Walk 6124 - A walk in the Bukk Plateau from Szilvasvarad

   
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The Bükk National Park is an area some 43,130 hectares, with 3774 hectares protected to a greater extent. It is located deep in the heart of Northern Hungary with the picturesque villages of Szilvásvárad, Tardona, Diósgy?r and Cserépváralja all close by. The Bükk mountains rise above the surrounding land by 800-1000 meters and are a unique gem in the Carpathian Basin. Many rare plant species of extremely high value hide in the forests and there are spots on the side of Sár mountain where forestry was stopped more than a hundred years ago and visitors can walk around in a forest of some hundred year old giant trees, the Oserdo.

An ideal walk to see the Oserdo begins at the Italian Gate or, Olasz-kapu, which was built by Italian prisoners of war. You can walk to Olasz-kapu from the village of Szilvasvarad by following the paths marked by yellow or to drive up on the forest road. By beginning the walk at the Olasz-kapu it means that the walk will be fairly easy and mostly level. Choosing to walk from the village of Szilavasvarad will be a much harder walk with some challenging paths.

So starting at the Olasz-kapu, we continue to Oserdo, Tar-ko and Zsido-ret before returning to the Olasz-kapu. It should take about 3 hours to complete and is 7.5 km in length. You need to follow the blue trail (or use a local guide) and there are 6 information boards on the trail with information about the wildlife, flowers and geolocial formations. The altitude is aprrox 900 metres and when reaching Tar-ko you will have an excellent uninterrupted panorama streching over the park.

The first part of the walk from the Olasz-kapu will take you through the Bukk Plateau, the highest plateau in the whole of Hungary offering some wonderful sights, sink-holes, water-holes and dolinas all carpeted with green grass and wild flowers with tall trees bordering the open land.

The Oserdo is another wonderful experience, walking among these giant trees left for hundreds of years to grow, get old and fall to the floor is not an everyday experience and it will give you a chance to truly appreciate how mother nature works, as one tree lies dead on the carpet of brown leaves a young sapling is growing close by. Moving on and up to Tar-ko will give a fantastic opportunity to take in your surroundings as you can look down and over everything whilst truly appreciating how vast this National park is. There are also 800 caves in the Bukk National Park and some can be visited whilst walking on this trail, however to truly make the most of this walk you may need a guide who will be able to point out areas of interest. The Bukk National park is also home to many rare birds and butterflies of Europe.

I speak from experience when I say that his is a great walk!

Information about Walk in Hungary

We are a small, yet proffessional, and specialised company organising walking tours and holidays in Northern Hungary. Northern Hungary is home to both Aggtelek National Park, famed for it’s karst formations and size and also to the Bukk National Park which provides a home for many rare flowers, birds and butterflies. There are also many more places of interst nearby such as the herd of Hucul horses close to Aggtelek and the Lippicai breeding ground in the Bukk. The European Blue walking trail E4 also passes through both of these areas.

With a love for the outdoors ourselves and over 25 years experience within the tourism industry we really know how to help you enjoy your holiday. We can help you to organise your complete holiday, tailor making it to your specific needs, or you can join one of our pre-arranged holidays all led by a proffesssional guide who will be able to talk about and point out special places of interest. Alternatively if you are of a more independent nature then we can help you just to find accommodation and recommend some trails to follow.

We can also arrange, horse riding, carriage driving, an adventure tree top walk, quad biking, paintballing and a hot air balloon trip. Please visit out web site for more information and please do not hesitate to contact us at info@walkinhungary.com

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