Salgótarján is roughly 120 kilometres northeast of Budapest, an easy two-hour drive on the M3 motorway and the road north past Hatvan. By rail, direct trains run from Budapest Nyugati station several times a day, taking around two and a half hours.
For travellers coming from Slovakia, the Lučenec–Salgótarján road crossing at Somoskőújfalu is the closest border point, with no major queues at any hour.