Budapest pier to airport time?

[alexandra cruiser]

tried using search engine here,,but no hits,,,seems I ve seen this before,but can t find,,need to get flights and want to make sure I have plenty of time from riverboat pier to airport,,or may have to stay over extra day...thanks in advance...:confused:

[Lair Bear]

tried using search engine here,,but no hits,,,seems I ve seen this before,but can t find,,need to get flights and want to make sure I have plenty of time from riverboat pier to airport,,or may have to stay over extra day...thanks in advance...:confused:

 

I suggest you go to the source direct. That is, ask the cruise company when you arrive, then go to the following http://www.budapesttransfer.com/ to find out how long the transfer takes and how much they would charge. I assume you already have the flight arrangements made. If not, what would be the logical airline to go to? Lufthansa is very common in Europe.

If that is too confusing, you could contact a travel agent.

[wiselindag]

There is no central pier for river boats in Budapest. The boats dock along the Danube on both sides (Pest and Buda) and your boat's location could make it convenient to the highway going to the airport or less convenient, so there is no one answer to this question. I would definitely check with the company.

 

Last year, we cruised with AMA Waterways and stayed on in Budapest, so we simply took a taxi from the hotel (L'Meridien) to the airport. We were advised to allow an hour because of road construction, but because we had a very early morning flight and the roads were empty, we made it from downtown to the airport in about 25 minutes. Those who were transferring from the ship to the airport had transporation arranged by our fabulous Cruise Director/Manager. In addition to the bus transfers, she booked taxis for anyone who wanted one.

[alexandra cruiser]

have a Luftansa leaving at 11am and boat will disembark at 8,,but will be docked overnite,,,others leave too early,,like 7etc..and will need to stay overnite,,if I take those,,,so looks like an 11 is doable if I figure 1 hr.max...not taking ship air,,so would need taxi....think this will work???:confused:

[wiselindag]

Talk to your river cruise line... they handle questions like this all the time. My guess is that if necessary you will be able to leave a little earlier. They are parked there all night and all you need to do is walk up the gangplank to disembark. The same folks that serve you breakfast are most likely helping with the luggage (that was true for our ship anyway) so they say disembarkation starts at 8 because they want to give them time to get breakfast served (and give you breakfast) before they start getting people off the ship. If you are able to wheel your luggage off yourself, you can probably leave whenever you want... that's my guess, but call and ask. (Unlike big ocean cruises where you put out luggage the night before, we put out our bigger bags one hour before departure for this one and they took them down to the gangway for us.)

 

In our case, the Cruise Director/Manager ordered taxis at whatever time we wanted. She used a company that had English-speaking drivers and took Euros for those who had not yet or didn't plan to change money. Every taxi came early... not sure if she told them earlier than we requested or they just showed up earlier, but it was a very efficient operation.

 

Although we thought we needed to be at the airport two hours before our flight, we stood in line for quite a while before the Lufthansa agents arrived to service our check-in. We had an early flight, but they don't start until a certain hour (I forget the time, but it's in the account of my trip which is in my trip report in the river ship section.)

[alexandra cruiser]

found your great review,,,had printed it,,and put it away to look at later,,so many excellent tips..decided not to stay over in Budapest,,this time,,because want to do the one from there to Black Sea also..and that has 3 days there...so went ahead and booked air,,should have plenty of time if I leave ship a little early,,and still give myself 1 hrs.to get there,since only a Frankfurt flight,,then connect home.;)

[wiselindag]

Have a wonderful time and please report back later! I'd love to do the one that goes to the Black Sea myself, but will do the Prague-Nuremburg-Budapest one again this year with others and am looking forward to more time in each of the marvelous places I visited last year.