Component of Koniar plateau and Component of Esztramos Hill
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
231 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 31
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.
231 km from Revúca to Revúca, about 4 h 31 of riding. The stops in between: Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov, Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill, Component of Esztramos Hill and back through Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill. It crosses from Slovakia into Hungary - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Component of Koniar plateau
The Koniar plateau is a slab of limestone lifted above the surrounding valleys in southern Slovakia, one of the high karst tablelands that together make up the Slovak Karst. From the road it looks like nothing much: open grassland, scattered trees, a few pastures, steep wooded edges falling to the valleys of the Slaná and its tributaries. The interest is underneath. Rain soaks straight through the limestone, carving caves, shafts and swallow holes, and the whole cave system of the Slovak Karst and Hungary's Aggtelek, just over the border, is protected as a single World Heritage site. Nearby you will find the Ochtinská aragonite cave, filled with white needle-like crystals, the Gombasecká cave with its thin straw stalactites and, further north, the Dobšinská ice cave.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component of Koniar plateau is where the day begins. Next is Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov.
2. Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov
The Silica plateau is a high, flat limestone table in the Slovak Karst, a few kilometres north of the Hungarian border, and it forms part of the same cross-border UNESCO site as the Aggtelek caves. The label points to the country around Silica and Jasov, a landscape of dry meadows and beech woods broken by sinkholes, gorges and caves, with small villages tucked in the folds. Jasov, in the valley below, has a large Premonstratensian monastery, founded in the thirteenth century, with a grand Baroque church and a cave beneath the hill that is open to visitors. Nearby is the Ochtiná Aragonite Cave, one of very few caves in the world with spiky, branching aragonite crystals.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill.
3. Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill
The Szendrő-Rudabánya hills are a modest ridge of low wooded hills in northeastern Hungary, between the Bódva and Sajó valleys, and they are not on any tourist itinerary. That is a large part of their charm. This is the quiet borderland near Slovakia, with small villages, orchards, vineyards and forests of oak and hornbeam, where the roads are empty and the pace slows to that of a cart.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill. Next is Component of Esztramos Hill.
4. Component of Esztramos Hill
Esztramos is a lumpy limestone hill rising from the valley of the Bódva in north-eastern Hungary, a stone's throw from the Slovak border. For much of the twentieth century it was quarried for limestone and iron ore, and in the process the miners broke into caves hidden inside it, full of crystal formations. The Rákóczi Cave, the best known of them, has delicate aragonite crystals and pools, and the hill now forms part of the Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, a World Heritage site shared between the two countries. Visits to the cave are limited and usually need to be booked, so check before you count on getting inside.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component of Koniar plateau closes the day.
Leg by leg
Component of Koniar plateau to Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov
Component of Koniar plateau → Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov to Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill
Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov → Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill to Component of Esztramos Hill
Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill → Component of Esztramos Hill is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component of Esztramos Hill to back through Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill
Component of Esztramos Hill → back through Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill to back through Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov
back through Component of Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill → back through Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov to Component of Koniar plateau
back through Component neighbouring Silica and Jasov → Component of Koniar plateau is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.