After five weeks in Belgrade, it had come time for us to head to our final location for our travel: Budapest, Hungary. We had looked at a few options for how to get to our location in District VII of Budapest, and had very early on decided against taking a plane. Ultimately, we decided to use a service I found called AutoTurist.
AutoTurist: From Belgrade to Budapest
Which Choice To Choose?
Our decision against the plane was quite simply due to price. We could not get the great deals in Europe that Briana was able to find in Asia, and the time cost was not going to be that significantly better – if at all.
Our initial idea was to take a train, after all, trains and Europe seem to be something that naturally goes together. What we didn’t realize was just how expensive the train was still going to be, so we looked at how to best do the train. The night train between Belgrade and Budapest is what we first found, but upon it seemed to have a bunch of horror stories. Many travelers reported scams from officials, problems at the borders, rampant theft, and the stories just went on. With our train experience in Sri Lanka still leaving a bad taste in our mouth, we desperately searched for another option that would be safer and less difficult.
We looked into the idea of taking a ferry up the Danube, but unfortunately that doesn’t exist. A bus was starting to look okay, we didn’t have any issues with our bus to Siem Reap or within Vietnam, but buses can still be a little uncomfortable.
AutoTurist
Finally I found an option that really seemed to be our answer: AutoTurist. The company didn’t have that many reviews or much of a presence online, but I liked the basic premise. They operated transportation between Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Budapest, going each way. You are picked up anywhere in the city and take you to any address in the other cities.
The price was $30 each, a little more expensive than the train, but far cheaper than a plane or taxi. I think it was well worth it for the convenience, plus we did save money avoiding taxis to the train stations.
Traveling
AutoTurist Pickup
We were picked up at 7:15 from our AirBNB in Belgrade and loaded into the back of a minibus. Our driver picked up a few other passengers around the city and we went on our way to Budapest by 8:00.
The drive was smooth and easy, although uncomfortable for Briana who had to use the bathroom the whole time. We made a short stop in Novi Sad to pick up / drop off someone, and made another stop just before crossing the border.
Border Crossing
Once we got to the border, we ran into the first hiccup – though we didn’t realize it at first. We all gathered our passports (about 8 of us) and handed them to the driver. He then provided them to the customs agent. We had to wait in a queue of cars for nearly an hour. It seemed to be going fine though, but the other passengers were getting alarmed as this had apparently never happened. We then, along with all the other cars, were told to empty out and were inspected.
Annoyingly, we had to unzip our packs and show everything. The border officials were nice though, they didn’t seem to be particularly suspicious or anything, just doing their jobs. The process took about fifteen minutes to get through everything. The official was interested in my ukulele. He ensured that it actually worked and wasn’t filled contraband. Afterwards, we got back in the minibus and proceeded on.
Meet a Few Locals
At that point, one of the passengers had become a bit more talkative. He told us that this had never happened before. Usually, it was a simple process to drive across, but on that day the officials were checking everyone (not just our car). They must have been looking for something or someone.
He was yet another digital nomad we have come across in our travels. While he was Serbian, he had lived a long time in Australia, worked in Dubai, and spoke excellent English. Our conversation lasted quite a while and died off shortly before getting into Budapest. During that time, he was acting as a translator between us, the bus driver and a few others. At the end, we also spoke to another woman as we drove through the city center.
Arrival
The bus made a few stops in Budapest, starting with the airport. With each stop we lost one of our fellow travelers until we were the last passengers remaining. Finally we were dropped off at our AirBNB door in District VII, ready to explore the city.
