Tour details:
- Level of support:
* Fully guided and supported (one of us cycles always with the group, and there is a support bus available for the whole group at any time)
- Level of difficulty:
* Easy to moderate
* Flat or undulating (with some inclines in some areas)
- Cycling distance:
* Total 282 kms/176 miles
* Daily approx. 19 - 54 kms/12 – 34 miles.
This is a wonderful holiday for lovers of nature, antique buildings, history, and culture. We will stay in wonderfully located castles, have superb gastronomic experiences in small but outstanding hotels and restaurants, and taste very special wines in some of the best cellars of the world-famous Tokaj, and the historic Eger wine-regions.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Budapest.
Your hotel is situated right at the woods on the top of the Buda hills. Its lovely surroundings and swimming pool, sauna, or massage possibilities will make you feel relaxed quickly. You will meet your tour guide at the reception, have a welcome drink, information about the tour, and dinner in the cosy restaurant of the hotel.
Day 2: Budapest to Szilvásvárad
We take a bus transfer to the Mátra Hills. Near one of the highest points we stop at a nice glade, have a short lunch, set our bikes. Rolling down through very nice woods, we will stop at some panoramic viewpoints, visit a small crystal workshop, and a horse carriage museum near Parád, where you can see why the word "coach" derives from Hungary. We take our bus to get to Szilvásvárad, a nice village where the famous Lipizzan horses are bred in Hungary. Our dinner is something quite special that swims in the Szalajka Stream, which flows near our small hotel we stay.
Day 3: A Magical World of Dripstones
After taking a bus transfer along beautiful landscapes, we arrive at the Aggtelek Karst Hills, where the special micro-climate offers ideal circumstances for many scarce flowers, birds, and the Fire Salamander, which is the logo of the National Park. Here we take a two-hours tour in the Baradla Stalactite Caves. It is a fantastic realm of truly astounding drips tone formations. It is peerless throughout whole Europe, and it is the longest lime-stone cave of the temperate zone, a part of the UNESCO World Heritage. We enter a phantasmagorical subterranean domain, where the stunning scale of the drip stone phantoms conjure up a mysterious fairy-tale world. Walking through narrow passages and occasionally enormous halls, we will see here several lovely formations, even a Hall of Giants, where we can listen to some well known melodies with special acoustics. In a charming village, Josvafo we will have lunch at a nice village museum and a small stream. After another short busride, we cycle along nice fields, hills and views, and get to a little village, where we stay in a small castle, which was owned by the famous Pallavicini family in the old days. The wonderfully renovated building, with its antique furniture, quiet location, and beautiful park, is an ideal place for relaxation.
Day 4: Small treasures of the Zemplen Hills
We cycle to Vizsoly, where the Bible was printed first time in Hungarian language in 1590. There is an original copy in the 13 century church, so let’s have a look. Going further we stop in Gönc village, where the special sized oak casks, which are used for the famous Tokaj Aszu wine, - derive from. We visit here a small museum in a 17th century "Huszita" village house built in a typical local style. Then we pass by nice hills, have a lunch break in the wood, near a small ice cave and a cold spring. Cycling through nice woods we get to a rather quiet village, where we stay in a hunting lodge. We leave our bikes here, and take the bus to Füzér. Already from the distance we can enjoy the picturesque view of the ruins of the medieval castle on the top of a volcanic hill. It looks like a real peinture. We climb up the hill which is covered by plenty of colorful grasses and flowers, and take a walk among the ruins of the castle, where the Holy Crown of the Hungarian kings was hidden from the Turks in the 16th century. The panorama of the surrounding hills is simply breathtaking from here. After this short trip we enjoy the lovely flavour of our home made dinner, the peacefulness and the great view from the terrace of our hotel.
Day 5: Tokaj wine-region
We cycle among small hills and still enjoy the lovely scenery all around. Then we take a very quiet road through a beautiful forest, and some charming hidden villages. After a long ride in the wood we arrive at another World Heritage Site, the historic Tokaj wine-region, where the noblest sweet wine of the world, the Tokaj Aszu is made. It is called "The Wine of the Kings, and the King of the Wines". The special micro-climate, and volcanic soil, the protected explosure, the late vintage, the special casks, the cellars covered with noble mould, the local expertise, and respect of traditions make the area a unique treasure of the world. We ride among picturesque vineyards, and arrive at the village of coopers. Here lived Máté Szepsi Laczkó, a priest who made the first Aszu wine in 1630. And we stay here in an excellent small hotel with a lovely swimming pool, and a very good cuisine. But before tasting their delicacies, we go to the neighbouring Tolcsva, where we sample some wine, in the unique atmosphere of their kilometers long cellars, hollowed out of the volcanic tuff by hand in the 13th century.
Day 6: The Rákóczi Castle in Sárospatak
We take a short bus transfer to Sárospatak, an important cultural center due to its Reformed Church College, which was one of the strongest "fortresses" of education in Hungary from the 16th century. We visit here one of the most valuable fortified castles of Hungary. It was built throughout the 16-18th centuries, so the different parts represent different ages. The Late-Renaissance Lórántffy-loggia, and the Perényi-wing are among the most beautiful monuments of the Hungarian architecture. In the 17th century it became the estate of the Rákóczi family, which played a very important role in our history. Several eminent members of the family were reigning princes of Transylvania, and made the castle the center of freedom fighters in the 18th century. Many historic events took place here, such as a conspiracy in the Sub Rosa room, and in 1708 the last meeting of the leaders of the freedom fights against the Habsburgs.
We climb up the oldest part of the castle, the Red Tower, and see the nice view of the River Bodrog from the bastions, and then we can have a look at the exhibition about the castle, the Rákóczi family, the history of the war of independence, and some antique arms and furniture. After all these we cycle in a quiet natural environment between the River Bodrog and Tisza. We cross the Tisza on a romantic old ferry, and ride to Tokaj, which is the center of the famous wine-region. We stay in a luxurious castle hotel in the vicinity. The beautiful old furniture in the former mansion conjure up a real 19th century atmosphere. It’s a property of the Degenfeld family, which played a significant role in the the wine region, and their vineyards provide outstanding wines even now. Here you can refresh yourself either from inside on the terrace, or from outside in the outdoor swimming pool, in the beautiful park, or take a walk in the lovely streets of Tokaj.
Day 7: From Castle to Castle
We cycle along some dead arms of the small river Takta, where we can see dozens of egrets, storks and other birds. We stop in Szerencs at another castle of the Rákóczis, and get to Monok, where we visit an interesting museum about the life of Lajos Kossuth. The greatest Hungarian politician, who was the leader of the biggest war of independence against the Austrian in 1848-49, was born in this old manor-house. After the revolution was defeated, he lived in emigration in the United States, England and Italy. He is a great ideal of all ages, and enjoys a very high respect even now. Anywhere you go in Hungary, you can find his statues, and streets named after him.
From here we ride on to Tállya, where is the geometrical central point of Europe. This is also a remarkable village of the Tokaj region, so we have a delicious lunch with wine tasting here in a lovely old mansion, just to keep the exceptional flavors of the region in our mind, as we need to leave this beautiful area. But we shouldn’t be sad, we will travel to another nice one, the Bükk Hills. After a short bus ride we have a look at the Diósgyor Castle, which was the favorite residence of King Lajos the Great in the 14th century, and where one of Europe’s largest historic wax-works show is. We take a narrow-gauge railways to Lillafüred, where we stay in a romantic Renaissance Palace-Hotel. The whole setting here with Lake Hámor, wedged between massive hills, and reflecting the picture of the palace, the view of Hungary’s largest waterfalls from the creeper-covered terraces below the palace, and the beautiful park behind it, provide a really picturesque impression.
Day 8: Miracles of Nature in the Bükk Hills
Passing by an open-air spectacle, an ancient furnace in Újmassa, we get with our bus up the Bükk Plateau, where we start cycling today. Some of the rocks that encircle this enormous limestone block, rises over 800 meters. Steep valleys, blunt peaks, broad and narrow ridges, gullies, sink holes, dolines, and open shafts make its karst surface variegated. More than 850 caves can be found here. We will cycle through untouched oak, hornbeam, beech and pine woods, and along colorful meadows that are richly decorated by various and scarce flowers, such as the Northern Dragonhead or the Lady’s Slipper Orchid. If we are lucky, we can even see the renowned Lipizzan stud. Rolling down the hill, we walk up a wooden look out tower, to admire the astonishing panorama from the top of it, and further we ride down to the Szalajka Valley, which belongs to the main attractions of the Bükk.
We go up with the narrow-gauge railways, and walk down along the scenic highlights of the stream: the picturesque "Fátyol Falls", a Rock Spring, beautiful ponds with incredible green colour, and plenty of trouts, and an open-air forest museum. After this beautiful tour we take a bus transfer to a small village near Eger. The small family-run hotel where we stay, is an absolutely fantastic place in an enchanting surroundings right at the wood. It is like an antique shop, full of old village furniture, and owing to the friendliness of the owners, and the familiar and unreserved atmosphere here you can feel yourself totally at home. We will be members of the family for two nights. Mummy is an excellent cook here, so it is very hard to refrain from eating up all her delicious home made surprises. Fortunately they have very good home made schnappses too to open your stomach properly before dinner.
Day 9: Folk Art, Thermal bath and wine tasting
After cycling through charming villages that are well known for their old traditions such as making wine, plum jam and prune, special baskets or pottery, we arrive at Mezkövesd, the capital of a special ethnographic group: the Matyó people. They have the most ornamented traditional costume in Hungary. Plenty of flowers are embroidered in their clothes, which are extremely rich in colors. We visit here some small museums in nice old thatched village houses where you can see how the people lived in the old days, and plenty of old furniture, hand embroidered dresses and tableclothes, dolls, gingerbreads or eggs, all decorated with the colorful local patterns. Also you can watch some secrets, how to weave or embroider, or how to make a doll.
This is a perfect place to by some souvenirs. From here we go to one of the most wellknown thermal baths of Hungary, where numerous indoor and outdoor pools with thermal water of different temperatures, entertainment pools and many cure possibilities are waiting for you in a nice surroundings. After we made our muscles recovered, we get back to our hotel, where you can have some relaxation, or enjoy the nice fresh air and tranquillity in the garden. As we are in the historic wine region of Eger, which is the home of a famous red wine, the "Bull’s Blood", tonight we will have a wine tasting and dinner in the neighborhood in a 100 year old wine-cellar of a very kind family, which has won the "Best wine maker of the year", and a number of other international prizes. Their home made bread, apple-filled duck, cooked in earthen vessel, and the baked cakes stuffed with plum jam, will slide into our stomach well with the number of excellent wines we taste here.
Day 10: Eger, the Baroque jewel
After a sad moment when we leave our lovely hotel, we will visit the historic city center of Eger, one of the most beautiful Baroque towns of Hungary. First we will have a tour among the medieval rooms, tunnels, walls and bastions of the fortress of Eger, to see some of the interesting exhibitions there. The Siege of Eger, - when the heroic defenders succeeded to protect the fortress against the Turks in 1552 - is a well known novel about one of the greatest victories of our history. Our next stop will be the second biggest cathedral of Hungary, where we will listen to a beautiful organ concert.
Then we will take walk to admire some of the nicest Baroque buildings of Hungary, such as the Minorite church, the Lyceum with its high observatory tower and library which preserves the oldest book printed in Hungarian, the Archiepiscopal Palace, the County Hall with its fine wrought iron gate, and many other beautiful houses. It is quite alluring to have a drink or some good cakes in one of the nice confectioneries, and enjoy the charming atmosphere of the town. After this all, we take a bus transfer to our hotel in Budapest, where you can have some rest or drinks, or maybe a swim, before we have our farewell dinner there.
Day 11: After enjoying breakfast in the nice atmosphere of your hotel, we hope that you will leave with nice memories for a lifetime.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- 10 nights accommodation in high quality castles, mansions, small hotels with lovely atmosphere
- 10 breakfasts and 3 course gourmet dinners, with drinks and excellent wines
- Picnics and drinks during cycling
- 3 x wine tasting in some of the best wine makers' ancient cellars
- Full English speaking guiding throughout the tour
- Full technical support, special trailer for the bikes and luggage
- Air conditioned support bus for the whole group
- All the bus transfers, sightseeing tours, visits of the program
- 2 x romantic narrow gauge train rides
- All the museum, castle, cave, church, organ concert, bath tickets as in the itinerary
- Very good quality hybrid bikes with 24 gears, suspension, and panniers
- Souvenir water-bottle and TNS t-shirt
- Sights, most beautiful and quiet routes
- Free airport-hotel transfers in Budapest.
Price Excludes:
- Your travel between Budapest and your home, before and after the tour
- Travel and health insurance.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
Hungary
Outdoor: Land Rambler
Bicycle Touring
Cultural Journey
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