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Survival Kit #2: How to Travel in Budapest – Public Transport Network
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Public transport in Budapest is coordinated by the BKK Centre for Budapest Transport. Now the centre has Customer Information Points here: Rumbach Center (Central Customer Information Point), Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal 2A, Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal 2B, Deák Ferenc tér, Metro Line 4: Kelenföld vasútállomás, Metro Line 4: Keleti pályaudvar.
The timetables are available online or you can download them in pdf format in English: http://www.bkk.hu/en/timetables/
The centre has a collection of maps related to public transport: http://www.bkk.hu/en/maps/
For beginners it is easier to get an idea of the whole network by imaging the city as a “creature”. The “backbone” of Budapest, in my view, is the metro. By now it has four lines which enable you to move fast and easily both north to south (Line 3) and east to west (Line 2).
Metro line 1 is the oldest of all the lines in Budapest and the second oldest underground railway in the world. It links Vörösmarty tér and Mexikói út and has been functioning since 1896. There is also an underground museum that tells you the story of the very first metro line on the continent. Now, Line 1 is more like a curiosity of the city and used by a lot of tourists to get from site to the next in the centre.