Tour details:
- Length of tour: 8 days / 7 nights
- 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, absolutely flat
- Cycling distance: total 249 kms/155 miles, daily 22 - 57 kms/14 - 35 miles approx.
This is a wonderful holiday for lovers of unspoilt nature, birds, romantic water-worlds, amenities of splendid hotels, excellent wines, and superb gastronomic experiences. During this very nice and easy tour we will taste very special wines in the world-famous Tokaj Wine-Region (World Heritage Site). We will cycle along idyllic landscapes of the River Tisza, to the miraculous Hortobágy Puszta National Park, where we will see the traditional Hungarian domestic animals during a horse-carriage drive with a spectacular horse-show. We will take a fantastic boat tour on Lake Tisza, an enchanting bird and water sport paradise, where we will stay in a lovely thermal-hotel. After cycling along the Lake, we stay at a nice castle hotel, and later in a rather special hotel right at the River Körös, where we take walk in a beautiful botanic garden. Coming back to Budapest we stop and see some wonderful Art Nouveau and Eclectic buildings in the capital of apricot schnapps, Kecskemét.
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 well, and relaxed quickly. You will meet with your tour guide at the reception at 6pm, and have a welcome drink, information about the tour, and dinner in the cosy restaurant of the hotel.
Day 2: The Legendary Tokaj Wine-Region
We drive through Budapest, along the beautiful Andrássy Avenue, take a bus transfer towards the famous Tokaj Wine-Region, and after getting to the River Tisza we can have a look at the castle of the Andrássy family as well! The marvelous English-Gothic building is surrounded by ancient trees of a rather romantic English-garden. We cycle there in a nice area near the Tisza, and we end up at Tállya, which is a significant village of the historic wine-region, and the geometrical central point of Europe. Another greatest Hungarian politician of the 19th century, Lajos Kossuth was baptized in the protestant church here. Making special wine is a great tradition here since the middle-ages, and the small story - when a Hungarian Archbishop gave some wine from Tállya to Pope Gregory XVI, after drinking it the Pope said: ”This kind of wine suits the Pope the best” - well describes the quality. We have a really gourmet dinner with tasting quite special wines of this place, such as the unique „Aszu”, the noblest sweet-wine of the world, in a fabulous restaurant of an antique mansion, near the nice small hotel where we stay.
Day 3: Along the Romantic River Tisza
We take a short bus transfer to the Tisza, and we cycle all day on the very peaceful embankment of the river, along beautiful flood plain forests with a lot of birds, and picturesque landscapes of this untouched area. We stop for a lunch at a small and romantic Fishermen’s-Inn (Csárda) at the river-bank, and cycle on to Tiszafüred at Lake Tisza. We stay 2 nights here in a very beautiful Spa-hotel right at the shore, with a nice view of the lake, and lovely indoor thermal and outdoor swimming pools, and various wellness facilities. (appr. 54 km cycling)
Day 4: Hortobagy Puszta - Where the Sky Touches the Ground
This is the largest continuous steppe of Europe, a colorful mosaic of different natural habitats, alkaline grasslands and meadows, smaller and bigger marshes enclosed between them. The endless horizon with a mirage, the breathtaking sunsets, and the sweep-pole wells are just some of its fantastic landscape features. We will take a horse-carriage drive with a spectacular horse show in Hortobágy Puszta, where we will see the ancient Hungarian domestic animals that live out in the puszta, such as the Noniusz Horses, Grey Cattle, Racka Sheep, Mangalica Pigs, Water Buffalos, and we can get acquainted with the traditional life of the local herdsmen. After this we will visit a Herdsman Museum, and a small market place at the famous Hortobágy-Stone Bridge, where you can see and buy beautiful products of the local handicraft. We will have lunch in an old „Csárda” Inn, and then we cycle among huge fishponds and reeds that are one of the most important waterbird breeding and stop over sites of Europe. Here we can watch some of the 340 registered bird species, such as Storks, Spoonbills (largest colony in Middle Europe), Grey, Purple or Night Herons, Great White Egrets, Cormorants, Gees, Lapwings, and many others. After all these experiences we have a nice rest and dinner at the same hotel again. (appr. 30 km cycling)
Day 5: Lake Tisza - an Unspoiled Paradise
We get on little fishing-motor-boats to enjoy the peerless atmosphere of this romantic water-world which is a wonderful place for bird watching, fishing, swimming, canoeing and other water sports. We will see plenty of white and yellow flowers of big Water-Lily, Floating Heart and Waterchestnut fields, decorating the lake wonderfully, and we can watch many Gulls, Cormorants, Herons, Mallards, Whiskered or Black Terns, Coots, Great Crested Grebes, Marsh Harriers, and several other birds among the reeds and woods in the narrow deadarms and channels, and on the huge open water surfaces. We will even take a walk on a small hidden island, to get a deeper insight into the extremely rich flora and fauna of the area, and the life of the local fishermen. After this unique experience we can have a swim too (and a lunch), and we cycle along the lake to a nice castle Hotel near the river. (appr 41 km cycling)
Day 6: A Fabulous Botanic Garden
We cycle on the Great Plain through charming and quiet villages to a small town Szarvas, where we cross the River Körös on a romantic ferry, visit a wonderful botanic garden with a lot of ancient trees. We stay there in a rather special and beautiful hotel in a nice park, right at the small river, with lovely swimming pools and wellness possibilities. (appr 57 km cycling)
Day 7: Kecskemet - The Capital of Apricot Schnapps
We take a short bus transfer, cycle through some nice areas to the Tisza, have a picnic near the river, and from there we take bus drive to Kecskemét. Many well known Hungarian were born here, as well as Zoltán Kodály, the famous music teacher. It is worth having a walk here around one of the nicest main squares of the country, where the wonderful Eclectical, Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings and the many different churches provide the downtown with a rather individual character. After a short break in the lovely coffee or souvenir shops, we take the bus again to get to Budapest, where we have a farewell dinner. (appr 22 km cycling)
Day 8: 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:
- 7 nights accommodation 4-star hotels
- 7 breakfasts, and 3 course gourmet dinners, always with drinks and excellent wines
- 1x wine tasting in Tokaj Wine-Region, in a lovely old restaurant
- Picnics and drinks during cycling
- 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, guided sightseeing and visits of the program
- A wonderful boat trip on Lake Tisza
- A horse-carriage drive and a horse show in the Hortobágy Puszta
- All the museum and ferry 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
Email it to a friend:
Click here to email this vacation to a friend
|
, ext: 18352
