Hungary is so much more than Budapest and Lake Balaton (although I’m an avid fan of its Northern shore), and we love exploring our home country on weekend road trips.
On the first weekend of September, we hit the road to the northwestern part of Hungary, and spent two days hiking, eating, wine tasting, and admiring some of the country’s finest architecture. I hope you’ll enjoy following us around!
Cuha valley
Our group of seven started the weekend adventure with a 13 kms hike in the Bakony mountains. (M and I hiked in this region earlier this year, following the National Blue Trail – click here to read about it!)
We parked our cars at the train station in Vinye, and headed to Cuha valley, a beautiful path along the Cuha creek. We followed the trail marked with a red cross all the way to Porva-Csesznek train station – the station itself has a really charming retro vibe, so be sure to stop by the tiny shop to buy some drinks or snacks.
This is a really popular trail due to its low elevation and relatively short length, so you’ll meet families with little ones, people with their dogs, or, as we did, a man riding a horse. Also, the national train tracks run through the valley, which not only make for a beautiful scenery, but also add to the experience when the hiking trail crosses the viaduct. If you’re not really down for a hike, I’d highly recommend going on a train ride – I think we might try it as well someday -, as the valley and the surrounding forest is not approachable by car.
On the way back, we chose a different trail though, marked with a yellow triangle, and headed deeper into the forest. Less disturbed by crowds, the animals venture closer to the trail, so it’s perfect for some wildlife-spotting. We saw a herd of deer, and I managed to snap a blurry photo of one of them! (see above)
Back in Vinye, we stopped for some late lunch at Kőpince Fogadó – their soups and cottage cheese dumplings are really tasty!
Pannonhalma
After a sporty start, we planned for a – well-deserved? – foodie evening. Following the hike, we drove to Pannonhalma (cca. 30 mins) to our accommodation at Pannon Hotel Panzió Étterem.
Last year M and I went to Pannonhalma for the christening of our nephew, and then we stayed the night at the guestrooms of the Archabbey, but it’s not easy to book a room there, and this time we wanted a place where we could sit on the porch and drink well into the night anyways. Pannon Hotel Panzió Étterem was the perfect budget-friendly option, the rooms were spacious, with more bed than we needed, actually, and the staff was friendly – when I had a serious wardrobe malfunction, they fixed me up with a thread and needle immediately.
Viator Restaurant
For dinner, we opted for Viator Restaurant, located right next to the Archabbey. The restaurant is very chic and well-known for its special courses – I once tasted their picked cucumber soup, it was amazing – and it’s the only place where you can taste those items of the Abbey Winery Pannonhalma that the winery itself no longer carries.
We indulged in a bottle of the 2016 Infusio, their most premium red wine – highly recommended if you want to try something extra, but for a less expensive option, I’d say you cannot go wrong with some red Hemina. The word ‘hemina’ refers to a relative unit of measure coming from Saint Benedict, who defined the amount of wine each person can drink with good conscience.
Archabbey of Pannonhalma
We had a late start the next morning at Pletycafé, then headed to the Archabbey of Pannonhalma.
The entrance fee is 1000 HUF, for which you can visit the main sights inside the building complex:
- the basicila and the crypt (in the middle)
- the Porta Speciosa and the quadrangle
- the library and the gallery (on the left)
I love visiting libraries – this is a huge understatement -, so the fact that I saw this one for the second time did not ruin the magic at all!
Tip: the parking fee is also 1000 HUF, but you get a 500 HUF voucher to spend on the tickets or at the winery!
Canopy walk
You can easily spend hours here, but if you’ve had enough, there are two great options for outdoor activities waiting for you: the arboretum and herb garden, and the canopy trail. I don’t know how, but we managed to skip the former twice already, even though it’s beautiful, so please do visit if you’re there!
However, there’s no doubt that the canopy trail, along with the lookout tower, provides the best panoramic view of the surrounding hills, so definitely take that short walk from the archabbey!
We ended our stay in Pannonhalma at the winery, where we stacked up some bottles for the cold winter months, then our group of seven parted ways. The others went straight home, but we still had some energy left, so we took a little detour on the way.
Zsámbék
Our last stop was the ruins of the premontre monastery church of Zsámbék, a popular sight near Budapest, yet we saw it for the first time! There’s usually an entrance fee, but at the time of our visit there was a children’s folk dance show, so they let us in for free in exchange for some of our time, thus we sat there for a while watching the show.
The church was built in the 13th century, but the gothic details were added later on in the 15th century. Some of the walls are still standing, so you can sit there on the grass and contemplate what life must have been like a few hundred years ago – or at least that’s what we did.
It’s become a tradition over the years to end our road trips at Náncsi néni, a restaurant serving hearty meals in the outskirts of Budapest, so that’s where this story ends, too. I hope you enjoyed this post, be sure to save it if you ever plan to visit this region of Hungary!
xo, Lucia