CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
478 km from Tolcsva to Tolcsva, about 8 h 44 of riding. The stops in between: Component of Esztramos Hill, Component of Plešivec plateau, Dobšinská Ice Cave and Kezmarok. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Hungary into Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 59 km this is Slovak High Tatras Freedom Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Oremus Cellars is where the day begins. Next is 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.
Read the complete Component of Esztramos Hill write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Component of Esztramos Hill comes up about 90 km into the recorded legs. Next is Component of Plešivec plateau.
The Slovak Karst is a world of limestone plateaus and deep gorges in southern Slovakia, along the Hungarian border, and the Plešivec plateau is one of its great tablelands, a high, flat-topped block of rock rising steeply above the valleys of the Slaná and the Štítnik rivers. Its surface is a rolling steppe of grass and scrub, pitted with sinkholes, and beneath it lies a maze of caves and abysses, part of the UNESCO site of the Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst.
Read the complete Component of Plešivec plateau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 136 km into the recorded legs you reach Component of Plešivec plateau. Next is Dobšinská Ice Cave.
Step out of a warm summer day into the Dobšinská Ice Cave and the temperature drops to just below freezing within a few metres. The cave, on the northern edge of the Slovak Paradise in eastern Slovakia, holds a vast mass of ice, tens of thousands of cubic metres, with frozen floors, walls and columns that have built up over thousands of years. It was explored in 1870 by Eugen Ruffinyi, opened to visitors soon after, and became one of the first caves in Europe to be lit by electricity. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, shared with Hungary.
Read the complete Dobšinská Ice Cave write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dobšinská Ice Cave, about halfway. Next is Kezmarok.
Kežmarok sits at the foot of the High Tatras in northern Slovakia, and on a clear day the jagged peaks of the smallest high mountain range in Europe rise above the town like a wall. It is an old town with a mixed history: founded by German settlers in the Middle Ages, it was a free royal town and a centre of trade and crafts, and its wealthy citizens built a castle, churches and fine houses around the square.
Read the complete Kezmarok write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kežmarok sits at 195 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dobšinská Ice Cave.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dobšinská Ice Cave write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Dobšinská Ice Cave comes up about 299 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Component of Plešivec plateau.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component of Plešivec plateau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 343 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Component of Plešivec plateau. Next is back through Component of Esztramos Hill.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component of Esztramos Hill write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Component of Esztramos Hill, late in the day. Next is Oremus Cellars.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oremus Cellars write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 478 km.
Oremus Cellars → Component of Esztramos Hill is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Component of Esztramos Hill → Component of Plešivec plateau is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component of Plešivec plateau → Dobšinská Ice Cave is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dobšinská Ice Cave → Kezmarok is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kežmarok → back through Dobšinská Ice Cave is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dobšinská Ice Cave → back through Component of Plešivec plateau is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component of Plešivec plateau → back through Component of Esztramos Hill is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component of Esztramos Hill → Oremus Cellars is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.