Budapest to Prague - 12 Best Ways to Travel in 2026

The train is the most popular way to travel between Budapest and Prague, and it's easy to see why. Journeys take around 7 hours, seats come with power sockets and free Wi-Fi, and there's a dining car serving snacks, drinks, and hot meals. The first part of the route is particularly scenic, following the Danube River toward the Slovak border.

Trains depart roughly every two hours throughout the day, with the first at 5:30 AM and the last at 7:30 PM. Trains on this route sell out, so booking ahead is strongly recommended.

RegioJet also operates two daily services, departing at 7:45 AM and 2:45 PM. These travel via Vienna and Brno rather than the direct route, making the journey slightly longer at around 7.5 hours — but tickets start at €21 and the service has a strong reputation for comfort.

Train Stations in Budapest and Prague

In Budapest, the main national railway services depart from Nyugati station, one of the city's most iconic landmarks — a stunning 19th century iron and glass structure in the heart of the city. It's easily reached by metro on the blue line 3 (stop: Nyugati pályaudvar). RegioJet services depart from Déli station instead, on the red metro line 2.

In Prague, most trains arrive at Prague Main Station (Praha hlavní nádraží), located a short metro ride from the Old Town on the red line C (stop: Hlavní nádraží). A small number of services terminate at Praha Holešovice station, further from the center but on the same metro line (stop: Nádraží Holešovice).

Tickets and Booking

2nd class tickets start at €20–25 when booked in advance and rise to €30+ on the day. For international travelers, the UK-based Trainline is the easiest and most reliable platform for booking Budapest to Prague train tickets. It displays prices in multiple currencies, accepts international cards, and often finds cheaper fares than other platforms. Rail Europe is a solid alternative, particularly useful if you're booking multiple train journeys across Europe and want to manage everything in one place.

If you're comfortable navigating local sites, Hungarian Railways and Czech Railways sometimes offer the lowest direct fares with no booking fee – but prices are displayed in local currencies and the interfaces are less forgiving for non-European users.

Travelling overnight?

If you'd rather sleep your way between the two cities, the Metropol night train is an excellent option. It departs Budapest at around 7:30 PM and arrives in Prague in the early morning, saving you a night's accommodation. Book a sleeping compartment rather than a standard seat — 1, 2, and 3-bed options are available, all with a washbasin, and the difference in comfort is significant. Fares start at around €48. Book through the Hungarian Railways website or nightjet.com.

Most people treat the journey from Budapest to Prague as a day to write off – seven hours on a train or bus, watching motorway slip roads and industrial outskirts blur past the window. The Budapest to Prague Transfer Tour exists to change that completely.

Instead of arriving in Prague having seen nothing but the inside of a carriage, you spend the day exploring three remarkable places most travelers never get to see - because they're not quite famous enough to warrant a dedicated trip, but too good to miss if you happen to be passing through. Which, on this route, you are.

What's Included

The tour departs Budapest at 08:00 and runs for approximately 9-10 hours, arriving in Prague in the early evening. You travel in a comfortable, air-conditioned minivan with a maximum of eight passengers – small enough that you actually get to know your fellow travelers, and small enough that your guide can give everyone genuine attention rather than shouting into a microphone.

Your guide is a local – educated, enthusiastic, and the kind of person who knows which café in Bratislava the locals actually eat at. Think of it less as a guided tour and more like traveling with a knowledgeable friend who happens to know Central Europe very well.

Hotel pickup is available for private bookings. For open group tours, departure is from a central meeting point in Budapest.

The price is €99 per person for the open group tour. Private bookings are also available for couples, families, or groups who prefer an exclusive, flexible experience.

The Stops Along the Way

The bus is the most budget-friendly way to travel from Budapest to Prague, and on this route it's a genuinely good option — not a compromise. Modern coaches are comfortable, equipped with free Wi-Fi, and the prices are hard to beat.

Two companies dominate the route: Flixbus and RegioJet. Between them, there are around ten departures daily. The first bus leaves Budapest at 6:45 AM and the last at 11:30 PM, giving you plenty of flexibility to fit the journey around your itinerary. Journey time is typically around 7 to 8 hours depending on the service.

Flixbus is the larger of the two operators, with the most frequent departures and the widest range of departure times. It's a reliable, no-frills option that works well for budget-conscious travelers.

RegioJet is worth considering if you're willing to pay a little more for comfort. Their coaches are a step up — think onboard entertainment screens, complimentary hot and cold drinks, and attentive service that feels closer to a budget airline than a bus. For a seven-hour journey, that difference is noticeable.

Bus Stations in Budapest and Prague

In Budapest, buses depart from Népliget bus station, the city's main long-distance coach terminal. It's easily reached by metro — take the blue line 3 to the Népliget stop. In Prague, most services arrive at Florenc bus station in the city center, also on the metro (red line C, Florenc stop). Some services also stop at Prague's central train station, which is convenient if you're heading straight into the Old Town area.

En route, buses stop at both Bratislava and Brno — useful if you want to break the journey, as both bus stations are within reasonable walking distance of the Old Town.

Tickets and Booking

Tickets start at around €15–20 when booked in advance and can rise to €35 or more closer to the departure date. Book directly through the Flixbus or RegioJet websites for the best fares. As with the train, booking ahead is recommended — popular departures, particularly morning services and weekend trips, do sell out.

Flying is the fastest way to cover the distance between Budapest and Prague — the flight itself takes just over an hour. But it's worth doing the full maths before you book. Once you factor in getting to the airport, checking in, security, and the transfer from Prague airport into the city center, the total door-to-door journey time is closer to four to five hours. For most travelers the train or bus is a more practical choice, but flying makes sense if you find a cheap fare or are already connecting from another destination.

Ryanair is the only airline operating direct flights between Budapest and Prague. Fares start from as little as €16 when booked well in advance, though prices can rise sharply closer to the departure date and vary significantly by day and season. As with all low-cost carriers, the headline fare rarely tells the full story — budget for added fees if you need a carry-on bag, checked luggage, or seat selection. Book directly on the Ryanair website.

Airports in Budapest and Prague

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport is around 18 km from the city center. The quickest public transport option is the express bus 100E, which departs regularly from Deák Ferenc tér in central Budapest and takes around 40 minutes. A slightly cheaper alternative is the metro blue line 3 to its final stop Kőbánya-Kispest, then bus 200E to the airport.

Prague Václav Havel Airport is around 16 km from the center. The Airport Express bus runs directly to Prague Main Station in 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic. Alternatively, local bus 119 connects to Nádraží Veleslavín metro station, where you can continue into the city on line A.

Driving from Budapest to Prague is a genuinely enjoyable option, particularly for families, groups, or anyone who wants the freedom to set their own pace. The most direct route is around 525 km (326 miles) and takes five to six hours including rest stops. So it's comparable to the train, but with the added flexibility to stop wherever you like.

Central Europe between Budapest and Prague is full of places that rarely make the headline itineraries but reward curious travelers enormously — Győr, Trnava, Trenčín, Mikulov, the Punkva Caves, and UNESCO-listed Lednice Palace and Kroměříž among them.

One practical consideration worth planning for: if you're renting a car and returning it in Prague rather than Budapest, expect to pay a one-way drop-off fee. These can be significant, up to €1,000 for a same-day return. Extending the rental to three days typically costs around €200 more and makes the price considerably more justifiable, turning the transfer into a proper road trip rather than a rushed drive.

Practical Tips

Both Hungary and the Czech Republic require a motorway vignette for driving on major roads. These are purchased separately for each country and are available at border crossings, petrol stations, and online. Factor this into your budget when planning.

A private transfer is the most comfortable and convenient way to travel between the two cities — door-to-door service with an English-speaking driver, no timetables, no luggage restrictions, and no navigating public transport at either end. The direct journey takes around five hours and costs approximately €450 for a private car.

Where a private transfer becomes particularly interesting is when you treat it as something more than just a ride. For an additional fee, your driver can incorporate sightseeing stops along the way, turning the transfer into a personalised day out rather than a simple point-to-point journey. Popular stops include Bratislava, Lednice Palace, Mikulov, and Kutná Hora.

Sidetrip offers Budapest to Prague private transfers with optional sightseeing stops along the way. Book your private transfer.

BlaBlaCar is the go-to platform for car sharing across Europe, and direct Budapest to Prague rides do appear regularly — though availability varies and this option rewards flexibility more than firm planning.

The average fare is around €30, making it one of the cheapest ways to travel the route after the bus. Drivers set their own prices, so costs vary. When browsing, filter out bus results, BlaBlaCar mixes both in search results and the bus listings can clutter the feed.

A few things worth knowing before you book: pick-up and drop-off points are sometimes outside the city center, so factor in the additional journey time and cost. Read the trip details carefully before contacting the driver. If no direct Budapest to Prague ride is available on your dates, splitting the journey — catching a ride to Bratislava or Vienna first and continuing from there — is a reasonable workaround, though it adds complexity.

Car sharing works best for flexible solo travelers or backpackers who are comfortable with some uncertainty in exchange for a very low fare.

Cycling from Budapest to Prague is not a weekend outing — but for the right traveler, it's one of the great Central European adventures. The route covers around 550 km and typically takes 10 to 14 days at a comfortable pace, with daily stages of 45 to 75 km.

The first part of the route follows the popular Greenways trail through the Czech Republic, and from Vienna to Budapest you follow the EuroVelo 6, the Danube cycle path. The network is well-signed, mostly flat, and passes through some of the most rewarding cycling countryside in Europe — river valleys, wine regions, baroque towns, and three capital cities along the way.

This option suits experienced touring cyclists with time to spare. If you want the experience without doing every kilometre under your own steam, several operators offer self-guided packages that combine cycling with occasional train or car transfers on longer or less scenic stretches.

No direct river cruise connects Budapest to Prague — the Danube doesn't flow that way. But several cruise lines combine both cities on multi-day itineraries that use the river for the scenic middle section and coaches for the rest, making this a genuinely luxurious way to travel between the two capitals if you have the time and budget.

Operators like Uniworld combine a Danube river cruise from Budapest with onward travel to Prague, stopping at highlights along the way including the Wachau Valley. Emerald Cruises offers an 11-day itinerary departing Budapest, cruising through four countries, and finishing with a two-night stay in Prague. Prices typically start from around €5,000 per person.

This is obviously a very different proposition to a train ticket — it's a holiday in itself rather than a transfer. But if you're planning a longer Central European trip and want to make the journey between Budapest and Prague genuinely memorable, a river cruise package is worth exploring.

Hitchhiking from Budapest to Prague is entirely possible — people do it regularly. The route follows major roads through Slovakia or Austria, and drivers heading north are not uncommon. Realistically, budget a full day and treat any faster outcome as a pleasant surprise.

The golden rules apply here as anywhere: position yourself at a petrol station or motorway on-ramp rather than a busy road, carry a sign with your destination or the next major city, and trust your instincts about which cars to accept. Most hitchhikers on this route split the journey via Bratislava, which makes finding rides considerably easier than trying to flag down a single driver for the full distance.

It's free, occasionally fascinating, and completely unpredictable. If your itinerary has any flexibility at all, that's actually part of the appeal.

Let's be honest: almost nobody walks from Budapest to Prague. The distance is around 530 km, which at a solid 25 km per day works out to roughly three weeks on foot — assuming you're fit, the weather cooperates, and you don't take a wrong turn somewhere in Slovakia.

That said, long-distance walking in Central Europe is genuinely rewarding for those with the time and inclination. The region has a growing network of marked trails, the countryside between the two capitals is largely undiscovered by international visitors, and arriving somewhere on foot after weeks of walking creates a sense of arrival that no train or bus can replicate.

If you're seriously considering it, research the Via Bohemia and regional Slovak hiking trails as starting points for route planning. And perhaps pack comfortable shoes.

For travelers for whom time and comfort are the ultimate priority, a private jet is the fastest way to travel between the two capitals. The flight itself takes around 45 minutes to an hour, and with minimal check-in formalities and direct access to the terminal, the total door-to-door journey time is roughly three hours — significantly faster than any other option on this list.

Charter prices start from around €5,500 for a light turboprop aircraft, with larger jets commanding higher rates depending on aircraft type and availability. The price covers the entire aircraft rather than a per-seat fare, making it more reasonable for groups of four or more splitting the cost. Both Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport and Prague Václav Havel Airport handle private aviation efficiently, with dedicated terminals that bypass commercial queues entirely.

Booking is straightforward through charter brokers such as Jettly or Perejets, both of which offer instant online quotes and can arrange flights with as little as a few hours notice.

It's an extravagance, plainly. But if you're already traveling in style, the Prague skyline arriving through a private cabin window is a rather good way to begin a trip.

The right answer depends on what kind of traveler you are and what you want from the journey.

Choose the train if you want a reliable, comfortable journey with minimal planning. The train is the most popular option for good reason — frequent departures, reasonable prices, and a scenic stretch along the Danube make it a solid choice for most travelers. Book through Trainline and reserve your seat in advance.

Choose the bus if budget is your primary concern. Flixbus and RegioJet between them offer around ten daily departures at prices that are hard to beat. RegioJet in particular punches well above its price point on comfort for a seven-hour journey.

Choose the Sightseeing Transfer Tour if you want to actually experience Central Europe rather than simply cross it. Instead of arriving in Prague with nothing to show for the day, you'll have walked the cobbled lanes of Győr, had lunch in Bratislava's Old Town, and stood in front of a UNESCO palace most travelers have never heard of. For anyone visiting both cities on the same trip, this is the option that turns a transfer into a highlight.

Choose to fly if you find a fare under €30 and are traveling light with no checked luggage. Otherwise the door-to-door time and hidden fees make it less compelling than it first appears.

Choose to drive if you're traveling as a family or group with flexibility in your schedule. The one-way drop-off fee is the main obstacle — if you can work around it, a road trip through Central Europe rewards spontaneity in a way no scheduled service can.

Choose a private transfer if you're traveling in a group, have a lot of luggage, or simply want door-to-door comfort without sharing a vehicle with strangers. Ask about adding sightseeing stops — it transforms the journey considerably.

Choose car sharing, cycling, or hitchhiking if adventure and budget matter more than predictability. These options suit flexible solo travelers and backpackers who treat the journey itself as part of the experience.

Choose the river cruise or private jet if the journey itself is the destination and budget is no object. Both are extraordinary in their own way — one slow and indulgent, one fast and effortless.

If you're still undecided, here's the honest version: most travelers who choose the Budapest to Prague Sightseeing Transfer Tour tell us it was one of the best decisions of their trip. Most travelers who choose the train or bus tell us the journey was fine. Fine is perfectly acceptable. But if you have the day to spare, extraordinary is better.