Budapest Déli: See location map
Overview: See station plan
Budapest Déli Pályaudvar - which simply means Budapest South Station - handles the international trains to Ljubljana & Zagreb, open-access operator Regiojet's trains to Vienna & Prague, and domestic trains to Lake Balaton. No statues of Stephenson or elegant Eiffel Company steelwork as at Keleti & Nyugati: There's been a station here since 1861, but the original station suffered heavily damage in WW2 and the current Communist-era concrete structure was finally completed in 1975.
The station has two levels: The lower level is at street level on the eastern side, with taxi rank, a few retail & food outlets & metro entrance. Two flights of steps, one each side of the station, lead to the upper level with concourse, platforms & ticket hall. The upper level has street access from Alkotas utca on the western side.
Budapest Déli in 2022, undergoing building work with its facade covered in tarpaulins (arguably an improvement). Taken from street level, the platforms & main concourse are one level up. The street on the right of this photo slopes up to the same level as the platforms & trains, if you need to avoid steps.
Platforms 1 to 12, with platform 1 on the left and platform 12 on the right. As you can see, platforms are mostly open to the weather and even the covered concourse area (just visible on the left of this photo) is open to the elements at the sides.
Concourse behind the platforms, just a covered area, open to the weather at the sides, with the main departures board, ticket machines, food outlets, steps down to street, taxi rank & metro. That's one of two entrances to the vast ticket hall, visible under the departures board. The platforms are out of shot to the left.
Another view of the concourse, at the top of one of two flights of steps from the station's lower level and metro station.
Which platform for your train?
Budapest Déli has 12 platforms, numbered from left to right as you look towards the trains, see the station plan.
You'll usually find the international trains to Zagreb & Ljubljana and the Regiojet trains to Vienna & Prague on platforms 1-7.
There are no ticket gates or barriers, so there's free and open access from street to concourse to platforms & trains.
Budapest Déli is a terminus, so there's easy level access between the concourse and all platforms. However, concourse and platforms are on an upper level, mostly one floor up from the surrounding area, so there are steps up from the street, metro station and taxi rank.
If you want to avoid those steps, walk round to the west side of the station as Alkotas utca is on the same level as the concourse and platforms with direct access from street to concourse, see Google maps.
The main departure boards will tell you which platform your train leaves from, but you can sometimes see in advance which platform your train is due to leave from at the Hungarian Railways website www.mavcsoport.hu. Look up your train using the journey planner and when the list of trains appears, click on the orange arrow against your train. Often the platform is given, but not always. Remember that platforms may change on the day, so always check the departure boards.
Ticket offices
The two ticket offices (domestic and international) are in the vast dingy hall (also undergoing building work in 2022) next to the main concourse on the same level as the platforms and trains, see the station plan
When you walk into the hall from the concourse, the two offices are at extreme opposite ends of the vast empty hall, as if they are not on speaking terms: The international ticket office is on the right, the domestic office on the left.
The international ticket office is open 06:00-10:00, 10:20-14:00, 14:25- 17:35. You can pay with cards or cash, in forints or euros.
The domestic ticket office is on the open all day early till late, cards or cash, but only forints accepted.
The ticket hall. Vast and dingy, taken from next to the domestic ticket office at one end, looking towards the international ticket office at the other end. That couple on the right are walking towards one of the two doorways to the concourse & platforms.
Luggage lockers & ATMs
There are a few left luggage lockers at Budapest Déli, in the vast hall with the ticket offices. There are large and small lockers, most accepting Forint coins, a few accepting euro coins, see the left luggage page for current prices. There is a change machine if you only have Forint notes.
There are several ATM cash points inside the station, shown on the station plan.
First class lounge
There is no first class lounge at Budapest Déli, only at Keleti.
Food & drink
There are various cafes and food outlets including a bakery in the station.
For a meal before or after your train, try the Vagon Etterem (www.vagonetterem.hu), directly across the road from the station on the east (platform 1) side. It's instantly recognisable as you eat in an old railway dining-car, and the food gets great reviews. How about lunch before the afternoon train to Zagreb?
Local transport: Walking, taxis, metro
Walking... There's no reason why you can't walk from the station to the inner city and the river, the 2km walk from Deli station to the Erzebet Bridge takes about 25 minutes, see Google map of Budapest.
Metro: Budapest Déli has a metro station underneath it on Metro line M2. For Budapest metro information see bkk.hu, click English top right for English, then click maps for a metro map. Metro stations are marked 'M' on this Google map of Budapest, so you can easily find the metro station closest to where you want to go.
Tip, buy transit tickets on your phone: Download the BudapestGo app for iPhone or BudapestGo app for Android. You can then buy Budapest city transit tickets in the app on your phone using your credit or debit card, including single tickets, 30 or 90 minute timed tickets (which allow multiple transfers within that timeframe) or an inexpensive travelcard giving unlimited travel on trams, buses & metro for 24 hours. If you buy one or more single tickets or 30 or 60-minute tickets, these sit on your phone until you need them. When you want to use one, simply click validate against that ticket in the app, your camera will open, scan the QR code on the metro station ticket validators or on the tram doors and that ticket is activated. One-day and longer travelcards & passes don't need to be validated as they are bought for a specific day. The whole system is open, with no ticket gates to go through, you simply show the ticket QR code on your phone if stopped by an inspector.
Taxis: For a taxi fare calculator see www.taxifarefinder.com. Taxis are usually plentiful outside the station, on a rank on the platform 1 side of the station one floor down from platform level, or out of the side exit near platform 12. Always make sure you use a clearly-marked city taxi and make sure they start the meter.
Taxi tip: Budapest's official taxis come in two varieties, taxi companies and freelancers. Both are yellow. To reduce the chances of being overcharged, avoid those which say Freelancer on the front doors and use taxis which have a company logo on the doors. Trustworthy companies include Főtaxi, Citytax & Bolt. There is no Uber in Budapest.
How to transfer from Déli to Keleti
By metro, take metro line 2 direct. It's just 7 stops, see bkk.hu.
By tram, walk 9 minutes to Széll Kálmán tér ram stop and take tram 4 or 6 to the Blaha Lujza tér tram stop. It's then 13 minutes walk to Budapest Keleti. Buy a ticket from a ticket vending machine before boarding the tram and remember to validate the ticket in the validator on bard the tram. See bkk.hu.
By taxi it is 5.5 km, journey 14 minutes, fare around 2,500 forint.
How to transfer from Déli to Nyugati
By metro, go four stops on metro Line 2 to Deák Ferenc then two stops on metro line 3 to Nyugati Pályaudvar see bkk.hu.
By taxi it is 5.5 km, journey 15 minutes, fare around 2,500 forint.
