From Budapest to Kiev

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Hi everyone!

A quite long and even more romantic story of mine makes me want to go to Kiev from Budapest (my hometown) in the beginning of November. I know I have a lot of time left, my only problem is the money: being a 21 years old student with very little income of my own (which was mostly consumed in the summer while living my long and romantic story..., price is more than an issue for me... sadly.

I have been googling for a while now and I have found threads on this very site aswell, but I still dont have a solid answer.
It seems to me that the cheapest way might be doing something like this:
http://hubpages.com/hub/kiev-budapest-by-train
the other way around...
Is that correct?
I have a Hungarian student ID so I can make it to the border Záhony for around 15 Euros, but Im not quite sure if there is a reliable way to get across the border from Záhony to Chop, and I couldnt find the fare and timetable from Chop to Kiev and the other way.

Can someone help me?
Budget is truly the no.1 priority. I even speak a little russian that might come handy and also had 'extreme' train experiences like taking the transsib from Irkutsk to Moscow all alone

Thanks in advance!

Tamas

Since you have Hungarian Student ID (gives you 50% off any domestic journey with MAV), thus obviously your best choice is to go from Budapest to Zahony, then cross the border till Chop and use domestic Ukrainian train till Kiev.
Actually there are 6 direct Zahony-Chop and 5 direct Chop-Kiev trains per day, so you have a variety of choices here. As result it all depends on time you want to leave Budapest or arrive to Kiev.
Chop-Kiev trains (all Ukrainian time, +1 hour comparing to Budapest):
4:18-20:00, train #15 (till Moscow via Kiev), rather expensive since served by Russian railways, 130 UAH for "platskartnyi" and 204 UAH for "kupe".
15:37-7:19, train #100, 97 UAH for "platskartnyi" and 148 UAH for "kupe"
16:45-9:23, train #82, best train on route (fast schedule, newer carriages etc.), 98 UAH for "platskartnyi" and 152 UAH for "kupe"
20:26-12:14, train #8, 86 UAH for "platskartnyi" and 128 UAH for "kupe"
22:42-14:33, train #14,  85 UAH for "platskartnyi" and 127 UAH for "kupe"
From our experience cashiers in Chop speak Hungarian with no problems, so it would be quite easy to buy UZ domestic tickets.

Timetable for Zahony-Chop you can easily find on MAV website, fare for this connection is around 950-1000 HUF (4 day return ticket), if you plan to stay more than 4 days in Ukraine, then it makes sense to buy two one way tickets instead (app. 3 euro per ticket).

I'm thinking of making the same journey, also in early November, but in the other direction. This info has been very useful. Just 2 quick questions about Hungarian trains:

1. Does an ISIC card work for the discount or does it need to be a Hungarian student card?
2. From Budapest I'd like to go onwards to Serbia. How much (roughly) is a ticket from Budapest to Belgrade, and is there some kind of discount ticket for buying a return fare to a neighboring country?

Thanks very much!

1. Does an ISIC card work for the discount or does it need to be a Hungarian student card?

Unfortunately, but no, only Hungarian student card holders are entitled for the discount. As result, it makes sense to buy direct Chop-Budapest ticket (20 euro), since it will be cheaper than combination of Chop-Zahony and full fare Zahony-Budapest.

2. From Budapest I'd like to go onwards to Serbia. How much (roughly) is a ticket from Budapest to Belgrade, and is there some kind of discount ticket for buying a return fare to a neighboring country?

15 euro one way and 26 return. It is special offer, but number of tickets is unlimited, so you can buy your ticket even 10 minutes before train departure. On all other return tickets in connection Hungary-Serbia you receive 60% off.

perfect, thanks so much for your help!!