- Quarterly Budapest Pass for Students (EU Student ID Required): 10,350 Ft
- Quarterly Budapest Pass for Pensioners: 9,990 Ft
- Semester Budapest Pass for Pupils (EU Student ID Required): 16,200 Ft
- Semester Budapest Pass for Students (EU Student ID Required): 16,200 Ft
- Discounted Annual Budapest Pass: 99,950 Ft
- Discounted Annual Budapest Pass for Pupils (EU Student ID Required): 37,800 Ft
- Discounted Annual Budapest Pass for Students (EU Student ID Required): 37,800 Ft
- Discounted Annual Budapest Pass for Pensioners: 36,600 Ft
Annual Budapest Pass (Business): 126,000 Ft