Test your courage: 5 extraordinary adventure parks in Hungary

There are adventure parks all over the country that can take you out of your ordinary life and give you experiences that you will still be talking about years later. But the next five parks offer something a little different from the classic adventures.

Kislőd is located North of Lake Balaton, near Ajka, where you can find the 30-hectare adventure park named after the legendary outlaw of the Bakony, Jóska Sobri. The park's offerings are extremely varied, with almost everything from forest challenges to quads, water obstacle courses to petting zoos, extreme zip lines to bobsleighs, go-karts and jet skis. You can speed along the zip line at up to 80 kilometres per hour an entire kilometre, or you can even try it at night. 

This adventure park in a stunning environment has become the country's best-known adrenaline-providing facility for a reason, as it can boast a number of special features. Here you can find the longest bobsleigh track in Central and Eastern Europe, which is 2275 metres long and open all year round. Once you have tried it, take the longest cable car in the country, on a 50-minute round trip to the Magas-hegy lookout. You can speed up to eighty kilometres an hour on the zip line between Szár-hegy and Magas-hegy, and you can also borrow a camera to record the experience. Put your physical strength to the test on the multi-difficulty adventure courses, while you can also enjoy zoom down the bobsleigh track.

On the southern slope of the Mátra, between Mátrafüred and Mátraháza, lies the highest adventure park in the country, from where you can see all the way from Kékestető to the Great Hungarian Plain in clear weather. More than 30 different challenges await brave adventurers of all fitness levels. There is a quad track for driving enthusiasts, a suspension bridge, a canopy, a 360-degree swing, an adventure park, a climbing wall, and for the little ones, there is a Flintstones playground, an inflatable castle and a playhouse. The adventure park and Sástó are connected by a chairlift, but there is also a restaurant, a buffet and a 70-bed guesthouse.

For a company team-building programme, but also for family and friends, it is a great idea to take a ride on the zip line next to the “Nagyvillám csárda” (Big Lightning Tavern) in Visegrád. Children should be at least 10 years old, weigh at least 40 kilos and be at least 110 cm tall, and make sure that no one in your party is afraid of heights. In return, the adventurous can enjoy a fantastic glide over the canopy of trees. The panorama from a section of the line is quite unique: the Visegrád Citadel, the Danube Bend, the Börzsöny and the Pilis mountains are all in front of your eyes. And just a few steps from the entrance to Canopy is the adventure park, where you can improve your coordination and test your strength and courage with 40 games on 2 levels.

One of Hungary's largest and most diverse forest adventure parks, the “Mecsextrém Park” (Mecsextreme Park), is located in the fascinating Mecsek surroundings, where young and old alike will find exciting entertainment. Forest bobsleigh, alpine ropes course, climbing wall, archery, shooting simulator and a go-kart track await brave visitors, but in summer you can even try the “human washing machine”, the “spinfizz”, if you want a very special experience not found in other adventure parks. The forest bobsleigh track with 25 cars is also unique in Europe. At 8 metres high and with 6 routes of varying difficulty, the climbing wall is perfect for beginners and advanced climbers alike. And the little ones will be entertained in a 100-square-metre playhouse and a 40-metre-long play castle. Much of the park is universally accessible, so some of the games can be enjoyed by people with reduced mobility. And if you want to have a more relaxing activity after an adrenaline rush, the 4.5-kilometre “Mókus tanösvény” (Squirrel Trail) is a great way to learn about local wildlife and the work of foresters.