Two of the six Budapest Cards are not simply longer or shorter. The 72 hours Plus is the Classic 72-hour card with four extras, the biggest being the airport bus in both directions. The 72 hours Flexi goes the other way. It costs less than the Classic, keeps the public transport and the discounts, and replaces the long free list with five things you choose.
This page sets both against the Classic 72-hour card, so you can see what the Plus adds, what the Flexi takes away and which of the three fits your trip. What the Classic card covers in full is on the Budapest Card page.
Plus and Flexi tickets
Budapest Card: Public Transport, 30+ Top Attractions & Tours
Both upgrades: options on this one ticket. Pick your date, then choose the 72-Hour Budapest Card Plus or the 72-Hour Budapest Card FLEXI from the list. Bring a passport or ID card to collect it. Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
- Of our partners, only GetYourGuide sells these two versions. Tiqets sells the Classic cards
- Both are 72-hour cards. There is no Plus or Flexi for a shorter or longer stay
- All six versions appear once you pick a date, so check that the option you select says Plus or FLEXI
How they compare
| Classic 72 hours | 72 hours Plus | 72 hours Flexi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public transport | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Airport bus 100E | No | Once on arrival, once on departure | If you make it one of your five |
| Free museums and attractions | The full list, once each | The full list, once each | One, from a choice of four |
| Lukács Thermal Bath | Free | Free | If you choose it |
| Danube cruise | One, from four | One, from four | If you choose it |
| Guided walks | Both | Both | One, if you choose it |
| Castle Bus | Free | Free | If you choose it |
| Folklore Show at GastroCellar | Free | Free | If you choose it |
| Buda Castle Funicular | No | A free ride | No |
| Lángos and chimney cake | 20% off | One of each, free | 20% off |
| Discounts of 10 to 25% | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price against the Classic | The dearest of the six | Below the Classic 72 hours |
The two upgrades
72 hours Plus: buy it for the airport bus, not the snacks
The Plus is everything on the Classic card, plus four things. The 100E Airport Express, once when you arrive and once when you leave.
A ride on the Buda Castle Funicular, the cable railway, more than 150 years old, from the Buda end of the Chain Bridge up to the palace, which no other card or BKK ticket covers. One lángos from Molnár’s Lángos and one chimney cake from Molnár’s Kürtőskalács, both in the centre.
The airport bus and the funicular are the substance. They are two of the very few rides in Budapest that an ordinary transport ticket does not cover. The food is a nice extra and no more than that.
The Plus is the most expensive card of the six, above even the 96-hour Classic. It makes sense when you will ride the 100E both ways inside your 72 hours and you wanted the funicular anyway. If you are arriving by train, or staying longer than three days, the Classic is the better buy.
72 hours Flexi: five picks instead of the whole list
The Flexi keeps the unlimited public transport and every discount, and swaps the Classic card’s free list for five choices from seven, with no more than one from each:
- the 100E Airport Express, there and back
- entry to Lukács Thermal Bath
- a guided walk, in Buda or Pest
- the Folklore Show at GastroCellar, with a welcome drink and goulash soup
- the Official Budapest Castle Bus
- one Danube cruise, from the same four boats as the Classic
- one of the Castle Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Hungarian National Museum or the MOL Campus SkyDeck
It costs less than the Classic 72-hour card, and unlike the Classic it can cover the airport bus. What you give up is range. With a Classic card a rainy afternoon can turn into three museums at no cost. With the Flexi, your one museum is spent and the next is full price.
So the Flexi suits people who know their plans. If you can name your five now, and four of them are the airport bus, Lukács, the cruise and a museum, it does the job for less than the Classic. If you want to wander into whatever looks interesting, it is the wrong one.
Which one is right for you
Insider tips
Have the card before you board the 100E
The free airport ride only works with the card in your hand. BKK has customer centres in Terminals 2A and 2B, so check your voucher for an airport collection point before you travel. If yours can only be collected in the centre, you will be buying a ticket for the first ride, and the Plus is worth that much less to you.
Keep the ride home inside the 72 hours
Seventy-two hours is three nights at most. Start the card when you land on Friday afternoon and it has run out by the same time on Monday, so set the start time with your return bus in mind, not only your first day.
Book the funicular ride, do not just turn up
BKK says the Plus covers the funicular with a pre-booked ticket. Ask how to book it when you collect the card, so you are not finding out at the lower station with a queue behind you.
Spend Flexi picks on what you would have paid for
The airport bus, Lukács, a cruise and the Folklore Show are the picks that replace a real ticket. The Castle Bus is the one to leave out, unless the walk up Castle Hill is a problem for you.