THE HORTOBÁGY - NATURALLY
The Lodge
We created our lodge with the nature lover in mind. This is a superb setting right on the edge of the renowned Hortobagy National Park overlooking a beautiful puszta - soda lake landscape teeming with birds Besides nature we offer accommodation: in 8 large en-suite rooms complete with tasty home cooking and honest hospitality.
The Hortobágy
The Hortobágy is a vast, flat expanse of natural grasslands and different wetlands. The harsh, saline conditions created a unique habitat with a special flora and fauna. It is undoubtedly one of the top nature reserves in Europe. However the most apparent inhabitants are birds with well over 300 species on record.
Birding and Nature Holidays
Most of our visitors come either to photograph or watch birds, but it should not stop all the others - we believe there is a lot more here to do and to see. It is not an easy land to love, you need patience, openness and some endurance - we - it is well worth it.
The Hortobagy National Park is a vast area: over 80 000 hectares of grasslands, marshes, fishponds. It is really flat and there are only few - some really bad dirt/mud - roads within the park. It is sparsely inhabited, there are only some farm buildings and grazing animals with herdsmen and their accompanying dogs around. It is beautiful.
Partly to avoid lost/stuck people and to minimize disturbance there is entry only to a limited sites with a valid ticket. These are:
Egyek-Pusztakócs marshes;
Szálkahalom nature trail;
Hortobágy-fishponds (extra ticket is needed for the train);
Other state-owned fishponds within the boundary of the National Park.
Some attractions require individual tickets (e.g. Fishponds' train, Máta studs and cart ride, Malomháza Zoo and wild animal park- "Puszta Safari"). You need to know that unlike most parks in he world there are no real walking trails here and within the park the only sizable walk is around the fishponds.Cycling is possible on the quiet back roads that bisect or circumnavigate the park but not on the dirt/mud tracks within the park apart from the Hortobágy-Máta-Fishponds route that runs paralel of the (quiet) railway line.
All other areas may only be visited with a licensed guide and with the prior approval of the national park.
This means that most areas ares off limits at least to casual visitors, you will need an approved guide or a national park ranger to accompany you. However it certainly has at least one advantage: no crowds! So this should not stop you, just hire a good guide! We work with Sakertour, they have English speaking expert guides with an up-to-date knowledge of anything you may want to know.
