Hungary by Car, Travel Info, Highways and Routes

All Hungarian settlements can be reached on sealed roads, however the quality of some highway routes are not that good. The use of safety belts and dimmed headlights on open roads is a must. All children travelling by car have to sit in a safety child seat. There is a zero tolerance alcohol policy and the allowance for the blood alcohol level while driving is 0.00%.

Highways, highway toll info:
In Hungary the highways are marked with a capital “M” and the international roads with a capital “E”. The speed limit on highways is 130 km/hour and on motorways 110 km/hour(the police use speed cameras to make sure that everyone complies with the speed limit). There’s a charge to travel on highways in Hungary, but there are no toll gates, so you have to buy a road permit in advance. You can buy the road permits at most places (alot of the gas stations around the highways sell them). You can purchase a permit for 4 days, a week, a month or a year. Drivers on highways without a valid permit will be fined. From Budapest it takes a bit more than an hour travel to get to the Lake of Balaton on highway M7, while it’s about 2 hours to get to Vienna on highway M1.

Main Highways of Hungary:
M1 Travel route: Budapest – Hegyeshalom - (Vienna)
M3 Travel route: Budapest - Gyöngyös - Füzesabony - Polgár
M5 Travel route: Budapest - Szeged
M7 Travel route: Budapest – Lake of Balaton (south- coast) - Letenye (border crossing point, this is the fastest way by car to Adriatic)
M0 Budapest city ring for cars (at this time it’s only a “half ring”)

Speed limit info:
The speed limits listed below need to be kept to while you are in Hungary. The police are checking speed limits regulary with different methods: speed cameras installed in the median strip, in police cars or on stands next to the roads.

Travel Speed limits:
Highway: 130 km/hour
Motorway: 110 km/hour
Main road: 90 km/ hour
Residental area: 50 km/hour
Recreation area: 30 km/hour

In case of emergency:
There are yellow emergency phones installed next to the highways every 2km which are available 24/ 7. These phones give you direct contact to the emergency call centre. In case of a car break down you might call 188 the number of the Hungarian Autoclub, in case of an accident you can dial the international general emergency number:112.

Travel to Budapest by car:
Most of the sights and sightseeing in Budapest are in the downtown area or nearby. These places can be easily accessed by public transportation. It is worth choosing public transport as the congestion of traffic can cause many delays (especially in the morning and evening hours), which is boosted by the building operation of the underground as well. The Margaret Island (Margit- sziget) and the castle area (Budai Vár) are off limit areas for traffic and it can prove difficult to find parking in these areas as well as nearby. It is good to know that the inside districts of Budapest have only pay parking places where the maximum parking time is 2-3 hours. Parking in restricted zones or not having a parking ticket might result in a fine, being wheelclamped or if your car obstructs the traffic being towed.

Pay- parking, parking lots info:
In the downtown area and in the inside districts you need to pay for parking between 8h and 18h (6pm) on weekdays. The parking ticket can be bought from parking meters and must be placed behind the windshield. Your car is not guarded and their is a maximum parking time. The rates are different (between 130 HUF and 430 HUF) according to the location and the most expensive is the castle area as well as the city centre. If you exceed the parking time you paid for and do not purchase a new ticket you run the risk of being fined or wheelclamped. You might decide to leave your car in a parking lot (it won’t be hard to find one in the downtown), the prices are different and some of them even guard your car. You can save yourself alot of hassel by choosing the public transportation which will allow you to travel to your destination faster, quicker and easier.

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