Day 19 - Belis to Lillafured

Sunday 15th July 2018

In the morning we have breakfast in the restaurant at the complex. Ham omelette - it’s difficult to find the ham but the coffee is good. We ride through Belis then drop down to Huedin and the main road to Hungary.

There is no hassle at the border and we are soon on a bumpy, overbanded country road to Debrecen then a fast rural road to Lillafured. This is classic steppe country, a vast plain stretching to the horizon on all sides. You can just imagine the Mongol hordes sweeping over the unbroken landscape (or Russian tanks in a later era).


On the steppes of Eastern Hungary

 As we approach Lillafured a range of hills appears on the horizon. These are the Bükk Mountains. We leave the main road and start to climb up. 
The small town of Lillafured has a lake and a couple of very grand hotels. There is also a narrow gauge railway popular with tourists. Many hikers and cyclist head this way in the Hungarian summer, and since the roads around here are pretty twisty it’s also a magnet for bikers.

One of the big hotels in Lillafured

 After a few false starts, where Tomtom claims there are campsites that either don’t exist or are very well hidden, we find a lovely camp site up high in the woods outside the town. 

Hollóstetői Mountain Camp
Hollóstetői Mountain Camp is a beautiful site. It is 7km climb up to the west of the main centre in a sunny glade deep in the forest. There is no food available but they are showing the World Cup final in the main camp building.

So after sorting out our tents and ourselves we head up to catch the second half of the game, where France are already two goals to the good against Croatia. It ends 4-2 to the French, the best final for a long time.

The real deal

In the evening we strip all the luggage from the bikes and ride down into Lillafured in search of succour. For the first time we have genuine goulash soup in your actual Hungary, and damn good it is too. This is followed by the most succulent venison I have ever tasted. The waiter explains that it is slow cooked in 60C water for around 12 hours.

Chunks of venison, tender as mousse


Back at the camp we fall asleep in deafening silence. It is the quietest place I can ever remember sleeping.

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