Here We Go!

Most of the people from abroad and even Hungarians may think that Hungary is not an ideal place for hiking. There are no dizzyingly high mountains, (the highest point is called Kékestető, “only” 1,014 meters above sea level) deep canyons, and dangerous volcanos. Although, we do not have these features, Hungary has several spectacular places for everyone who loves being outdoors. The monadnocks of Balaton Highlands, (Hun: Balaton-felvidék) the Danube Bend (Hun: Dunakanyar), and the Hortobágy, which is the largest natural grassland in Europe, are only some of the wonders of this small but beautiful country.

I have been hiking for years now and I also participated in canoe and cycling trips in Hungary and on abroad as well. Originally, I was required to create a blog as an academic task. I reckon it is really hard to find a good blog topic which is not hackneyed; it is even harder to write engaging posts about it weekly. I realized that outdoor activities are parts of my life, so I decided to create this blog and share my hiking experiences with everyone who would like to hike here and feel the unique atmosphere of Hungarian landscape.  

For the first time, I was hiking near my hometown at Sopron-mountains, (Hun: Soproni-hegység, Ger: Ödenburger-Gebirge) close to the "Foot of the Alps" and I became attached to this activity and nature there. Some of my posts will focus on the hiking opportunities in that particular area. Now I am studying in Budapest; therefore, I can easily go for a trip to Buda-hills (Hun: Budai-hegység) or Pilis Mountains (Hun: Pilis hegység). I am a rather spontaneous person, so I do not do thorough planning before hiking; I just find a destination, take a relevant map, put on my boots and start off. Of course, in this blog I will provide the readers with every piece of necessary information about the hike and the essential gear which must be used.  

And finally, I would like to recommend a useful book: (If you happen to be a Hungarian reader you are lucky). Balázs Nagy, Trekkingtúrázás Magyarországi túraútvonalak. Budapest: CSER, 2011. I find this book really advantageous. It contains not only illustrated descriptions of Hungarian hiking trails, but it serves with some general advices about hiking. Fortunately, the structure of the book is so clear that you can easily deduce the most important pieces of information, (destination, length, elevation) even if you are a non-Hungarian person.  

Thank you for reading this, next week it is going to be more exciting! See you!