We went from Timisoara to Budapest by train and it was a great experience that I certainly would recommend! In this post I will be summing up the most important information about how to get from Timisoara to Budapest by train.
Firstly, we undoubtedly had a great time in the beautiful city of Timișoara, in the west of Romania. If you want to know more about Timișoara please read my previously posted Timișoara article.
Budapest, evidently the capital of Hungary, is equally a great place for a city trip. What is there not to like about Budapest, I also wrote a blog about Budapest, hope it can help you during your travel!
At first, make sure how to get from Timisoara to Budapest by train
.
Firstly, we undoubtedly had a great time in the beautiful city of Timișoara, in the west of Romania. If you want to know more about Timișoara please read my previously posted Timișoara article.
Budapest, evidently the capital of Hungary, is equally a great place for a city trip. What is there not to like about Budapest, I also wrote a blog about Budapest, hope it can help you during your travel!
At first, make sure how to get from Timisoara to Budapest by train
.
Train station Timisoara
When you go from Timisoara to Budapest by train you need to depart from the international train station. The international train station in Timișoara is surprisingly called Timișoara Nord, located at Strada Garii, about 1,5-kilometre (0,9 miles) west of the city centre. The train station itself is not complicated, in fact there is one main hall where you enter. There are ticket boots and, equally important, screens with the departure times and tracks. When exiting at the other side of the main hall you will evidently find the platforms. Due to the good signage you will see the well indicated platsforms straightaway. Go to the right to cross the track to reach the other platforms.
Times and price
From Timișoara to Budapest there run two trains daily, in fact, one in the morning (departure time 7.30am, arrival time 11.50am) and secondly, one in the afternoon (departure time 14:38 (02:38 PM), arrival time 18:50 (06:50 PM)). The trip from Timisoara to Budapest by train will take 5,5 hours overall. Because meanwhile you travel one hour back in time
. We paid 70,73 lei/RON (€ 15 / US$ 17,50) for one second-class ticket at the ticket booth (141,45 lei/RON for two people) to get from Timisoara to Budapest by train. 
Buying the ticket
When traveling from Timisoara to Budapest by train, I recommend buying your international train ticket at least one day before your departure. In theory it can be fully booked because they assign seat numbers, so better be safe than sorry. Visit the train station (Timișoara Nord) to buy your ticket. Go to the human operated ticket booth number 1, indicated as: Ghiseul 1, Casa de Bilete, Trafic International”. The person will speak English and you will provide your destination, departure day and time.There is the option to travel 1st class from Timisoara to Budapest by train, but we did 2nd class and it was really good. You pay at the booth, with cash or card, and you will get the ticket. You will get one ticket, also if you fravel with more than one person.
The ticket
When you have your ticket, you are ready to go from Timisoara to Budapest by train. All you need to know about your travel is clearly indicated on the ticket. Starting at the left with the departure date and time, the ‘from’ and ‘to’ destination, followed by the arrival date and time. Also, the class (CLS) is indicated (2nd or 1st). At the bottom right the price is printed that you paid for the ticket. Next line is an important one, as this gives you more details about your seating. The number of the train (78) is for the whole train, so that is general. But the number of the Car and the number of the Seats are important because that will be your place at the train. Underneath the seat number is also indicated whether you have a window seat or not. We had seat 95 and 96 in Car 425 which are two window seats. So that was great.
Take the train
Make sure you carry some food, drinks, an offline movie and a full power bank and head to the train station to get from Timisoara to Budapest by train. When you enter the train station please take a look at the departure screen with the times and platforms, the international trains will be written in red. The platform that you need will be platform number 7 (but please check for yourself). We got there around 6.45am and that gave us enough time to take a coffee from the coffee machine (1,5 lei) and look for our place in the train. We had the morning train of 7.30am and the train was already on the platform. Proceed to the right platform and make sure to check the number of the assigned Car and number of your Seats (it’s on your ticket). These numbers are well indicated on the outside of the train. The numbers of the seats are above the seat on the luggage racks. Piece of cake!
On the train
Because the trip Timisoara to Budapest by train is an international one, there is enough place for your luggage. Above you head is the luggage rack which was very suited for our backpacks. There are also additional places to put your luggage near the entrance doors. Overall, we were surprised by the good interior of the train. 4-seats with tables, big windows with curtains, coat hooks, really, all you need. There is a toilet too, make sure to carry your own toilet paper. When you take the morning train, don’t forget to look at the mesmerizing view of the sunrise.The train left at exactly 7.30am, off we went, from Timisoara to Budapest by train!
A train official will come by shortly to check your ticket.
Border crossing
When traveling from Timisoara to Budapest by train, you travel from country to country and there are some border controlling activities involved. Unfortunately, no new stamps for us with our EU passports :-(, but they need to keep track of who is getting out of Romania and into Hungary.In brief, you don’t have to get out of the train, they will come to you and you can just stay at your seat. When you get close to the border the custom officials from Romania will come by and check your passport, they run it through a scanner and check your photograph.
Then, when you have crossed the border, custom officials from Hungary will come by and check your passport, again checking and registering it. No big deal, very quick.
When cruising into Hungary another train official will check your train ticket.
In short, the border procedure from Timisoara to Budapest by train went very smooth, it feels more like an additional check of the train ticket.
Train station Budapest
We arrived in Budapest just in time! When traveling from Timisoara to Budapest by train you arrive at train station Budapest-Keleti. You can get a taxi here, or as we did: get on the metro. There are excellent metros and trams in Budapest. You buy your tickets from the machine and you choose one ticket or a package deal. One ticket for public transport costs 350 HUF (€1,10 / US$1,25). You can also buy the package deal where you buy 10 tickets for 3000 HUF, 300 HUF per ticket (€0,93 / US$ 1,08). Important to realize is that you need to validate the ticket for your travel with public transport. You validate your ticket before entering the metro or, when traveling by tram or bus, ín the vehicle. Tickets are valid for one ride (transfer only allowed between metros). Read more about Budapest and public transport in my blog about Budapest.
Enjoy the trip from Timisoara to Budapest by train!
That’s it, really, a great train experience! Don’t forget to enjoy the view of the rustic sceneries along the way.Please post a comment below if you have any additional information that might be suitable for people reading this article.
11 Comments
Absolutelly fantastic tips! Amazing, congrats! We are going from Timissoara to Budapest next month and these tips worth a lot! Best Regards
Thank you so much! Happy to help <3
Thank you for the information on the journey from Timisoara to Budapest. I am on the 0730 train now and used your instructions!
Always happy to help! Hope you have a great journey!!
I am considering going from Budapest to Timisoara by train and found your blog! I looked at purchasing a ticket online to make things easier day-of, but the website says international tickets must be picked up at a station, and they only indicate Romanian stations (I am leaving from Budapest). Can anyone confirm this? If that’s the case I should just wait to buy my ticket at the station in Budapest?
Hey Mac, I would advise you to go to the train station physically if that’s possible. We have bought the ticket one day before, I would advise you to do so too. I have no experience with buying these tickets on-line but I know it’s not that common. Hope you are available to go to the station a few days before. I get that it’s better to be safe than sorry in these cases.
Thanks so much for responding.
I will try to get to the station before the day I leave Budapest to get the ticket in that case. Looking forward to spending some time in Romania!
This is a great blog and will help me out a bunch in my travel to Budapest. I am a bit worried though because I am travelling by car to Timisoara before going to Budapest the same day and will not be able to buy a ticket before the day of the trip. I wanted to ask, was the train large and did you see most of the seats were full? I’m really hoping that it will not be totally booked before I get to the station and purchase a ticket.
Hey Jacob,
Nice to hear from you! Don’t be too worried, I just advice you to play on the safe side, if you can be there a day before. But you can also buy a ticket the same day. The train wasn’t fully booked when we were there. Hope you had a great stay.
Love from the Netherlands,
Adrianne
Thank you for publishing this. Such excellent
information, and just wonderful the way you
wrote it out step by step – a terrific way to
communicate!
Thanks!! Happy to help!