Odorheiu Secuiesc is a town that answers to two names, and if you ask for directions you will probably hear the Hungarian one, Székelyudvarhely. This is the heart of Székely Land, the Hungarian-speaking corner of eastern Transylvania, and the signs, the church spires and the way people greet you all make that plain within a minute of arriving. Piatra Coțofană, the Magpie Stone, is one of the rocky heights on the hills around the town, a few kilometres out among pasture and beech woods.
The town sits in the valley of the Târnava Mare, which starts its long westward journey not far away in the Harghita mountains. To the east rise the volcanic Harghita heights, wooded and soft-shouldered; to the west the land rolls out in long ridges towards the Saxon villages and Sighișoara. Riding here is less about drama than rhythm: county roads that climb over one ridge, drop into a village, cross a stream and climb again, with hay meadows on both sides and horse carts as the main traffic hazard. Surfaces vary from fresh tarmac to patched and potholed, sometimes on the same kilometre, so keep your eyes up.
The Székelys were frontier guards for the medieval Hungarian kingdom, free men who paid for their privileges with military service, and their pride in that history is everywhere. You will see carved wooden Székely gates, big roofed portals with dovecotes along the top, in front of farmyards in nearly every village. In town there is a small park of busts of Hungarian notables, a handsome baroque Catholic church on the main square, and bakeries selling kürtőskalács, the chimney cake wound around a spit and rolled in sugar or walnuts.
One of the rides from here heads out to Viscri, the fortified Saxon village that became famous when King Charles bought a house there, and the change in landscape as you cross from Székely to Saxon country is worth noticing: different churches, different house shapes, a different language on the gravestones.
Practically, Odorheiu Secuiesc is a proper town with fuel stations, supermarkets, cafés and places to sleep, so it makes a relaxed base. The hills around Piatra Coțofană are good for a short walk and a look back over the roofs. Evenings get cool even in summer at this height, so keep a layer handy.