Why this ride
229 km from Debrecen to Debrecen, about 3 h 49 of riding. It goes by way of Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc, Tokaj Wine Region, Oremus Cellars and Tolcsva Wine Museum Cellars.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Debrecen long day · Tolcsva Wine Museum Cellars
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 229 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 49
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Debrecen
Debrecen is the capital of the Great Hungarian Plain, a city of two hundred thousand people where the horizon is perfectly flat and the sky does most of the work. For centuries it was the stronghold of Hungarian Calvinism, so much so that it was nicknamed the Calvinist Rome, and its yellow Great Church, the largest Protestant church in the country, dominates the main square. It was here, in 1849, that Lajos Kossuth declared Hungary's independence from the Habsburgs, and for a short time Debrecen served as the capital of the revolution.
Read the complete Debrecen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Debrecen is where the day begins. Next is Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc.
2. Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc
Some wine regions are famous for a grape. Tokaj is famous for rot. Here in north-eastern Hungary, where the volcanic Zemplén hills meet the Great Plain and the Bodrog flows into the Tisza, autumn mists from the rivers encourage noble rot on the grapes, shrivelling them and concentrating their sugar. The berries, picked one by one, become aszú, and the sweet wine made from them has been celebrated for centuries. A line attributed to Louis XIV calls it the wine of kings and the king of wines.
Read the complete Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc comes up about 92 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tokaj Wine Region.
3. Tokaj Wine Region
Tokaj is the place where the world's first classified wine region was drawn on a map, in 1737, long before Burgundy or Bordeaux got round to the idea. The wine country of Tokaj-Hegyalja lies in the far north-east of Hungary, where the Zemplén hills, old volcanoes worn down into rounded cones, fall away to the plain at the meeting of the Tisza and Bodrog rivers. Tarcal and Tokaj sit at the foot of the slope, and the vines climb the south-facing hills above them, in a patchwork of terraces, stone walls and small plots.
Read the complete Tokaj Wine Region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 93 km into the recorded legs you reach Tokaj Wine Region. Next is Oremus Cellars.
4. Oremus Cellars
Tolcsva is a quiet village in the Tokaj wine region of northeastern Hungary, on the slopes of the Zemplén hills above the Bodrog river. The Oremus cellars here are among the most famous in the region: a network of tunnels cut into the volcanic rock over centuries, their walls black with the noble mould that thrives in the damp, steady cold. The estate has been owned since the 1990s by the family behind Vega Sicilia, one of Spain's most celebrated wineries, and it has become a showcase for the revival of Tokaji after the communist decades.
Read the complete Oremus Cellars write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Oremus Cellars, about halfway. Next is Tolcsva Wine Museum Cellars.
5. Tolcsva Wine Museum Cellars
Under the village of Tolcsva, in the foothills of the Zemplén mountains, there are wine cellars cut into volcanic rock. The Tokaj region in the north-east corner of Hungary is one of the oldest wine landscapes in Europe, and UNESCO listed it in 2002 as the Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape. The soil is volcanic, the hills are covered in vines, and the villages are full of cellars that run deep into the soft tuff. The temperature underground stays cool and constant, which is exactly what sweet wine needs.
Read the complete Tolcsva Wine Museum Cellars write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tolcsva Wine Museum Cellars sits at 118 km, about halfway. Next is back through Oremus Cellars.
6. back through Oremus Cellars
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oremus Cellars write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Oremus Cellars comes up about 115 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tokaj Wine Region.
7. back through Tokaj Wine Region
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tokaj Wine Region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 136 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tokaj Wine Region. Next is back through Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc.
8. back through Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc, late in the day. Next is Debrecen.
9. Debrecen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Debrecen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 229 km.
Leg by leg
Debrecen to Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc
Debrecen → Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tokaj Wine Region to Oremus Cellars
Tokaj Wine Region → Oremus Cellars is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Oremus Cellars to back through Tokaj Wine Region
back through Oremus Cellars → back through Tokaj Wine Region is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc to Debrecen
back through Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landsc → Debrecen is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.