Edinburgh EDI to Budapest BUD flight with Ryanair

Flights from Edinburgh to Budapest

Flights from Edinburgh to Budapest take an average of around 6h, with some taking as little as 3h. There are about 45 flights a day, so tickets are always plentiful. There are direct and one- or two-stop flights, allowing you to choose speedier flights if you’re looking for efficiency, and longer, cheaper ones if you want to save costs. Keep an eye on our live updated schedules to find flights that suit your specific needs.

Edinburgh to Budapest flight time: Daily Departures

You’ll find an average of roughly 45 flights from Edinburgh to Budapest every weekday, and about half that number on weekends, giving you a choice of over 250 flights a week. They’re offered by multiple airlines, and depart throughout the day. The first planes leave at around 6:00 a.m., with the last leaving at about 5:30 p.m. If you’re after direct flights, these are usually the morning flights. From around midday the flights almost invariably make at least one stop on the way.

How long is the journey by flight from Edinburgh to Budapest?

You can catch direct flights from Edinburgh to Budapest that will only take about 3h, or one stop-flights that take around 4h 20min, which are the shortest options. Cheaper flights make one or two stopovers, where you’ll be required to change planes at the intermediate airports. The most cost-effective flights take around 24h to make the trip, including stopover and plane transfer times.

Budapest Plaza Couple. Source: Shutterstock

What are the departure and arrival airports for flights from Edinburgh to Budapest?

Departure airport: All the flights to Budapest leave from Edinburgh Airport (EDI). You can get there from the city centre in a little under 20min by bus – take the No. 1 line on Lothian Buses from the airport, which depart every 15min. Otherwise Edinburgh Trams will get you there in about 30min on the T50 tram line. There’s a very decent duty-free section, and plenty of restaurants, bars, cafés and fast food kiosks. The airport is family-friendly, and offers a full, personalised limited mobility assistance service.

Arrival airport: All of the flights to Budapest from Edinburgh land at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD). The quickest way to get to the city centre once you’ve arrived is to catch the BKK Line 100E bus, which will take about 30min. Terminal services include hire car outlets, more than a dozen cash points and a currency exchange. There’s a dental clinic, and any travellers with special needs can arrange guidance and support 48h in advance. There are around a dozen shops, from music and electronics stores to a mini-supermarket, plus plenty of places to eat and drink.

Which airlines travel from Edinburgh to Budapest?

A large proportion of the flights between the European capitals are operated by Ryanair. These are the cheapest and also the quickest, as they fly directly from Edinburgh Airport to Budapest Airport. Bear in mind that they leave mainly in the mornings till about 11:00 a.m. KLM also offers a selection of flights throughout the day, with Lufthansa contributing significantly too. The latter two airlines don’t offer direct flights, thus taking anything from a couple of hours longer to about 24h more. They also require plane changes at the airports where they stop over. KLM usually flies via Amsterdam, with Lufthansa spreading its stopovers between Frankfurt and Munich. Air France typically makes its stopover at its home airport in Paris, sometimes also flying via Amsterdam on its two-stop routes.

Ryanair flights from Edinburgh to Budapest

Ryanair offers many flights to Budapest each day. These are concentrated between around 6:00 a.m. and about 12 noon. They take roughly 2h 45min to make the journey, and are all direct trips. This means you won’t have the hassle of changing planes or airlines – you’ll simply take off from Edinburgh Airport and land at Ferenc Liszt a few hours later. These are also some of the cheaper flights you’ll find between Edinburgh and Budapest.

KLM flights from Edinburgh to Budapest

Flying times on KLM can vary depending on the time of day that you book. The fastest flight takes around 4h 20min, with one stop at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS). Others take between about 6h 20min and about 16h, still making the single stopover. You’ll be able to see the full selection using the Omio live schedules. These flights are available throughout the day, from the early morning.

Lufthansa flights from Edinburgh to Budapest

Lufthansa flights are usually the longer ones, some making one stop and others stopping twice for plane transfers. The quickest of these takes about 9h 15min, stopping over at Frankfurt am Main Airport (FRA) first and then at Munich Airport (MUC). The longer flights can take up to roughly 23h 55min, once again stopping over at the same airports in-between. You’ll also be able to board these throughout the day, every day.

Air France flights from Edinburgh to Budapest

Air France flights are the longest of all, in the main, although the airline has one flight a day that only takes about 5h 50min. This flight leaves at around 5:00 p.m. and makes a single stop for a plane change at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). Its longest flights are in tandem with KLM, taking around 29h and stopping first in Paris and then at Schiphol. On average, though, the airline will get you to Budapest in around 16h.

Flight Edinburgh to Budapest: Services on Board

All of the airlines plying this route offer Economy, Business and First class tickets, with some offering an upgraded, premium Economy class version too. This is with the exception of Ryanair, which offers a single more cost-effective basic class. KLM allows a single item of hold luggage up to 50 lbs (23 kg) in weight, plus a smaller item of cabin luggage and a laptop or handbag. You can bring a wheelchair with you free of charge, either in the cabin if it’s foldable, or as hold luggage. Air France allows a single item of hold luggage of 26 lbs (12 kg), and offers its comprehensive Saphir assistance service for passengers with limited mobility.

Lufthansa has Economy and Economy Flex classes, the latter offering you a seat choice and boarding priority. Free on-board Wi-Fi is available, and there are power charging sockets in each seat. The in-flight menu serves food tailored to your destination country, and you can avail yourself of shopping and entertainment on board. Ryanair allows you to take a bicycle in the hold, folded into a carrier. You get snacks on board, and can order these ahead of time. There isn’t any on-board assistance for passengers with limited mobility, as the airline relies on assistance from ground staff at airports. Assistance dogs are allowed on the aircraft, however.

How to find cheap flight tickets from Edinburgh to Budapest?

The first way to fly more cheaply to Budapest is to book with Ryanair, as it offers a budget service. If you prefer more bells and whistles, look for flights on Omio that you can book well in advance, as airlines often offer discounts as incentives to start filling up the planes as soon as they can.

Alternatively you can adopt the opposite strategy and wait for last-minute deals on tickets due to cancellations. This implies being very flexible with your travel dates and times. You can also choose the longer journeys with more stopovers in-between, especially on this route, given the wide disparity of flights on offer. Don’t always assume that these flights are automatically cheaper, however – some of them can cost more, paradoxically. Once again, Omio is your friend when it comes to keeping tabs on this.

Budapest Green Bridge Tram. Source: Shutterstock

To Budapest by plane—travel tips

Budapest is known as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and attracts many thousands of tourists for this alone. You can wander along streets lined with entertaining and very proficient musical buskers, visit vast old church concert halls and grand opera houses, or hang out in the latest nightclubs.

The city began as a Stone Age settlement along the River Danube, and it’s not a bad idea to start your visit here that way too by taking a stroll along the Danube Promenade with its statues and historical memorials. One of the city’s oldest drawcards is the Széchenyi Thermal Bath, fed by natural springs. It’s attracted visitors to Budapest since 1913.

For cultural excursions you can visit the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hungarian State Opera House or St. Stephen’s Basilica. The kids will love a trip to Miniverum Budapest, an actual model train replica of the Hungarian train system, with more than 100 trains running at the same time. It’s fascinating for adults too. For more ideas, remember to have a look at our online travel magazine, The Window Seat.