Humenné lies in the far east of Slovakia, along the Laborec river, with the green hills of the Vihorlat range rising to the east and the long wooded border with Poland and Ukraine not far beyond. It is a small industrial town of about thirty-five thousand people, and the main sight is the manor house in the centre, a Renaissance residence rebuilt by the Drugeth family, who were powerful landowners in this part of the old Kingdom of Hungary. It now houses a museum and sits in a pleasant park.
What draws riders is the country around it. Vihorlat is a volcanic mountain range covered in beech woods, and at its heart lies Morské oko, the Sea Eye, a still green lake in a crater-like hollow, one of the most photographed beauty spots in the east. Beyond Snina, the Poloniny National Park shelters some of the last primeval beech forests in Europe, recognised by UNESCO, with brown bears, wolves and lynx in the deep woods. Visitors are most likely to see roe deer at dusk, or the odd wild boar crossing the road, so keep your speed down after sunset.
The roads here are quiet, sometimes narrow, and the surfaces vary from smooth to patched, with potholes after winter. Villages along the way often have wooden churches in the Greek Catholic and Orthodox traditions, with onion domes and painted icons. About thirty-five kilometres north-west, the small town of Medzilaborce has a museum dedicated to Andy Warhol, whose parents came from a village nearby, which is a surreal and pleasing find in the middle of the hills.
Fuel is available in Humenné, and Snina has stations too, but the mountain roads have none, so fill up. Local cooking is simple, with halušky, pierogi, and hearty soups, and prices are low.
Late spring and early autumn are the best seasons, with clear air and good colour. Summer is warm, and in winter the high roads can see heavy snow.