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.
From Tarcal it runs 358 km to Tarcal; allow about 8 h 02 of riding. The stops in between: Rákóczi Wine Cellar, Component of Esztramos Hill, Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst and back through Component of Esztramos Hill. The line favours views over speed.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tokaj Wine Region is where the day begins. Next is Rákóczi Wine Cellar.
Sárospatak is an old town on the Bodrog river, right where the foothills of the Zemplén range run out into the plain, and in Hungarian history it carries more weight than its size suggests. It was a seat of the Rákóczi family, and the castle in town was one of their strongholds in the long wars against the Habsburgs. Local tradition also claims it as the birthplace of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, in 1207, and the Reformed College here, founded in the sixteenth century, once counted the Czech educator Comenius among its teachers. Not bad for a small place at the edge of the map.
Read the complete Rákóczi Wine Cellar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Rákóczi Wine Cellar comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 153 km into the recorded legs you reach Component of Esztramos Hill. Next is Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst.
Under the hills on the border of Hungary and Slovakia lies one of the largest cave systems in Europe. The Baradla cave, entered from Aggtelek on the Hungarian side and from Domica on the Slovak side, runs for some twenty-five kilometres through limestone, a gallery of stalactites, stalagmites and underground rivers, and parts of it are open to visitors. It is the heart of the Aggtelek and Slovak Karst, a cross-border UNESCO site of more than seven hundred caves, listed in 1995 and extended in 2000. Concerts are held in the largest chamber, where the acoustics are excellent, and the temperature underground stays at a constant cool level, a relief in summer.
Read the complete Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, about halfway. 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 sits at 199 km, about halfway. Next is back through Rákóczi Wine Cellar.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rákóczi Wine Cellar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Rákóczi Wine Cellar comes up about 317 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tokaj Wine Region.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tokaj Wine Region write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tokaj Wine Region closes the day.
Tokaj Wine Region → Rákóczi Wine Cellar is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rákóczi Wine Cellar → Component of Esztramos Hill is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Component of Esztramos Hill → Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst → back through Component of Esztramos Hill is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component of Esztramos Hill → back through Rákóczi Wine Cellar is 112 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Rákóczi Wine Cellar → Tokaj Wine Region is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.