River Ride: The floating bus
Posted by Katalin Török · Oct 6, 2014

Have you seen the yellow bus with the strange shape, that floats in the Danube sometimes? That must have been River Ride, the funny vehicle, which offers a sight of Budapest you probably haven’t seen before.

There are plenty of options if you look for a sightseeing tour in Budapest, but there’s only one, which you can experience with, what it feels like sailing in the Danube with a bus. River Ride has a lot in common with other unique vehicles of Budapest – such as the Millenium Underground line: both are yellow, both operate in Budapest, and both of them were the first of their kinds in the European continent.

Photo: http://riverride.hu

River Ride is a bus and a boat at the same time. It may have a strange shape on the land, but this shape makes sense when the bus turns down from the quay of Pest and enters the Danube. Basically two drivers would be required to operate it: one, that can drive the bus on the land, and a captain, who knows everything about water transport. Another peculiarity by River Ride is that they have only one driver, who knows this all.

Customers say it is fascinating, when the bus enters the river – it is no wonder River Ride has achieved TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence already twice (in 2013 and 2014).

The approximately 1 hour 45 minute sightseeing tour starts from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences by the Chain Bridge, and visits most of Budapest’s iconic sights – first, on the ground. St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Great Synagogue, Opera House, Heroes’ Square – you can see it all before the great splash, when the bus enters the river from a 70 meter long ramp near St. Stephen’s Park. It is even fun to watch – in good weather, many people gather on the river bank just to see this unusual happening.

photo: http://riverride.hu

Continuing the tour in the river, the bus descends below the Parliament, going under Margaret Bridge. It is the perfect opportunity to look at the Royal Palace, the Parliament, and the Chain Bridge from a new point of view. After reaching the shore again, Széchenyi István Square is the final target, passing through the Pest lower quayside. In case of dry land road blockages and high water level, the route of the tour can change.

Official tours start several times a day (see below), but if you’d like, you can also rent the River Ride bus and ask for a personalized route. One thing is 100% sure: it is not something that’s available everywhere.

photo: http://riverride.hu

Times of departure:

1 April - 31 October: 10:00 12:00 15:00 17:00

1 November - 31 March: 11:00 13:00 15:00

Departure point: 7/8 Széchenyi István Square

Prices:

Adult (from the age of 14): 7500 HUF/person

Junior (from the age of 6 to 14): 5000 HUF/person

For children under the age of 6 the sightseeing tour is free.

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