An active wine tour: 5 wonderful places to visit around Tokaj

A tip for those who wish to have a more comfortable journey and might prefer to “hike by car”. A narrow asphalt road winds between Erdőbénye and Abaújszántó in a diverse environment with beautiful sections. It provides a great adventure on a motorbike but even on a bicycle: From Abaújszántó, the road crosses closed forests and rocky, wild streams, while in Bénye you see a special landscape, a so-called wooded pastures with hundred-year-old trees, in the shade of which domestic animals can rest even in summer. A touch of peaceful Zemplén environment between two wine-growing villages, where it is worth taking a break from the vehicle and breathing in the fresh, clean air.

For those who like floodplains, the Long-erdő (Long Forest) is a real treat: Located just a few minutes from Sárospatak, between willows and aspens, the backwaters of Bodrog emerge, with clearings, pastures, abandoned boats and lonely fishermen resting their fishing line in the water.

It is said that the Tokaji-hegy (Mount Tokaj) is visible from everywhere in the wine region, yet there are just a few really beautiful viewpoints or established hiking spots on the mountain itself (apart from the vine-covered vineyards). In a previous article we recommended the Szerelmi-dűlő (Szerelmi Vineyard), but the view from the top of the neighbouring Hétszőlő is also very nice. The TV tower can be reached from Tokaj and Tarcal (even by car), but at the moment you cannot see what the most important is: you can only admire the landscape towards the Great Hungarian Plain (not towards the wine region); but the good news is that there are plans to build a lookout tower, with a chairlift access later. Yet the mountain is incredibly diverse with its 514 metres. For a long time, it was called the Kopasz-hegy (Kopasz Hill) because it was practically covered with vines everywhere. Along the paths, collapsed press houses overgrown with bushes and fruit trees show what life must have been like on the hill. It is worth wandering a couple of hours among the loess walls, bee-eaters, imperial eagles and other natural phenomenon.

It is perhaps the most spectacular hiking spot on the Tarcal side of Mount Tokaj, which can be easily walked around in a couple of hours from the car park behind the church and then arriving at the brickworks row of cellars. There is a beautiful view of the lake behind the statue of Christ, but also around its western part. The lake itself can be accessed from the row of cellars (swimming is forbidden and life-threatening in the lake). You should definitely bring your camera with you.

For those who were fascinated by the quarry, visiting the tarn is an absolute must, which can be reached from Sárospatak heading to North, starting towards Sátoraljaújhely, on the 37 following the signs. On a relatively good dirt road, through the Ciróka-dűlő (Ciróka Vineyard), you can reach the Megyer-hegy (Megyer Hill), at the foot of which there is a resting place (you have to leave your car here, and it is not worth riding with a bike either). A steep forest path leads up to the sea: at the bottom, at the entrance, there are via ferrata trails of varying difficulty, but you can also admire the reflection of the water from above, whose bed was formed by mining hard millstones. It is also worth walking to the top of the hill to reach the lookout (where you should not build another unnecessary mini-mountain), climbing to the top to see the mountains of Károlyfalva, Kácsárd and Újhely (be careful if you are afraid of heights).