The Opera has a metro station named after it, and the entrance is on the pavement outside the front door. The M1 from Deák Ferenc tér is the fastest way in from almost anywhere in Pest, and two stops is all it is.
The nicer way is to walk the same route up Andrássy út, which is flat, straight and about ten minutes. Driving is the one option to rule out, because the avenue has little kerb space and the streets behind it run one way. This page has every line and stop, the walks in with their times, the step-free route and where to park.
Location and address
By public transport
Budapest’s BKK network puts you at the door. The Opera’s own list of routes is short, because the M1 runs directly under Andrássy út and the buses and trolleybuses run along it.
By metro
- M1 (yellow line), Opera: the station is named after the building and its entrance is on the pavement outside. Two stops from Deák Ferenc tér, one from Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, one back from Oktogon. Stairs only.
- M3 (blue line), Arany János utca: about 6 minutes’ walk away on the flat. This is the station with lifts, and the step-free route from it is set out below.
- M1, M2 and M3, Deák Ferenc tér: the city’s main interchange, about 10 minutes’ walk south, down Andrássy út. Useful if you are coming from Buda or from the airport bus.
The M1 is the Millennium Underground, opened in 1896 and running just below the road surface, so the ride is part of the visit. Opera’s platform keeps its brown tiling and its riveted cast-iron columns.
Buy a single, a travel card or a Budapest Card before you board, and validate a single ticket before you travel.
By bus and trolleybus
- Buses 105 and 210, stop Opera M, on Andrássy út beside the building. The 105 is the useful one, running across the river from Buda through the middle of Pest.
- Trolleybuses 70 and 78, stop Andrássy út (Opera M), about 200 m further east along the avenue.
- Bus 100E, the Airport Express, does not come up Andrássy út. It ends at Deák Ferenc tér, from where you walk or take the M1. It needs its own ticket.
Those four routes are the whole of the Opera’s own list. No tram runs on Andrássy út itself. The nearest are trams 4 and 6 on the ring road at Oktogon, about 8 minutes’ walk up the avenue.
Late in the evening
The metro stops running in the late evening and night buses take over until the first trains. Budapest redrew its night network in the summer of 2026, and route numbers here changed with it, so check the current route in BKK’s own journey planner rather than an older map or a hotel leaflet.
A performance usually ends in time for the last metro, but a late curtain and a chat afterwards can put you past it. Andrássy út is a main road with taxis on it at any hour.
On foot
Walking is the sensible way to arrive from almost anywhere in central Pest. It is flat the whole way and Andrássy út is wide enough to walk four abreast. The times below are measured along the streets, not guessed.
From St Stephen's Basilica (about 6 minutes)
The shortest of the four. Leave the Basilica on its north side, cross Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, and either take Lázár utca straight through to the Opera’s flank or carry on to where Andrássy út begins and turn up it for the front.
From Deák Ferenc tér (about 10 minutes)
From the interchange, walk north up Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út for a block until Andrássy út opens on your right, then follow Andrássy up. The Opera is on the left after about 5 minutes, and you see the composer statues along its roofline before you reach it.
From Oktogon and the House of Terror (about 8 and about 11 minutes)
Straight down Andrássy út from the ring road, with the old townhouses on both sides. From the House of Terror at number 60 it is one continuous walk to number 22, so the two make an obvious pair in an afternoon.
From the Chain Bridge and the Parliament (about 15 minutes each)
From the Pest end of the Chain Bridge, go up Zrínyi utca to the Basilica and pick up the route above. From Parliament it is a longer walk through Lipótváros, and the M2 to Deák Ferenc tér then the M1 is quicker if the weather is against you.
By car and taxi
The nearest multi-storey is the Opera Parkolóház on Zichy Jenő utca, about 165 m from the front door and a two-minute walk. Taxis and Bolt, the rideshare app most used in Budapest, can set you down on Andrássy út outside the arcade or on Dalszínház utca at the side. Ask for “Operaház, Andrássy út 22” so there is no confusion with the Erkel Theatre, the company’s other house, about 2 km away in Józsefváros.
By hop-on hop-off bus
Accessibility
- The M1 is stairs only. Opera, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út and Oktogon all are, as is every other station on the line near here.
- The step-free station is M3 Arany János utca, which has lifts to the street. From there it is about 6 minutes: south along Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, then east along Lázár utca, which comes out on Dalszínház utca at the side of the Opera, with the main entrance round the corner on Andrássy út. The pavements are flat and wide and the crossings are signalled.
- Inside the building, lifts serve the audience areas. The lift on the left goes to the stalls, to the accessible box on the same level and to the accessible toilets, and Floor III is reached by lift from both sides. Lifts were also put in beside the gallery stairs on the Dalszínház utca and Hajós utca sides.
- The guided tour is a different question. Its route uses the grand staircase, and the concert that closes it happens on those stairs. The Opera publishes no step-free version of the route, so plan for stairs on the tour.
- For a performance, the Opera holds a limited number of accessible seats, arranged through its ticket office rather than at the door and needing a relevant document. Audio narration is provided for visually impaired guests and one row in the stalls has an audio induction loop.
- Buses and trolleybuses on the routes along Andrássy út are mostly low-floor.