Budapest is a city of full of surprises and wonder, with its lively centre, pretty parks, Majestic River, tall church spires and lavish spas. One of the most exciting cities in the world, Budapest is full of secrets to uncover, hidden spots to explore and old favorites to revisit. This is the city where being bored is not an option.
Budapest is the capital of Hungary with almost 1,7 million inhabitants, which makes it the largest city in East-Central Europe. The river Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles three islands. The river separates the two parts of the city: Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly. Budapest is rich of historical landmarks. These two parts of the city were once separate towns and were merged together with Ancient Buda (Óbuda) only in 1873. The riverside panorama has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Area: 525 sq km (52516 ha), 2/3 of its territory falls to plain Pest and 1/3 to hilly Buda
Population: 1 690109 people (about 17 % of the whole population of Hungary)
Time zone: GMT +1 (CET)
Country code: 36
Budapest area code: 1
Lowest point: the surface of the Danube (96m above sea level)
Highest point: János-Hill (529 m above sea level)
Number of bridges: 11 (9 for road traffic: Árpád Bridge – Margaret Bridge – Széchenyi Chain Bridge – Elisabeth – Liberty Bridge – Petőfi Bridge – Rákóczi Bridge – Deák Ferenc Bridge – the two latter connecting the M0 ring around the city and 2 railway bridges)
Public transportation: BKV buses, trams, 3 metro lines, HÉV (suburban railway), cogwheel railway; other interesting means of transport: ferry boats, the Budavári sikló (Buda Castle Funicular), gyermekvasút (Children’s Railway) and the Zugligeti libegő (Zugliget chairlift)
Main railway stations: Western (Nyugati Pályaudvar), Eastern (Keleti Pályaudvar), South( Déli Pályaudvar) and Kelenföldi railway stations.
Airports: Liszt Ferenc International Airport (about 15km from the city centre: Terminal 1 is closed, terminal 2A terminal is for planes within Shengen area, terminal 2B is at the disposal of the non-Schengen airlines.)