Page 239 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

GE T TING AROUND BUD APEST  237

Hiring a Car As well as paying a fine, It consists of nearly 100 docking
Cars can be hired from it costs around 16,000 stations and 1,100 bicycles
the airport on arrival forints (US $70) to found at several locations in the
in Budapest, or from release a car from a city. After buying an initial ticket,
one of several car hire clamp, and around you can use the bikes free for
offices in the city, 20,000 forints (US $90) 30 minutes or for longer periods
such as Avis, Budget Stopping and parking if a car has been towed with modest charges. A deposit
Hungary, Europcar or prohibited away – usually to a car is blocked on your credit card
Hertz. Be prepared to park outside the city. and released a few days after
leave a credit card Parking meters often your ticket has expired.
deposit ranging display the telephone An enjoyable way to spend
between 100,000 number to contact in time in Budapest is to take
forints and 800,000 the event of wheel- a cycling trip around Margaret
forints, and to pay clamping. It is also Island (see pp176–7). There
US$100–240 per day worth asking a car are several bike-hire stalls
for unlimited mileage. park attendant for on the island, and they also
advice. If the car has rent out children’s bikes, thus
Parking Parking of cars allowed been towed away, call enabling family groups to
in this zone for a the Removed Cars explore. The Danube riverbank
There are several maximum of 2 hours Information line (Tel also has dedicated cycle lanes.
multi-storey car parks (06 1) 301 75 00) to find
in the city centre, including at out where it has been taken. DIRECTORY
Nos. 4–6 Aranykéz utca, No. 20
Nyár utca, and Szervita tér. Cycling Public Transport
There are underground car BKK (Centre for Budapest
parks at Szabadság tér and Sas Cycling in Budapest is often Transport)
utca. A lot of the larger hotels difficult and fairly dangerous. Rumbach S. utca 19–21.
also have an underground Cyclists have to be careful of Map 2 F5 (10 E3).
garage. There are attended and the tram rails and the uneven, Tel (06 1) 325 52 55.
unattended car parks situated cobblestoned surfaces of
in other busy parts of the city as some roads. The poor air quality Car Hire
well. In addition, hotels with car is an additional disadvantage.
parks may offer spare parking However, Budapest’s main roads Avis
spaces to non-guests, all of are usually open to cyclists, and Arany János utca 26–28.
Tel (06 1) 296 64 21. ∑ avis.com
which helps to ease the designated cycle lanes are
problem of on-street parking. available on a growing number Budget Hungary
Budapest is split into several of roads. The provision of cycle Hotel Mercure Buda, Krisztina
parking zones that all have routes in Budapest and the körút 41–43. Map 3 C1.
different hourly rates. When opening of one-way streets to Tel (06 1) 214 04 20.
parking on the street, you must contraflow cycling (indicated by ∑ budget.hu
get a ticket from the nearest signs allowing this) have made Europcar
ticket machine to display in the cycling an increasingly popular Erzsébet tér 7–8. Tel (06 1) 505
car, specifying how long you will pastime. Bike-hire shops such as 44 00. ∑ europcar.hu
stay. Parking charges vary from Bikebase, Budapest Bike and Hertz
175 to 600 Hungarian forints per BudaBike Tours are also a good Apáczai Csere János utca 4.
hour. Park ing without a valid source of information about Tel (06 1) 266 43 61. ∑ hertz.hu
ticket or overstaying the bicycle routes in the city.
allocated time can lead to either The MOL Bubi public bike- Bike Hire
a parking fine or wheel-clamping. sharing scheme is another way
Cars parked improperly of cycling around Budapest. Bikebase
may be clamped or Podmaniczky utca 19 (closed in
towed away to a car park winter). Tel (06 70) 625 85 01.
∑ bikebase.hu
outside the centre. Fines
of up to 30,000 forints BudaBike Tours
can also be imposed for Szent István tér 6. Tel (06 70) 242
park ing offences. 5736. ∑ budabike.com
Budapest Bike
Clamping and Wesselényi utca 13. Tel (06 30)
Towing 944 55 33. ∑ budapestbike.hu
MOL Bubi
Wheel-clamping is Tel (06 1) 325 52 55.
growing in Budapest; all ∑ molbubi.bkk.hu
illegally parked vehicles
are subject to clamping. Using one of Budapest’s cycle routes

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