Destination: Hungary

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Over Hill & Beyond Dale

ONE WEEK

You’ll get both the ‘ups’ and the ‘downs’ of northern and eastern Hungary – the so-called Northern Uplands and the Great Plain – on this 345km trip. There’s plenty to do – from exploring historical cities like Eger and Debrecen to wine-tasting in Gyöngyös and bird-watching in the Hortobágy region.



Hungary’s uplands to the north are hardly what you could call dramatic. But they have a gentle beauty all their own and nestling within the hills are important historical towns and traditional villages.

From Budapest head north to Vác, arguably the most attractive town on the Danube Bend, and then on to Balassagyarmat, the capital of the traditional Palóc region. Continue due east to Szécsény, site of a pivotal battle and a delightful manor house. Dip down through the rolling Cserhát Hills to Hollóko, a ‘museum town’ of Hungarian traditions. From here the road winds through the eastern Cserhát and foothills of the Mátra Hills to Gyöngyös, where you’ll start an almost tortuous drive through the hills past Kékesteto, Hungary’s highest point, and scary Recsk, site of what was once Hungary’s most brutal forced-labour camp.

Lovely baroque Eger awaits you at the end of the high road. For a taste of Hungary’s ‘lowlands’ – the Great Plain – head southeast via Tiszafüred and Hortobágy National Park to Debrecen , nicknamed ‘Calvinist Rome’, the country’s second-largest city.