Szentendre is the baroque riverside town most visitors add to a Budapest trip — cobbled streets, museums, galleries and a Danube promenade about 20 km north of the capital. Getting there from the airport is awkward, because Szentendre lies on the opposite side of Budapest from BUD: roughly 40 km by road, about 45 minutes driving, or an hour and a half on public transport with two changes. The cheap route is a bus-plus-HÉV combination; the fast route is a pre-booked transfer, and there is a good reason not to simply hail a taxi.
Budapest Airport to Szentendre: options compared
| Option | Cost | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus 200E + metro M3 + HÉV H5 | ~1,500 HUF + HÉV supplement | 1h 45m – 2h | Cheapest option |
| Bus 100E + metro + HÉV H5 | 2,500 HUF + tickets and supplement | 1h 30m – 1h 45m | Fewer stops, simpler bus leg |
| Train from Ferihegy + HÉV | rail ticket + HÉV supplement | ~1h 30m | Fastest public route |
| Pre-booked private transfer | fixed price agreed in advance | ~45 min | Luggage, groups, certainty |
| Metered taxi | ~23,000–26,000 HUF, see below | ~45 min | Rarely the best choice here |
How far Szentendre actually is from the airport
This is where most guides mislead. Szentendre is about 20 km north of central Budapest, and that figure gets recycled as though it were the distance from the airport. It is not. BUD sits to the south-east of the city, so a journey to Szentendre crosses or skirts the whole of Budapest: the road distance is close to 40 km and the drive takes about 45 minutes in normal traffic, considerably longer in weekday rush hour.
That geography drives every other decision on this page. It is why public transport takes 90 minutes rather than 40, why a metered taxi becomes expensive, and why a fixed-price transfer is unusually attractive for this particular route compared with the short hop into the city centre.
The cheapest route — bus, metro and the HÉV
The suburban railway to Szentendre is the HÉV line H5, which runs along the Buda bank of the Danube from Batthyány tér via Szentlélek tér up to Szentendre. Your job is to reach that line from the airport.
- Take bus 200E from outside Terminal 2 to Kőbánya-Kispest — about 25 minutes.
- Change to metro M3 and ride north.
- Change onto the H5 HÉV and continue to Szentendre, the northern terminus — around 40 minutes on the HÉV itself.
Reckon on 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours door to door. The alternative is the 100E Airport Express into the centre and then out again on the HÉV, which is a little quicker and a fair bit simpler but costs more, because the 100E needs its own dedicated ticket.
The ticket rule that catches people out
Szentendre is outside the Budapest city boundary, and a standard BKK ticket or travelcard only covers the part of the HÉV inside the city. Beyond Békásmegyer you need a supplementary ticket for the out-of-town section, bought in the BudapestGO app, at the station, or from the conductor on board. Travelling without it counts as travelling without a valid ticket, and inspectors check the Szentendre line regularly.
The rest of the fare structure is straightforward, using the prices that took effect on 1 June 2025:
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Standard single ticket | 500 HUF |
| Single bought on the spot | 700 HUF |
| 30-minute ticket | 600 HUF |
| 90-minute ticket | 850 HUF |
| 24-hour travelcard | 2,750 HUF |
| 72-hour travelcard | 5,750 HUF |
| Airport shuttle single ticket (100E only) | 2,500 HUF |
| Airport shuttle add-on for travelcard holders | 1,000 HUF |
| HÉV supplement beyond the city boundary | Extra, by distance |
Note that the 100E does not accept standard tickets or travelcards — it needs the 2,500 HUF airport ticket, or a 1,000 HUF add-on if you hold a travelcard. Bus 200E, the metro and the HÉV all take ordinary tickets and travelcards, within the city limits.
Why a metered taxi is a poor choice for Szentendre
Airport taxis are operated exclusively by Főtaxi, whose licensed yellow cars queue at the ranks outside Terminals 2A and 2B. For a trip into Budapest they are a sensible option. For Szentendre, two things work against them.
First, distance. Since 1 August 2026 the Budapest tariff has been 1,300 HUF base plus a new 800 HUF airport surcharge — so the meter opens at 2,100 HUF on airport journeys — plus 521 HUF per kilometre and 130 HUF per minute of waiting. Over roughly 40 km that computes to about 23,000 HUF before any time spent in traffic, so realistically 23,000–26,000 HUF.
Second, and more important: the regulated Budapest tariff applies within the capital. Szentendre is outside it, so the fare for the out-of-city leg is not automatically fixed by the city's rules. Agree the price before you set off, or pre-book. Our Budapest Airport taxi guide explains the full tariff, and taxis in Budapest covers how the meter behaves on ordinary city trips.
Pre-booked private transfer
For this route a pre-booked private transfer makes more sense than usual. You agree the price before flying, which removes the out-of-city tariff question entirely; the driver tracks your flight and waits if you are late; and you are met in arrivals rather than negotiating at a rank after a long day. Split between three or four people it often undercuts the metered fare, and it is the only option that gets you to a Szentendre guesthouse door in 45 minutes flat.
Renting a car
Szentendre is one of the trips where a hire car genuinely earns its keep, because it opens up the rest of the Danube Bend — Visegrád and Esztergom lie further upriver on the same road. Collect the car at the airport and follow the M0 ring road anticlockwise, then Route 11 north along the Danube.
Park on the edge of Szentendre rather than aiming for the centre: the old town is largely pedestrianised, the lanes are narrow and cobbled, and parking is paid and limited. Compare suppliers and desks in our guide to car rental at Budapest Airport.
How long to allow, and when to go
Allow two hours each way on public transport and an hour by road, and remember that the HÉV thins out in the evening. Szentendre is a day trip rather than an evening one — the museums and galleries close in the late afternoon, and the town empties.
If you are considering it as a layover excursion, be careful: four hours of travelling for a two-hour visit is a poor trade, and you would need a layover of at least eight hours to make it work. A shorter option closer to the airport is almost always the better call.
What to see when you get there
Szentendre's appeal is compact and walkable: pastel baroque houses around Fő tér, the Serbian Orthodox church and its museum, several small art galleries reflecting the artists' colony that settled here, the Margit Kovács ceramics collection, and the riverside promenade with views across the Danube. The Hungarian Open Air Museum on the edge of town is a separate, larger attraction and needs half a day of its own.
Most visitors find half a day enough for the old town and a riverside lunch. For other trips out of Budapest, our Budapest to Vienna guide covers the longer international option, and the full set of routes is in our Budapest travel guide.