Visa

Information about visa is available on the homepage of the Consular Services. If you need a visa, it is your responsibility to obtain one. ELTE BESU will not provide a letter of acceptance or proof of having reserved accommodation for the duration of the program. 

If you are applying for a visa, please, check the “I need a visa, and I will defer payment until I get it.” box on the application sheet, and do not send the participation fee until you are granted the visa.

Accommodation

Accommodation is available at the university’s Residence Hall at Zágrábi utca 1. It is located about 30 minutes from the university by public transportation. It is a 3-minute walk from the Ecseri út stop of M3, which takes you to Kálvin tér, from which the campus is a ten-minute walk or one tram stop (direction: Deák tér). 

The Residence Hall has double rooms and every room has air-conditioning, wifi (eduroam), its own fridge, shower and toilet. There is a kitchen on every floor, and there are also community rooms and washing machines in the building. 

Price: 40 EUR per night per room. If you share the room with a friend, you pay 27 EUR/night. 

If you require accommodation, you need to send the fee together with the tuition fee.

Dean’s Home Budapest offers a 25% discount from its regular (100 EUR+) prices to BESU students. Once accepted to the program, we will tell you the details. (Write to sumuni@gtk.elte.hu)

There are lots of apartments available in Budapest at a reasonable price. You may check the following sites:

• Airbnb
• Booking.com
• RevNGo.com
• travelminit.hu

Even though it is close to the university and has many hostels and apartments, we do not recommend the Party District – the area bordered by Rumbach Sebestyén utca, Dohány utca, Kertész utca, and Király utca – unless you are an exceptionally good sleeper and have top of the line noise cancelling ear plugs.

Arrival

If you arrive by air, the easiest way to get downtown is by the 100E bus, which runs every 20 minutes. You may get on right in front of the terminal, and it stops at three downtown locations. You may buy the 2200 HUF (6 EUR) ticket on board. Schedule

For door to door service, the cheapest alternative is the Airport Shuttle service, which costs 6 EUR. You may order it online.

You may also order a taxi at the Főtaxi (official provider for the airport) booths located outside the exits from Terminal 2A and 2B. A ride to the city center should cost around 11.000 HUF (28 EUR) depending on traffic conditions.

If you arrive by train, all train stations are well serviced by public transportation. Keleti (Eastern) and Déli (Southern) Railway Stations are on metro line M2 (red line), Nyugati (Western) Railway Station is on M3 (blue line).

If you arrive by bus, from the international coach station at Népliget you can take M3 (blue line) downtown.

Getting around in Budapest

Public transport in Budapest is cheap and reliable. A single ticket costs 450 HUF (1,2 EUR), a ten-ticket block 4000 HUF (10,5 EUR).

If you are from the European Union, bring your student identity card with you and you can get a monthly pass for 3,450 HUF (9 EUR).

You may find the baroque system of fares on BKK’s (Budapest Transportation Centre) website. Tickets are available from vending machines at metro stations, railway and bus stations, larger streetcar and bus stops, as well as from some newsagents (Relay); BKK also has customer service points at the airport. 

It may be convenient to download the Budapest Go app (Android, iPhone) ), which operates online, provides real-time route planning, and after registration you may also purchase your electronic ticket there. Another app, Smart City Budapest (Android, iPhone), operates offline and cannot be used for buying a ticket. If you prefer the traditional way of studying transportation maps and timetables, they are available on the BKK website.

A convenient and emission-free alternative to public transportation (supposing you don’t carry luggage) is micromobility. The stations are available at several locations, especially downtown, the fees are reasonable. Bikes can be rented by the indigenous Mol Bubi, e-rollers from the international Lime and Tier. The apps can be downloaded from the companies website, or from Google Play or App Store.

Taxis are not cheap and all have the same fares: 1100 HUF starting fare + 440 HUF/km + 110 HUF/minute. You can order them by phone, but most taxi companies also have an app for ordering online.

Travel in Hungary

MÁV (Hungarian Railways Company), for timetables and e-tickets.
Volánbusz (long distance bus company), for timetables and e-tickets.

About Budapest

With a population of 1.7 million within city limits and over 3 million in the metropolitan area, the capital of Hungary offers a unique combination of history, culture, gastronomy and the advantages of thermal waters and world heritage sights.

Divided in two by the Danube, the city is made up of Buda on one side: with Ottoman-era thermal baths at the foot of Gellért Hill, the royal palace and Matthias Church on Castle Hill, it radiates calm and peace. One the other side lies Pest, vibrant and lively, with museums rich in cultural and historical treasures, extraordinary Art Nouveau architecture, the majestic Parliament building, Saint Stephen’s Basilica surrounded by pedestrian streets, and the renovated Jewish Quarter and Palace District. Massive murals, small pop-up sculptures and ruin bars full of random décor – Budapest is brimming with urban art.

The costs are slightly lower than in Western European cities of similar size. You may expect to pay 3 EUR for a takeaway gyros, 8-10 EUR for a modest lunch in a restaurant, 3-4 EUR for a beer, 2 EUR for an espresso, 1 EUR for 1l fresh milk and 10-12 EUR for a bottle of good wine in the store, just to give an idea.

Most shops are open between 10 AM and 6 PM on workdays, and until 1 PM on Saturdays. Shops in plazas and in the downtown area have longer opening hours, Monday through Saturday 9 AM - 9 PM, Sunday 10 AM - 7 PM. Food stores open quite early, between 6 and 7 AM. In the downtown area you may find places to eat even in the middle of the night.

Budapest is a safe city by most standards. Violent crime is very rare, the most frequent street crime is pickpocketing at crowded places like vehicles. Ordinary precautions – such as not keeping your wallet in your back pockets, not flashing 20,000 HUF bills (the largest denomination) in public – should suffice.

Hungarians are generally friendly and hospitable, and even though they are not exactly famous for their English, you will get by, and will not have problems in a downtown store or a restaurant.

Weather

Budapest is fairly hot during the summer, the average daily highs being 27°C dropping down to 17°C by dawn. The average being the average, the temperature often rises above 30°C, though rarely above 34°C, and in such periods not even the night brings substantial relief, especially not in the downtown area. Extended rainy periods are rare, but you must prepare for thunderstorms.