Autumn excursions around Budapest

If you are tired of big city life and sightseeing, you can escape for a day to one of these less touristy daytrip destinations.

Danube Bend

The Danube Bend (Dunakanyar in Hungarian) is a scenic area, where the Danube River takes sharp turn between the mountains. The originally 1300-1500 m high volcano has been degraded and fractioned by landslides and subsequent geological processes to the remains which are now the wooded hills of Pilis, Visegradi and Borzsony Mountains, a wonderful landscape that became nature lovers' paradise.

Pilis and the Visegradi Mountains

The highest point of the Visegrad Mountains is Dobogo-ko (700 m). Dobogo-ko (means Pulsating stone), is a special place to visit. Not just the beautiful scenery but the legend and the esoteric thinking as well are drawing more and more visitors to the place where the hearth of the Earth beats. Even the Dalai Lama declared, when he visited Hungary and Dobogo-ko, that „the so called power and energy centers are being counted not only in a Human body but on Earth as well. According to tradition, the Earth hearth chakra is in Hungary, more exactly in the area called Pilis.” 

To get there

• Bus from the Arpad-hid (ArpAd bridge) bus terminal  - aprox. 1 hour.
  
• Suburban railway (known as HEV) from the center of Budapest to Pomaz or Szentendre. From the Pomaz HEV station, there is also a bus to Dobogo - ko. It's a good idea to take it to pass through the village, in order to avoid a rather boring walk and have more time to walk around the forest. – aprox 1 hour 15 min.

Borzsony Mountain

For nature lover travelers, Borzsony is a perfect place to escape from the rushing human world. This mountain range is located not far from the capital; Budapest, so easily accessible to make a perfect one day trip. On the north and the west, Borzsony is bordered by the Ipoly river, which is also a state border between Slovakia and Hungary. On the south, it is separated from the Visegrad Mountains by the Danube river. The highest point of Borzsony is Csovanyos (938 m), followed by Magosfa (916 m). Magosfa is also called Tatralato, since in clear days, the High Tatras in Slovakia are possible to be seen from the area.
Despite the vicinity of the capital, the trails of Borzsony are usually not too crowded, especially the north and west, which require more time and effort to approach.

To get there

• Train from Nyugati Railway Station to Vác or  to Szob or to Kismaros – 35-55 min.
  
• From Kismaros there are narrow gauge railways that crawl a few kilometers up into the mountains to Kiralyret, which can be your starting locations for hikes.