Budapest - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
The Pest side has primarily apartments and the Buda side has houses and some apartments. Most families choose to live on the Buda side because it is closer to the international school. However, the commute to the embassy can be lengthy from Buda (45+ minutes), especially if you are relying on mass transit. Many of the apartments on the Pest side are within easy walking distance of the Embassy (fewer than 15 minutes) or within easy access of the tram, metro, or bus. Our apartment was fantastic! Spacious, with three bedrooms, one block from Parliament and two blocks from the Danube. Grocery stores nearby and tram under a 5 minute walk. Our elevator would break down sporadically. All apartments we visited were very nice. - Feb 2020
Live in a house on the Buda side. Nice quiet neighborhood, near hiking, and biking trails. House sizes are all over the board. More apartments on the Pest side. Commute times vary from 20 minutes to 45 minutes. Many take public transportation, which is good. - Nov 2018
Buda is not the suburbs (as I read it often); the community lives in Districts I (near the Var/Castle area), II, and XII out of 23 districts (23rd is near the airport in Pest). Being on the Buda side does not necessarily mean living in a house with a garden. It could be an apartment without garden. Being in Pest does not necessarily mean being 5-minute walking distance from the center, you could have a 20-minute commute by bus (Stefania). Some Embassy apartments don't have elevators from the ground floor to the apartment. And it could be three floors high (think strollers, arthritis, etc.). Singles and childless couples tend to be in apartments in Pest while families tend to be in townhouses, stand-alone houses, and very spacious apartments in Buda (the tree-filled, hilly suburb side). There was a trend in 2016 for families with many kids wanting to live in Pest; it meant a huge commute for kids who did not have their friends around them. - Dec 2017
Singles and childless couples tend to be in apartments in Pest (the "City" side of Budapest). Families tend to be in townhouses, stand-alone houses, and very spacious apartments in Buda (the tree-filled, hilly suburb side). - Jan 2012
We lived on the Pest side in an amazing apartment with three levels and two large terraces. Generally, embassy housing seems to be larger than what I've seen elsewhere, on both the Buda and the Pest sides. Those who live in Pest tend to live in spacious apartments near the embassy (generally within a 30-minute walk). Those who live on the Buda side tend to live in standalone houses with yards or townhouses with small yards. Those on the Buda side commute via public transport or car. - Apr 2010
We lived in a fairly large apartment and there were 4 of us. - Dec 2009
Housing consists of apartments closer to work in Pest for singles/couples/sometimes families with young children with commute of 5-30 minutes. Townhomes, apartments, houses, duplexes are in Buda hills for most families and some couples/singles -- commute range from 35 minutes to over an hour, often with steep uphill/downhill walks which are a lot longer during snowy/ice periods in winter. The American school is located in a remote valley -- 45 minute+ commutes are common. - Feb 2008
