Guide to the Hungarian Grand Prix - www.prayforsnow.com | Sylvain Marcotte's Digital Playground

We got to attend the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. It was a great experience and I thought I would share our experience as a guide so should you decide to attend, you will hopefully be a bit more prepared than we were. In this guide, we will cover, getting tickets, getting to Budapest (partially), getting around Budapest and to and from the track, the tickets to buy, and a few other tidbits.

Getting Tickets

We got our tickets in April while the race was at the beginning of August and there were still some good options such as tickets for the Podium and Hungaroring grandstands. That being said, I would recommend getting them earlier so you have a better choice. It appears that the tickets for the 2026 race went on sale in August 2025. At the time of this writing (February), there are only tickets for the Podium grandstand left on the official Hungarian Grand Prix website https://www.gpticketshop.hu/. There are some resellers that offer a few further options but at an additional cost.

We screwed up and got our tickets from the official F1 website. Way back (2019) the site used to redirect you to the official websites but now just acts as a reseller. We paid €505 per ticket for the Podium grandstand while they were €390 on the official website. Live and learn. That being said, they do have tickets for the Hungaroring grandstand (the main grandstand across from the pits) available for sale for 2026 while the official site is sold out but for €820 compared to €630 on the official website.

Another note is that unfortunately you don’t get to pick your section or seats. You just get assigned tickets and the tickets were only issued to us 2 weeks before the event. A bit stressful if you ask me.

Getting to Budapest

We flew with British Airways from Vancouver via London Heathrow. We looked at different alternatives and they were roughly the same price. BA offers a direct flight from Vancouver to Heathrow and then another from Heathrow to Budapest so it was convenient. There are so many other options that I won’t cover here.

When we got to Budapest, we got on the Airport Express bus for 2,500 Ft (about €6.60). You didn’t have to buy tickets anywhere. Just tap your credit card when you enter the bus. Easy. 40 minutes later, we were in downtown Budapest and we then walked to our apartment near Corvin-negyed.

We stayed at the Marbles Residence. We were very happy with our choice. It is located near many of the main transit lines and a lot of shops but once you enter the complex, it is SUPER quiet. It wasn’t too expensive either and had a kitchen allowing us to prepare some meals and lunches for the track.

Note that although Hungary is part of the European Union, it uses its own currency: the Hungarian Forint – Ft or HUF. We got some cash but didn’t have to use it too often. They took credit cards at most places.

Getting Around Budapest

Since we got there a few days before the race and we wanted to visit Budapest and its surroundings (we highly recommend it), we purchased a 15 day Budapest pass for 5950 Ft. That covered all the buses, trams, and subways in central Budapest. Their system is operating on an honorary basis but I would say, 1 in 4 trips, they have agents checking the tickets so don’t forget to buy a ticket/pass (and to validate your ticket if you go that route). Note that you need a piece of ID (driver’s licence # or passport #) when you purchase the 15 day pass as they get entered on the ticket.

In theory they are not transferable but they never checked that when we were there. Getting around Budapest is super easy. You are never very far from either a subway station or a tram line station. I read that Budapest is the Paris of the East and that is also true for their transportation network. Using Google Maps to figure out what bus/subway/train to take worked great. I did install the official BKK app but barely used it.

Getting To the Track – Hungaroring

To get to the Hungaroring track, we took the M2 subway line to the end of the line (Örs-vezér tere) and then the H8 commuter train to Kerepes H station and then a free shuttle bus to Gate 3 at the Hungaroring. Be ready to be packed like sardines for all those trips (subway, train, shuttle buses).

Unless you really can’t stand being packed like that, we wouldn’t recommend driving as it will take much longer and be more expensive. Taxis/Ubers will also be close to from €40 to €90. Be ready to wait in a line for about an hour to catch one at the end of the day (so we heard from folks we talked to).

H8 Train

On the Friday of the race, we didn’t purchase our H8 train tickets in advance and had to wait about 1 hour to purchase them even though it was Friday morning and usually less busy than other track days. We highly recommend pre-purchasing your train tickets ahead of time. The machines allow you to purchase them ahead of time. You just need to buy tickets that cover the distance for the day(s) that you need.

We picked 20 km to be safe but I think 15 km would have been fine. They were 500 Ft per leg. So six tickets, 3000 Ft. The train ride to Kerepes takes about 25 minutes.

Note that not all ticket machines seem to offer the commuter train tickets. If you are not sure, find an agent and they will be able to help you.

Shuttle Buses

Once you get to Kerepes, there are shuttle buses that take you to the track at Gate 3. Also there are plenty of shuttle buses so don’t worry if you miss the first ones. My wife and I actually got separated in the chaos and she got on the first bus and I didn’t. I got the next one and actually got a seat. The bus ride is just under 10 minutes.

A few tips:

Try to get to the front of the M2 subway train. Especially if you are waiting for the next subway train on the platform. Walk all the way to the front. When you get to the end of the line at Örs-vezér tere, you will be the first in line to get on the H8 trains and you are more likely to get seats.
Similarly, when you get on the H8 train, try to get on the back of the train (the first wagons/cars that you see when you walk in) as best you can as when you get to Kerepes, again you will be at the front because the spot to take the shuttle buses is at the back of the train.
When you get to Kerepes H station, there is a grocery store (Aldi) just to the right (South West) from where you can catch the shuttle buses. We recommend stocking up on supplies (drinks, food, snacks) there and then coming back to catch the shuttle. Usually you can get at the front of the buses and there is a bit less chaos to get in.

Coming Back from the Track

To come back to Budapest at the end of the day, we recommend walking South East to Szilasliget train station. It is about a 30 minute walk, you then wait in a herd for about 30 minutes or so and get on the H8 train back. Again make sure you have your return tickets back.

This trick is what most locals seem to do.

Another option would be to walk North East to Mogyoród train station. It is a bit further but the advantage here is that you get on the train before the crowd at Szilasliget so you are more likely to get a seat. I bet you avoid having to wait with the herd as well so I bet overall, you get home sooner.

If you don’t want to walk, you can take the free shuttle buses back to the train station; however, be ready to wait about 1 hour to get on the bus. The shuttle buses then go to the main train station in Gödöllő which is further out than Kerepes and takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get there. Then the train ride takes longer (about one hour). The only advantage is that you can catch an express train to Budapest Keleti train station so it is a faster journey back; however, considering the 1 hour line up for the shuttle, the bus ride, and waiting for the train, I don’t think it is worth it.

We tried the shuttle bus at the end of the Friday and we left the track at 7, waited about 45 minutes for the bus, then the bus ride for about 30 minutes and we got on the regular train at 8:38. Got home at 9:50. Long commute. In comparison, on Saturday and Sunday, we walked back to Szilasliget. We left our seats at 5:20 and got home at around 7. Also the traffic on Saturday and Sunday is way worse than on Friday as the buses share the one lane road with cars and taxis so I bet it takes longer to get to Gödöllő.

At the Track

The Hungaroring is located amongst fields on the outskirts of Budapest. It is located in a bit of a valley so there are many good vantage points where you can see a whole lot of the track even with a general admission ticket.

The one disadvantage of being amongst fields is that if it is sunny and dry, it gets super dusty. I wouldn’t recommend wearing shiny new shoes or clothes. If it rains a lot, I bet it would get pretty muddy. We did get rain on Sunday before the race but not enough to get mud but enough to prevent the dust that we got on Friday and Saturday which was good.

If you get in at Gate 3 and your seats are anywhere on the front straight, allow for a good 30 to 45 minutes to get to your seats because there are some bottle necks.

At the track, you will find all the usual F1 Fanzone entertainment stuff (pit stop challenge, simulator, driver posters, so on). I didn’t notice anything different from when we went to the race in Montreal. Well they have a ferris wheel which likely would have been fun to try but we didn’t get around to it.

The Food

In my research, I had read that food at the track wasn’t great and quite expensive by Hungarian standards so we brought our own every day. The only thing we bought were some Heineikens. Also all the food seems to be pre-prepared and sits there all day.

Note that they have plenty of water stations to fill up your water bottle and compared to the water at Disneyland, it actually tastes good so we kept filling up all day.

Where to Sit

Grandstands

Like I mentioned at the beginning, we got tickets for the Podium grandstand. It is located at the start of the main straight but one level up from the grid 1, 2, and 3 grandstands. You have an amazing view of the track. You get to see a bit between turns 5 and 6, and then from turns 10 to 12. You do lose the cars a bit here and there between 12 to 14. You also get to view part of the pits (we saw the McLaren garage); however, you don’t get to see the end of the main straight where most of the passing occurs. As you would expect with a name like that, you do get to see the podium.

If I was to go again, I would buy either tickets to Apex 1 (A1 on the map) which gives you pretty much the same view (although a bit lower) but all the way down the main straight. Alternatively, tickets for the Turn 1 grandstand would be great or potentially splurge and get tickets for the Hungaroring Grandstand (H or HP on the map) which is right across from the pits.

General Admission

If you prefer to save some money and want to do the General Admission route, there are some really great vantage points to watch the race but just be ready to arrive when the gates open on Sunday and go mark your spot. There is an area to the right of the GP2 grandstand which is pretty much the best view. It is higher than Apex 1 so you get to see more of the track and still see down the main straight and also you have a screen in front. The other spot would be to the left of grandstands C3 and C1. It is in theory fenced off but security was pretty lax so on Friday, I got to watch the end of FP1 from there. You also have access to a screen.

Conclusion

Overall, the Hungarian Grand Prix was a great experience. We got to go to a country that I hadn’t really had plans on traveling to before and it was great. Budapest is very beautiful and not too touristy. It is easy to get around, the food is very good, and overall everything is not too expensive even during an F1 race weekend. Compared to say Austin or Montreal where hotel prices are so jacked up during the F1 race weekend. Once we got the hang of getting to and from the track, it was fine (again as long as you are ok to be pressed like sardines). We took the opportunity to chat to other fans on the train (and at the track) and met people from all over the world. Made the trips go faster.

I hope you found this guide useful. If you have any questions, feel free to enter them in the comments section, I will try to answer as quickly as I can.

Guide to the Hungarian Grand Prix