The BKV Budapest Public Transport Company) operates metro lines (M1-yellow, M2-red and M3-blue), blue local buses, yellow trams and red trolleybuses. Buy a ticket (jegy) at the ticket offices in metro stations and at newsstands. A ticket for a single one-way journey costs 350 HUF; tickets are slightly cheaper if you buy them 10 or 20 at a time. (10 tickets 3 000 HUF.) A day pass (napijegy) costs 1 650 HUF; a three-day pass (turistajegy) costs 4 150 HUF; and a weekly pass (hetijegy) costs 4 950 HUF. You can also get a two-week pass (ketheti berlet) for 7 000 HUF or a monthly pass (haviberlet) for 10 500 HUF; this requires a transport ID card (bring a photo). When riding public transport, you may be accosted by someone wearing a red armband. This person is not a political extremist - just a BKV ticket inspector. The fine is 18 000 HUF if you don’t have a valid ticket.

Metro
The three metro lines all intersect at V. Deák tér. Keleti and Déli Train Stations are on the red line; Nyugati Train Station is on the blue one. Tickets are validated at the station entrances - before boarding. Insert your ticket in the orange machines. Aside from the standard tickets and passes listed above, for the metro you can buy a 300 HUF ticket (metroszakaszjegy) at the service counter, which is good for a short journey of only three stops.

Buses, trolleybuses & trams
Night buses include the 6E, which follows the 4/6 tram line on the Nagykörút (Great Boulevard), and the 14E or 50E, which follow the line of the blue metro. The 4/6, reputedly the busiest tram line in Europe, now runs 24 hours a day. And so do the ticket inspectors.

HEV suburban train
There are four HEV suburban train lines. They run from Batthyány tér (red metro line) north to Szentendre, from Örs vezér tere (red metro line) east to Gödöllő, from Boráros tér south to Csepel, and from Vagóhíd south to Ráckeve. Budapest transport tickets are valid on the HEV only as far as the Budapest city limits. HEV tickets can be purchased at the HEV stations.