You don’t need to haggle over a taxi in Budapest. Every licensed cab, Főtaxi, City Taxi, Elit Taxi, Bolt or Uber Taxi, runs on the same official meter, and at the airport the Főtaxi stands are right outside the arrivals doors of Terminals 2A and 2B.
From the airport the only real difference between them is where you get in. Főtaxi has the rank, Uber has a marked pickup point, and Bolt shows you a meeting place in its app.
Budapest airport private transfers
Budapest: Private Transfer from Airport to Hotel
Best for: Families and groups who want the car sorted before they land
- English-speaking driver
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Private one-way transfer from the airport to your hotel
- Air-conditioned car or minibus
- English-speaking driver
- Airport parking fees
- Meeting point
- Your driver waits in the arrivals hall after customs
- When booking
- Add your airline, flight number, arrival time and hotel address in the note to the supplier
- Priced
- Per group, not per person
- Not included
- Food and drinks
- Wheelchairs
- Not suitable for wheelchair users
Budapest: Private Transfer from Hotel to Airport
Best for: An early departure without ordering a taxi at 4am
- English-speaking driver
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Private one-way transfer from your hotel to the airport
- Air-conditioned car or minibus
- English-speaking driver
- Airport parking fees
- Drop-off
- The departures terminal for your flight
- When booking
- Add your hotel address, a working mobile number and your flight details
- Not included
- Food and drinks
How to get a taxi at Budapest airport
The airport’s taxi partner is Főtaxi, Budapest’s longest-established taxi company. You book at its stand and take the car waiting at the rank in front.
Go to the Főtaxi stand at the exit
There is one at the exit of Terminal 2A and one at 2B, just outside the arrivals doors, with the taxis lined up in front of them.
Give the address and get a fare calculation
Tell the staff where you are going, or show the address on your phone. Főtaxi works out a fare calculation from the exact address before you set off, and gives you the number of your cab.
Take the cab at the front of the rank
The car pulls up in front of the stand and the driver loads the bags. If you have a lot of luggage or a family, ask at the stand for a larger car; On a busy summer afternoon I asked for one and a minivan pulled up in under three minutes.
Pay by card or cash at the end
The meter runs from the moment you set off. Every Főtaxi car at the airport has a card terminal, so you need no forints.
Uber and Bolt at Budapest airport
Uber runs in Budapest through licensed taxis, so a car ordered in the app is a yellow cab on the same meter as the rest.
- Uber at Terminal 2A: order an Uber Taxi in the app and you get a six-digit PIN. Walk to the Uber pickup point in front of 2A, go to the first car waiting and give the driver the PIN. Check the car and driver details in the app before you set off
- Uber XL at Terminal 2B: larger cars for up to six people, for families and anyone with a lot of luggage, are ordered from 2B
- Bolt: one of the five licensed firms, on the same tariff. Order it in the app, which shows you where to meet the car
What a taxi from Budapest airport costs
There is no fixed airport price to look up, and no bargaining. Budapest sets one official taxi tariff for every licensed firm, at every hour of the day: a base fare, then a charge per kilometre and per minute, worked out by the meter from when you set off.
Since August 2026, trips that start or end at the airport begin with a higher airport base fare. Uber and Bolt apply the same rule, and the Uber app shows an estimate before you book. BKK publishes the current tariff.
Fares quoted from before August 2026 are too low now, so trust the calculation at the stand or the estimate in the app over anything you read on a forum.
How to spot a licensed Budapest taxi
The airport warns against firms without its contract offering rides inside the terminal: turn them down and go to the stand. If anything goes wrong with a licensed taxi, note the plate or the licence number on the right front door and complain to BKK. If the driver broke the rules, BKK asks for their taxi permit to be withdrawn for a year.
Taxi or private transfer from Budapest airport
Take a taxi if you want to walk out and go. The rank needs no booking, it doesn’t matter when your flight lands, and for one or two people with ordinary bags it is the simplest way to the door.
Book a private transfer if the arrival is the stressful part. The price is settled and paid in advance, the driver is in the arrivals hall with your name, and it suits a family with car seats to think about, a group that would need two cabs, or a flight that may land late.
A taxi to Budapest airport
For the trip back, order a car by app or phone rather than hailing one in the street, as BKK itself recommends. For an early flight, book the evening before and ask for pickup two and a half to three hours before departure.
City Taxi, Főtaxi, Elit Taxi, Bolt and Uber all run to the airport on the same tariff, with the airport base fare applied. Or take the 100E bus, which runs all night.