Practical info
Hotels
There are many hotels of all types and levels in the vicinity of the University campus, but the venue has convenient access from every subway line (plus a number of busy tram and bus services), so finding accommodation farther away should pose no problem for getting there and back either.
Transportation
From/to the airport
Participants who arrive by air have just three sensible options of getting to/from town:
– Taxis are the most convenient, and also the most expensive, way of making it. Please MAKE SURE that you order a taxi at the taxi booths outside the exits of the terminal, and DISREGARD the ‘hawks’ who try to pick you up (often in a quite aggressive manner) already in the arrival hall. They often heavily overcharge unsuspecting foreigners. But you should be alert even with the official airport taxis: when you make the order at the booth, you must give the target address, and they will give you a slip with the data of your service, including *the estimated price*. If the price announced at the destination by the driver is significantly higher that the estimate, call the hotel staff for help on arrival.
– A somwehat cheaper (and possibly safer) alternative is the shuttle service (also known as the minibus or miniBUD).
– If you are on a budget, then the best option is the regular bus services
(200E, 100E ):
Arriving by train Trains from abroad almost exclusively target the
East Station (Keleti pályaudvar), where you can hop on subway line 2
(red line) – it’s just 2 stops (5 minutes) to the conference site
(Astoria) from there. Public transportation in Budapest
This is handled by a single company (BKK), and comprises 4 subway lines, and
a huge number of tram, trolleybus and bus routes, as well as several
lines of suburban railway (HÉV), and even boat lines on the Danube.
Tickets for a single ride uniformly cost 350 HUF pre-purchased, or 450
HUF if bought aboard a bus or tram (NOT always an option!). Ticket
bundles of 10 can be bought at a discount, and there are various passes
available – check the BKK site for details. You can use
BKK
futár
for route planning
(it also exists as an app for mobile devices, too ‒ check your favorite app store for it). The local currency is the Hungarian forint (HUF,
Ft), with an approximate exchange rate of 1 EUR = 312 HUF, 1 USD = 260
HUF (the rate may fluctuate somewhat, and the actual rates differ widely
across exchange bureaux). Most stores only accept payment in HUF, though
some (usually bigger) stores may accept euros, too. Currency exchange
shops are found everywhere in town, they are safe, and offer better
rates than banks. We strongly advise you to avoid people offering money
exchange on the streets, though! ATMs (cash machines) are easy to come by, too. Most stores accept major international credit
cards (VISA, MasterCard – almost everywhere, AmEx – in many places).
UnionPay is quickly gaining ground, as well, but right now its
acceptance is far from widespread yet.
Currency