The quickest way to the Chain Bridge from Pest is tram 2 or any of the five bus routes that cross it, all of which stop at Széchenyi István tér at the Pest bridgehead. The nicest way is the same tram 2, which runs along the Danube embankment with the river beside it. There is no metro station at either end, which catches people out, and you cannot drive to it at all.
The bridge has two ends in two districts. The Pest end is Széchenyi István tér in District V and the Buda end is Clark Ádám tér in District I, about seven minutes apart on foot. This page covers every line and stop at both, the measured walks from the landmarks around it, the funicular, parking, and the step-free route.
Location and address
By public transport
Budapest’s BKK network reaches both bridgeheads, and the same five bus routes serve each of them, so you can ride onto the bridge at one end and off at the other. What the bridge does not have is a metro station.
By tram
Tram 2 runs the length of the Pest embankment, past the Parliament and on south, and stops at Széchenyi István tér right at the bridgehead, about two minutes from the pavement. Eötvös tér, the next stop south, is about four minutes away. Tram 23 uses both stops as well.
On the Buda bank, trams 19 and 41 run along the embankment and stop at Clark Ádám tér, at the foot of the bridge. That is the only stop at either end mapped as fully step-free.
No tram crosses the bridge itself.
By bus
Five routes use the bridge by day: 16, 105, 178, 210 and 216. All of them call at Széchenyi István tér on the Pest side and Clark Ádám tér on the Buda side.
- Bus 16 runs from Deák Ferenc tér in central Pest over the bridge and up through the Castle District to Széll Kálmán tér. It is the useful one if you are going on up to Buda Castle
- Bus 216 does the same climb from Deák Ferenc tér and ends at Dísz tér, in the Castle District
- Bus 105 crosses between Pest and Apor Vilmos tér in Buda. Its journey time fell by six minutes once the private cars came off the bridge
At night, routes 910, 912, 922, 966 and 988 cross. Ordinary BKK tickets and passes are valid on all of them, and a Budapest Card covers the fare as well.
By metro
There is no metro station at either end of the Chain Bridge, which is unusual for a landmark in the middle of the city.
The nearest is Deák Ferenc tér, where M1, M2 and M3 all meet, 806 m and about 11 minutes on foot from the Pest bridgehead. Bus 16 runs between the two.
If you are coming from anywhere along the Pest riverbank, tram 2 will get you there faster than working out a metro route.
On foot
Every walk below was measured along the streets from the nearer bridgehead, not in a straight line, so the times are what you will actually take at an ordinary pace.
From Buda Castle (about 8 minutes)
594 m downhill from the Royal Palace to Clark Ádám tér at the Buda bridgehead. The road between the old walls comes down beside the funicular, so you arrive at the Buda end with the whole crossing ahead of you. Uphill in the other direction it is the same distance and rather more effort.
From Fisherman's Bastion (about 9 minutes)
700 m from the Buda bridgehead, and the same road down past the funicular. Matthias Church is about a minute further, at 774 m and roughly 10 minutes.
From St Stephen's Basilica (about 10 minutes)
742 m from the Pest bridgehead, straight down Zrínyi utca. The street is pedestrianised and runs dead straight between the two, with the dome behind you and the bridge ahead, and it is the best approach on the Pest side.
From Vörösmarty tér (about 10 minutes)
712 m from the Pest bridgehead, north along the riverbank or through the streets behind it. The Budapest Eye on Erzsébet tér is a similar walk at 672 m and about 9 minutes.
From Deák Ferenc tér (about 11 minutes)
806 m from the Pest bridgehead. This is the walk to do if you have come in on the metro, and it is flat the whole way.
From the Hungarian Parliament (about 10 minutes)
782 m south along the Pest embankment from Kossuth Lajos tér, past the Academy of Sciences. Tram 2 covers the same ground if you would rather ride it, and the Parliament is 1,354 m and about 17 minutes from the Buda end.
By car and taxi
A taxi can take you onto the bridge and across it, and can set you down at either bridgehead. That is the one way to arrive by road.
There is nowhere to park at either end. The Pest end is in District V, where on-street parking is paid, and the Buda end is a roundabout with the Castle Hill tunnel opening off it and no stopping anywhere near the bridge. Come on the tram or the bus instead.
Clark Ádám tér and the funicular to Buda Castle
Clark Ádám tér, the roundabout at the Buda bridgehead, is named after the engineer who built the bridge. The Castle Hill tunnel runs into the hill on its west side and the funicular climbs from its north side.
The funicular runs from here up to Szent György tér beside the palace: 95 metres of track, 50 metres of climb, about a minute and a half. It has its own ticket, sold as a return, and BKK tickets and passes are not valid on it, although the Budapest Card PLUS includes a ride. Our guide to getting up to Buda Castle compares it with the free ways up.
In front of the lower station stands the Zero Kilometre Stone, a nought-shaped sculpture by Borsos Miklós that has been there since 4 April 1975. Every road distance in Hungary is measured from it, so a sign reading “Budapest 38” means 38 km to this spot rather than to the edge of the city.
By hop-on hop-off bus
Accessibility
- Both pavements are step-free. They are asphalt, lit, and no steps are mapped anywhere along them. You reach them from either bridgehead square at street level
- The deck rises towards the middle. It is a suspension bridge, so there is a gentle climb to the centre of the span and a gentle fall on the other side
- Cross at the surface crossings at both bridgeheads. Several have lowered or flush kerbs and tactile paving
- Avoid the underpasses if you have wheels. The rebuilt passages at both ends are wider and straighter than the old ones, and the Buda one carries a two-way cycle track and a separate pavement, but no lift is recorded in either
- Clark Ádám tér tram stop, lines 19 and 41, is the only stop at either end mapped as fully step-free. The bus stops at both bridgeheads are mapped as partly accessible
- The stairs at both ends lead down to the quays, not onto the bridge, so there is no need to use them