Aquincum is about 8 km north of the centre, and the fastest way out is the H5 suburban railway from Batthyány tér, which takes 14 minutes. The nicest way back is on foot to Kaszásdűlő, the next stop towards town, past the reconstructed arches of the Roman aqueduct.
There is a catch worth knowing before you set off. Two different stations 120 m apart are both called Aquincum, the walk from the railway crosses a four-lane road, and the stop you arrive at by bus is not the stop you leave from. This page sorts all three out, along with parking and the step-free approach.
Location and address
By public transport
Everything here runs on BKK’s ordinary network, so a single ticket, a travel card or a Budapest Card covers it, including the HÉV as far as the city boundary. Validate a single ticket before you travel. How Budapest’s tickets work is on our transport guide.
By HÉV suburban railway
H5 from Batthyány tér to Aquincum, 14 minutes. Batthyány tér is on metro M2 and on tram 19 and 41, which makes this the obvious route from almost anywhere central. From Szentlélek tér in Óbuda the ride is 6 minutes.
Trains back towards Batthyány tér leave Aquincum every 6 to 10 minutes through the day, the first just after 04:00 and the last just before midnight. Outbound, the Szentendre and Békásmegyer services together give you a train every few minutes.
From the platform it is about 570 m, roughly 8 minutes, south along Szentendrei út, with the road to cross. Look for the red sign on the street fence, which points the way to the entrance.
By bus
Buses 34, 106 and 134 all stop at Záhony utca, which is the closest stop of any kind to the museum and the reason we would take the bus over the train.
- 34 runs from Göncz Árpád városközpont M on metro M3, about 10 minutes, and from Szentlélek tér H about 7
- 106 also runs from Göncz Árpád városközpont M, about 10 minutes
- 134 runs from Szentlélek tér H, about 5 minutes
Each of the three comes about every 15 minutes in the daytime, so on that stretch of Szentendrei út the combined wait is short. The first buses are out between about 04:15 and 05:25 and the last run between 22:30 and just after midnight, with night buses 923 and 934 calling at Záhony utca after that.
Which stop you use depends on your direction. Arriving from town on 34 or 134 you are set down 72 m from the gate, on the museum’s side of the road; the 106 uses a second platform about 167 m away. Going back towards town, all three leave from the stop on the far side of Szentendrei út, about 230 m south.
By railway
The Aquincum railway halt is a different station from the HÉV stop of the same name, 120 m away on a different network. Trains S72, S76 and Z72 on the Esztergom line call there, and from the halt it is about 925 m, roughly 12 minutes, to the museum entrance.
It is worth knowing about if you are coming in from Pilisvörösvár or Esztergom. From inside Budapest the HÉV is closer, more frequent and simpler.
By bike
A cycle route runs along Szentendrei út past the door, and there is bicycle parking at the entrance. The museum’s own directions are to come in from the south along the cycle path on Szentendrei út or Ángel Sanz Briz út, and from the north along Sujtás utca or Gázgyár utca.
On foot
The walks below are measured along the streets from the museum’s main entrance, not as the crow flies.
From the Aquincum HÉV stop (about 8 minutes)
About 570 m. Come down from the platform and walk south along Szentendrei út, keeping the Archaeological Park’s fence on your left, and cross to the museum side at the lights. The red entrance sign on the fence is the one to look for.
This is the walk people get wrong, and it is poorly signposted. There is one sign and a long fence.
From Kaszásdűlő, along the aqueduct (about 10 minutes)
About 780 m from the next H5 stop back towards town. The reconstructed section of the Roman aqueduct runs down the middle of Szentendrei út between the two stations, so this walk has arches alongside it the whole way.
If you only do it once, do it on the way out rather than the way in, when you have the time and no ticket desk waiting.
From the civil amphitheatre (about 10 minutes)
About 775 m. The amphitheatre stands in the open at Szentendrei út 150, on the far side of the road and about 250 m from the HÉV stop, so it slots neatly into the walk between station and museum in either direction.
From Óbuda's Fő tér (about 35 minutes)
About 2.7 km, which is a proper walk rather than a stroll between sights, whatever other guides say. Three stops on the H5 does it in a few minutes, and the Vasarely and Kassák museums on the square are the reason to make the trip at all.
By car and taxi
On an ordinary weekday the car park is usually enough. On event days the museum points drivers at the Auchan car park opposite, which it reserves for event visitors and which is about 616 m, roughly 8 minutes, from the entrance on foot.
Taxis and Bolt, the main ride-hailing app in Budapest, know the museum by name. Give the address as Szentendrei út 135 and ask for the Záhony utca gate if you want to be set down as close as possible.
Accessibility
The museum’s own words are worth having exactly. The main exhibition building, it says, is wheelchair accessible and has accessible toilet facilities. The park around it is a Roman site, and the museum tells every visitor to mind their step on “the uneven walking surfaces from the Roman period”.
- Free entry for disabled visitors and one companion each, issued at the ticket desk
- Free guided tours on an accessible route through the park run Tuesday to Friday and are booked in advance. How to arrange one is on our tours guide
- Come by bus, not by train. Záhony utca is flagged as a wheelchair accessible stop in BKK’s own data and puts you on the museum’s side of Szentendrei út about a minute from the gate
- The footbridge at the Aquincum HÉV stop has about twenty steps, with a handrail, a bicycle ramp and tactile paving but no pushchair ramp. The museum publishes nothing about crossing the road there, which is the other reason to take the bus
- Allow for one step round the mithraeum. The museum asks visitors to go round the outside of the building to reach the entrance and to mind the slight level change