Budapest Taxi Fares in 2026: the New Regulated Tariff
Taxi fares in Budapest are set by the city, not by the taxi companies. On 1 August 2026 the Budapest Metropolitan Assembly's revised tariff came into force — the first change since March 2023 — so any price you read in an older guide is now out of date.
| Fare component | Until 31 July 2026 | From 1 August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Base fare (alapdíj) | 1,100 HUF | 1,300 HUF |
| Per kilometre | 440 HUF | 521 HUF |
| Waiting, per minute | 110 HUF | 130 HUF |
| Airport journeys only: surcharge | none | +800 HUF |
Two things follow from the tariff being municipal rather than commercial. First, every licensed taxi in Budapest charges exactly the same — comparing companies on price is pointless, and a driver quoting something different is not following the law. Second, there is no night, weekend, holiday or luggage premium. A 04:00 Sunday ride across town costs the same per kilometre as a Wednesday afternoon one.
The single exception is the new 800 HUF airport surcharge, which applies to journeys to or from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in either direction. It does not apply to any other trip in the city. Full detail on airport journeys is in our Budapest Airport taxis guide.
A proposed extra fee of 800 HUF for telephone and app pre-orders was put to the same vote and rejected, on the grounds that it could not be reliably enforced. Ordering a car in advance therefore costs nothing more than flagging one down.
How the Taximeter Works — and What It Must Show
Budapest has no zone system and no fixed city fares. Every legitimate ride is metered, and the meter combines three elements:
- Base fare of 1,300 HUF, charged once when the ride begins.
- Distance at 521 HUF per kilometre.
- Slow time at 130 HUF per minute, running only while the car is below 15 km/h or stationary in traffic.
So the fare is 1,300 HUF + (kilometres × 521 HUF) + slow minutes. In heavy traffic the per-minute component matters: twenty minutes of crawling adds 2,600 HUF regardless of distance covered, which is why the peaks of 07:30–09:30 and 16:30–18:30, and any period of heavy rain, are worth avoiding if your trip is flexible.
Before you set off, check that the meter is switched on and reset to the base fare rather than continuing from the previous passenger's ride. This one glance prevents the most common overcharge in the city. Euro figures in this guide assume roughly 365 HUF to €1 for orientation; the forint amount is the real one.
Estimated Taxi Fares Around Budapest
Because the tariff is uniform, you can estimate any journey from its distance. These figures use the tariff in force from 1 August 2026 and exclude time spent stationary in traffic.
| Distance | Typical journey | Estimated fare |
|---|---|---|
| 3 km | Short hop inside the inner districts | ≈ 2,900 HUF (€8) |
| 5 km | Across the Danube, centre to Buda | ≈ 3,900 HUF (€11) |
| 8 km | Centre to an outer Pest district | ≈ 5,500 HUF (€15) |
| 10 km | Cross-city, district to district | ≈ 6,500 HUF (€18) |
| 15 km | Long cross-town run | ≈ 9,100 HUF (€25) |
Most tourist journeys inside the historic centre fall in the 3–5 km band, so a typical fare between central sights is in the region of 3,000–4,000 HUF. Add slow minutes for peak hours. Limousine services are outside the regulated tariff entirely — they set their own prices and are not comparable with these figures.
Paying for a Taxi in Budapest: Cards, Cash and Currency
Yes, taxis in Budapest take credit and debit cards. Card terminals are standard equipment in licensed cabs and both credit and debit cards are accepted, including foreign ones. Because the fare is the regulated meter reading either way, paying by card is never more expensive than paying cash.
Two practical habits make card payment go smoothly:
- Say at the start of the ride that you will pay by card. A small minority of drivers claim at the end that the terminal is not working, hoping to be paid in cash. Announcing it up front removes the opportunity.
- Have some forints as a fallback. Terminals genuinely do fail occasionally, and a card-only passenger in that situation is stuck.
Payment is officially made in Hungarian forints. Euros are often accepted, but the driver sets the rate and it will be poor — noticeably worse than any exchange office. If you pay cash, carry small notes: forint banknotes look similar to one another, drivers do not always have change, and it is worth counting what comes back.
Tipping is optional in Hungary. Around 10% is customary when the service was good, and rounding up to the nearest few hundred forints is entirely normal for a short ride.
How to Order a Taxi in Budapest
There are four ways to get a cab, and they are not equally safe:
- Order by app. The mainstream choice. You see the car approaching and the ride is logged, which matters if you leave something behind.
- Order by phone. Dispatchers at the major companies speak English. Reliable when a foreign card or roaming data is giving an app trouble.
- Use an official taxi rank. Ranks are marked and found at stations, major squares and transport hubs. Cars waiting in them are licensed.
- Hail one on the street. Legal, but the least controlled option and the one most likely to put you in an unlicensed car. Avoid it outside nightlife districts in particular.
Ordering — by app or phone — is the recommended default, and since the pre-order fee was rejected it costs nothing extra. If you need a wheelchair-accessible vehicle or a child seat, book by phone and say so: these are available but not present in every car, so they need arranging rather than waiting for at a rank.
Ride-Hailing: Uber, Bolt and How They Fit the Tariff
Budapest works differently from most European capitals here, and the difference confuses a lot of visitors. Ride-hailing apps in Budapest dispatch licensed taxis, not private cars.
- Uber left Hungary in 2016 after a regulatory clash and returned on 13 June 2024 in partnership with Főtaxi. You order in the familiar Uber app, but a licensed taxi arrives and the fare is the regulated meter reading — so Uber in Budapest is a dispatch channel, not a cheaper product.
- Bolt is the most widely used app in the city and operates legally as a licensed taxi dispatcher. It differs from Uber in one respect that matters: Bolt quotes an upfront estimated price which reflects its own dynamic pricing, so on weekend nights, public holidays and around busy venues it can come out above a metered fare, while on short central hops it is often below one.
The practical takeaway: with Uber you are getting the regulated meter, with Bolt you are getting a quote — so compare the two before you book. What both buy you regardless is convenience: no queue, no language barrier over the destination, a logged trip and cashless payment by default. Our dedicated guide covers how Uber works in Budapest and how it compares with Bolt.
Licensed Taxi Companies in Budapest
Because pricing is identical across the market, choose a company on fleet size and waiting time rather than cost. The established operators include Főtaxi — the largest, and the airport's exclusive partner — along with City Taxi, Budapest Taxi, Taxi 4, 6x6 Taxi, Tele5 Taxi and Taxi Plus.
Főtaxi's fleet is also the most electrified, with more than 60 fully electric and over 200 hybrid vehicles, so a silent arrival is normal. Note that companies advertising "airport transfers" or "private drivers" are usually selling a different product — a pre-booked private transfer at a fixed quoted price rather than a metered taxi ride.
How to Spot an Unlicensed Taxi
Unlicensed cars are the main risk to a visitor's wallet in Budapest, and they are easy to rule out once you know the markings. A licensed Budapest taxi has all of the following:
- The vehicle is yellow.
- The number plate is yellow, not white.
- A roof sign reads "TAXI" and carries the company's name; the sign is yellow, never black.
- The company logo appears on the front door.
- A sticker reads "Minősített Budapesti taxi / Licensed Budapest taxi".
- A working, visible taximeter is fitted.
The clearest behavioural warning sign is a driver who offers to agree a fixed price instead of using the meter. A licensed Budapest taxi meters every ride; anyone proposing otherwise is either unlicensed or intending to overcharge. Equally, refuse rides from anyone touting for business on foot at stations, nightlife streets or airport halls.
Tipping, Receipts and Complaints
Always ask for the printed receipt at the end of the ride. It is not a formality: it identifies the vehicle, the company and the fare, and without it a later complaint or a lost-property enquiry has nothing to work from. If you left something in the car, the receipt is what lets the dispatcher find the right driver within minutes.
If you believe you were overcharged, raise it first with the company named on the receipt — the operators are licensed and take tariff complaints seriously, because their licence depends on it. Paying by card also helps here, since the transaction record corroborates the amount charged.
Keep your destination written down or shown on a phone map. Not every driver speaks fluent English, and a written address removes both misunderstandings and the scope for an unnecessarily scenic route.
Taking a Taxi to Budapest Airport
A taxi from the city to the airport is metered like any other ride, with the 800 HUF airport surcharge added, so the meter opens at 2,100 HUF. For the roughly 21 km from the inner city that produces a fare in the region of 13,000–15,000 HUF (€36–41), with a journey time of 30–40 minutes outside peak hours.
Order the car rather than hoping to hail one, and allow generous margin at peak times — see how early to arrive at Budapest Airport. Since the August tariff rise the cost gap against public transport has widened noticeably, so for a solo traveller with light luggage the 100E shuttle bus or the airport train are now considerably better value. Everything specific to airport journeys — the taxi rank location, Főtaxi's exclusivity and fare estimates by distance — is covered in our Budapest Airport taxis guide, and all the alternatives are compared in airport to city centre transport.