How to get to Budapest from Edinburgh

How to Travel from Edinburgh to Budapest?

To travel from Edinburgh to Budapest you can use a few modes of transport. Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, known for its architecture, showcased in historic city landmarks like Buda Castle and Castle Hill overlooking the Danube. Similarly impressive are the Hungarian Parliament Building & Crown Jewels. It’s one of the bucket-list destinations for almost all serious tourists, making it a very popular place to visit.

UK visitors tend to either spend a couple of weeks there, or make short stops on holiday cruises down the Danube. The travel time from Edinburgh to Budapest obviously varies according to the transport mode. You can get from Edinburgh by air in an average time of about 6h, while trains take anywhere from 22–26h. You can even take a bus journey, which takes an average of about 31h. You’ll cross the Channel via the Eurotunnel on both bus and train journeys, so there won’t be any ferry trips involved in any of these journeys from Edinburgh to Budapest.

What is the Cheapest Way To Get from Edinburgh to Budapest?

The cheapest way to get from Edinburgh to Budapest is to catch travel by air. Look for direct flights on the budget airlines. Ryanair offers cheap tickets from Edinburgh to Budapest that leave from Edinburgh Airport every day, as does Wizz Air. These take about 2h 50min, so they’re also much faster than the average flights between the two cities. The Ryanair flights leave on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with Wizz Air operating on Mondays and Fridays.

KLM also offers lower-priced round-trip tickets and one-way tickets, providing a very affordable Edinburgh to Budapest cost on its daily one-stop flights that make a single stopover in Amsterdam. These are some of the specific cost-savings you can find on this route. Other general ways to cut down travel costs are to book well in advance, as these flights are typically offered at lower rates than those closer to the time, and to be flexible with your travel dates and times, to allow you to take advantage of last-minute deals from Edinburgh to Budapest.

What is the Fastest Way to Travel from Edinburgh to Budapest?

Fortunately, the fastest way to travel from Edinburgh to Budapest is also the cheapest. So feel free to book a direct flight to Budapest on either Ryanair or Wizz Air and you’ll be assured of getting there much faster than any other method of travel. Your total Edinburgh to Budapest travel time, including getting to and from the respective airports, will be a little under 3h, compared to the fastest alternative, which is a flight on KLM that takes about 4h 20m, changing planes in Amsterdam before completing the journey.

Budapest Castile Tourists Stair. Source: Shutterstock

Find the best tickets from Edinburgh to Budapest and book with Omio

Omio offers you a sophisticated yet easy to use online platform for finding and booking tickets from Edinburgh to Budapest and between a huge range of other world cities. Here you’ll be able to find the different travel options for specific dates, filter them and scan all of them at a glance to make your choice. These can be in the form of mobile e-tickets delivered to your smartphone, or ones that you can print. Our online travel magazine, The Window Seat will keep you clued up on the best places to visit at your destination, with plenty of relevant travel tips.

Trains from Edinburgh to Budapest

You have a couple of options when booking Edinburgh-Budapest train trips. The advantage of taking the train is that it’s a more leisurely and scenic way to travel, allowing you to view all the countryside between the cities. You can relax and take a long comfortable nap too, if you prefer. It’s still one of the nicest ways to travel and sightsee while you’re doing so. There are twice-daily trains offered by LNER, with Eurostar offering two or three a day. These depart from Edinburgh Station via London King’s Cross and stop at Budapest Kelenföld Station, which is about 9min from the city centre on the Line 770 bus. The LNER route is the faster of the two, by about 3h 30min.

Train travel from Edinburgh to Budapest with LNER or Eurostar

The LNER trains from Edinburgh Station to Budapest offer the shorter total travel times of the two operators. Fresh meals are served and you can eat at your seat or in the dining car. There is also a snack bar with a varied menu. These services are available in Standard and First Class. Wi-Fi is free and unlimited, and assistance is available for those with limited mobility or other needs, or who are travelling with children. Eurostar Edinburgh to Budapest trips are on high-speed trains, that travel up to around 185 mph (300 km/h). The only reason these trains take longer in terms of total travel time is that they make more and longer stops en route. They’re a great way to make the journey, with café-bars on board, individual power sockets for each seat, and free unlimited Wi-Fi.

Buses from Edinburgh to Budapest

RegioJet handles Edinburgh-Budapest bus services. The first part of the route sees you leaving Edinburgh Bus Station bound for London Victoria Coach Station on either National Express or Megabus UK, both of which leave twice a day. Once in London you’ll switch to RegioJet for the rest of the journey. These trains leave daily. You’ll cross to Europe using the Channel Tunnel, then make one stop at ÚAN Florenc Station in Prague, before reaching the Somogyi utca HND stop at Budapest Kelenföld Station. Your total travel time will be about 37h 25min, and it’s also one of the better Edinburgh to Budapest cheap travel options.

Traveling by bus from Edinburgh to Budapest with RegioJet

RegioJet offers a very comfortable Standard class, as well as Low-Cost, Business and Relax classes. You need look no further than Standard class to have a relaxing and enjoyable trans-Continental journey, though. You’ll sit in a fully adjustable leather seat with headrest, have free bottled water, an entertainment portal into which you can plug your own device, free Wi-Fi and a choice of Italian coffee served to your seat.

Budapest Street Terrace. Source: Shutterstock

Flights from Edinburgh to Budapest

All flights between these cities are from Edinburgh Airport to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. Both Ryanair and Wizz Air operate daily flights on this route, as do KLM, British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa. Only the first two offer direct flights, however, and as these are by far the quickest and also carry the lowest Edinburgh to Budapest price tags, they are the ones we most recommend. Once you’ve arrived at Budapest Airport, the most convenient way to get to the city centre is to catch the BKK Line 100E bus, which will take around 30min to make the trip.

Flying from Edinburgh to Budapest with Ryanair or Wizz Air

Ryanair and Wizz Air are both are budget airlines, and the only two carriers that operate direct flights to Budapest from Edinburgh. There isn’t much to distinguish them besides the total travel time, which in this case is a nominal 5min. Between them they offer a flight per day, with Ryanair flying three days a week and Wizz Air two. Ryanair is the only one that offers a flight on the weekend, however. If you’re concerned about your carbon footprint when flying, Wizz Air offers a more fuel-efficient aircraft type on the route, the A320, rather than Ryanair’s 737.

To Budapest by train/bus/flight—travel tips

Budapest is a very cultural city, from its wonderfully talented street buskers to its grand opera houses and vast old classical church concert halls with superb acoustics. It also offers beaches and plenty of up-to-the-minute nightlife.

You’ll discover more than a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites in this city that’s thought to have originated in the Stone Age. Once you’ve settled into your hotel, get acclimatised with a walk along the famous Danube Promenade, and rejuvenate yourself in the city’s world-renowned Széchenyi Thermal Bath, a thermal spring that has attracted tourists since 1913. Cultural tourists will want to visit the Hungarian State Opera House, The Museum of Fine Arts and St. Stephen’s Basilica.

If you’re travelling with young children, take them to Miniverum Budapest, a massive railway model of Hungary, with up to 100 trains running on over 1,400 yards of track. The City Park, known as Városliget, is the ideal place to round off your day. It has a botanical garden, Vajdahunyad Castle with its fairy-tale turrets, and the Tivoli Pleasure Park with rides for the kids.