Why?

Who knows what difficulties you will encounter – like the lack of civilized toilets or no fast food restaurants ? – YOU NEED TO GET PREPARED! Yes, even if it’s just a 3-hour long comfortable walk in the forest.

What to do?

Here, we collected the most important items you need to think of before you make the decision to get active and just go hiking. All you need to do is print it, and tick off the things you have already taken care of. We saved you the trouble of creating a checklist, and you will make us happy if you use it. So, I guess it’s a win-win situation.

Notice: This checklist is very basic and contains only the absolutely necessary things. If you are planning on going to a more-day hike or a 15-hour walk in the rainforest, you might need to upgrade the list (or write to us, and we’ll do that for you).

Click here to download the printable version of the Hiking Checklist.

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Thankfully hiking is an activity that basically everybody can do. It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, boy or girl, or what your background is – nature welcomes you with open arms. You can hike alone if you’re not feeling up for company, or you can bring some friends and family along. Hiking can also be a networking event, if you’re interested in meeting new people, join us at Budapest Hikers!

The wilderness

It feels incredible to break the rhythm of our everyday life by bringing some color into it. Nature’s color palette includes the calming colors, such as green, blue, brown, which can have a positive effect on our mind – and we all know that everything starts with the mind. Relaxing, de-stressing, uplifting (and we could bring more -ing adjectives) – that is all nature. Chances are you will also meet other hikers, and forest animals, that you can geek out about.

Get active

Let’s burn some fat! Hiking allows you to get rid of those extra calories that came with the morning doughnut (that you probably shouldn’t have eaten anyway). Walking is natural – most of us have known how to walk since the age of 2 (and I highlight, MOST of us). Why not give a basic activity meaning, so that we can take care of our body?

The weather

Let’s suppose, it’s sunny outside, and you – by some unexplainable chance – are free. Hooray, go hiking! The sun will recharge your batteries, nature will put you in a relaxed and open-minded state, so I don’t see why you shouldn’t leave the house right away. Here’s something more difficult: Let’s suppose, you want to go hiking but it’s raining. No worries! Have you ever tried hiking in the rain?! Yes, it’s wet. Yes, you might catch a cold. Yes, it’s not as nice as a walk on a sunny day. But if you don’t go, you might just miss the opportunity to have an adventure of a lifetime. At least once in our lives, we MUST try hiking in the rain.

What happens after?

Yes! I did it! – That’s what happens after (in the short version). Pride and satisfaction will guide you through the rest of the day/week and you will be able to face the problems (which will not look like problems after all) much easier. The next time, it will be easier as well, so don’t just sit around for a miracle to happen, join Budapest Hikers!

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Nude hiking

Yes, you read that right. Nude hiking is an activity preferred by actually a lot of people from all around the world. Considering that it also has an unofficial annual celebration (June 21 – Unofficial Naked Hiking Day) I’d say it’s a very popular form of exploring the forests and the national parks. If you want to have a fun day, leave your clothes at home, and hit the road (or hiking trail), but please, avoid children! I guarantee, that this will be the day you won’t ever forget (probably because someone will call the cops on you).

Llama hiking

Basically, llama hiking means nothing more than being accompanied by a llama while hiking. Llamas are quite friendly and make a good hiking buddy. They are very good listeners and won’t disagree with you on any matter. If you’re bored with your dog, just buy a llama to hike with – it will definitely add some new colors to your life. Also a great way to get the children out of the house – parents say that children are more willing to go hiking when a llama is involved as well.

Glacier hiking

I mean, why not?! What’s the fun in the good ol’ forest anymore? Let’s just start pushing the limits and experience something truly awesome. Glacier hiking is a very serious business though – you need to have special knowledge and buy some fancy equipment if you want to engage in this kind of activity. From one day to the next you won’t become a glacier hiker. Plus, you probably won’t become a glacier hiker master in Hungary either.

Mental hiking

That is something everyone can do. The absolute barrier-free, non-discriminating way of hiking happens in your own head. It all depends on you, how, where, when and with whom you hike. So, take the imagination-train to Neverland and explore the wilderness with all its elements! You won’t get any fitter from it though.

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Line markers generally indicate routes starting from important points, such as railway, tram, boat and bus stations and stops, leading to other equally important points, and marking hiking trails through mountain ranges.

• The blue line sign marks the nationally significant roads leading through at least one mountain and several landscapes (e.g. National Blue Tour, Kohász Blue, Bükki Blue, Börzsönyi Blue, Balaton Blue).
• The red line sign indicates paths passing through at least one mountain (e.g. Central Transdanubian Red, Southern Transdanubia Red Tour, Rákóczi Tunnel).
• Yellow and green line signs are used to indicate mountain hiking trails (e.g. the Jubilee Circle Tour, the Mecsek Mountains Green Trail).

Cross sign indicates a crossover or connecting (or shortening) path that usually leads from a road marked with a line sign to another road with the same sign (e.g., Márianosztra – Nagyirtás – Kisirtás P+). This type of sign may be used also to mark a route leading from a route with a line sign to a specific destination point (e.g. station or stop), such as Kóspallag – Szokolya, kisvasút or K+.

Square sign is used to indicate routes starting from line-signed routes to accommodation facilities, or residential areas and vice versa (e.g. Nagybörzsöny – Nagy-hideg-hegy K□). This kind of sign also may indicate a road starting from a line-signed route to an important destination point, such as a station or a stop (e.g. Bükk-tető, S – Nagybarca S□). If the route is shorter than 2 km, it should be indicated with text as well.

A circle sign indicates routes of maximum 2 km, leading to springs (wells, or other places where drinking water can be found). This sign usually starts from roads with a different sign of the same color (e.g. Mátrafüred, Kalló valley – Rákóczi spring PO).

Triangular signs indicate the paths to the tops, peaks of a mountain (lookout tower). If the route is longer than 2 km, this must be marked with text as well. This sign usually starts off from a different sign (eg Dömös, Szentfa Chapel – Hedgehog Stones – Preaching Chair – Király-fountain PΔ).

L-shaped signs lead to ruins, monuments, and indicate a route shorter than 2 km. This sign usually leads from roads with a different sign of the same color (e.g. in Drégelyvár PL or Bükkszentlászló – Nagy-Sánc SL).

Omega signs indicate short paths (not longer than 2 km) leading to caves. The sign usually starts from routes with a different sign of the same color (Nagymaros, Szent-Mihály-hegy S – Remete-hegy. SΩ).

The circular arrow sign indicates shorter trails, routes returning to a specific starting point (e.g. parking place) without a change of sign (e.g. around the Dobogókő P and K signals).

Colors

The above-mentioned signs can have 4 different colors: blue, red, yellow and green. They indicate the importance of a route in that order.

Unofficial signs

“M” sign marks the Mária road, a religious path leading from Mariazell to Csíksomlyó.

“T” sign marks nature trails with educational purposes.

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Moving to a new city is always exciting and a bit scary, especially if you barely know anyone there. Many expats and (Erasmus) students wonder what things to do in Budapest and where they can meet new people with similar interests. We believe hiking with us just outside of Budapest is the perfect solution!

Hiking in Budapest

During our hikes, you get to meet a ton of new people and learn more about other countries and cultures, all while discovering new, beautiful parts of Hungary and getting some exercise. Many of our hikers come alone, but all of our hikers leave with new friends!

We have put together a list that shows why hiking in Budapest is the perfect activity for new Budapestians! First of all, you get to explore a whole new part of the country! While many students and expats stay in the city center, (because there are so many things to do in Budapest!), hiking is the ideal opportunity to see and experience more of your new country. 50+ people join our hikes every month. That means there is loads of new people to meet! We always have hikers that are new to Budapest and/or come to hike by themselves, so you never have to hike alone. There’s always something to talk about with your fellow-hikers. If it’s not the ‘where are you from, what are you doing here?’-conversation, it can be about hiking, travelling or places to go and things to do in Budapest.

Join to the locals

Since you are new to the country, you may have no idea where to go hiking in Budapest. That’s why we take care of transport, routes, company and even lunch if you want us to. You don’t have to worry, plan or find people to come with you, just turn up and hike. Our hikes take a few hours. We usually leave in the morning and don’t arrive back in Budapest until late afternoon/early evening. After that, we encourage all hikers with any energy left to join us for burgers and beers. You’ll be entertained for a whole day, without having to worry for things to do in Budapest. It can be awkward and uncomfortable to meet new people in bars and at meet-ups, don’t you agree? We promise you our hikes are nothing like that. Our hikers are always welcoming (hikers are friendly people) and the atmosphere is full of people in a similar situation looking to make new friends. What were your reasons to be an expat or (Erasmus) student in Budapest? We bet some of them were to try new things, explore new places and meet new people and cultures. You get all of that during our hikes!

Things to do in Budapest: Come Hiking!

So now we bet that you’re convinced and ready to join one of our hikes? Check out our upcoming hiking events!

See you soon!

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Almost 50 hikers joined us for the Mátra hike, even though we expected some rain. Lucky for us Mother Nature showed us some mercy and we got through the hike without rain and even saw the sun!

Hiking in Mátra

The first friends were made during the bus ride to our destination, and the first pictures were taken a few steps after the start. We had a great group of Budapest Hikers that bravely adventured through the mud, under and over fallen trees and along some stunning scenery.

The highest point of Hungary marked our lunch break. We had a delicious meal on the mountain and got to see the wide views over the surroundings from the television tower. After the mandatory group picture, it was time to descend back to our bus.

Even after hiking 15 km, some of the Budapest Hikers weren’t done climbing yet. While some of us enjoyed a well-deserved beer before getting back on the bus, others walked up another 258 steps to take in the views from the lookout tower. We’re crazy, but it’s the good kind of crazy

After hiking to the highest point of Hungary, we gathered a group to have burgers and beer in the famous ruin bars of Budapest and connect with more of the hikers. What a great group we had again!

Want to see more pictures from the hike? Check them out on our Facebook page!

Join us and go hiking in Hungary

We love discovering Hungary while hiking, and it’s even better to share it with you. Our next hike is taking place on June 10th and our destination is the famous Balaton Lake. We’ll do a hike and are planning some relaxing time on the beach at the Hungarian Sea after.

Join us for our hike to Balaton; make sure to reserve your ticket here.

See you there!

The post Budapest Hikers: Mátra is so high – #MatraHike appeared first on Budapest Hikers.

We thought that a fun game where the hikers were given facepaints and given the challenge of making the most creative artwork and taking adventurous pictures during the hike and uploading it to Instagram with the #budapesthikers hashtag. To motivate their creativity, we offered the lucky winner a free ticket to the next Budapest Hikers, hike!

The winner of the face painting competition:

The first part of the hike was the hardest section with some pretty long, steep climbs. Despite this, we always find that the motivation of food and beers at the top motivate everybody to keep going and hike with a smile (and a little bit of drool). At our next hike on 29th April we are going to conquer the highest peak of Hungary standing proud at #1014 metres tall!

If you would like to join us then please reserve your ticket here.

It is going to be awesome! We promise!

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Chasing spring by a hike in Pilis

We weren’t the only ones who missed the warm weather as over 100 hikers decided to join us and make the most of the newly returned weather!

Budapest Hikers is a community where everyone is welcome to join us for hikes… including our four legged friends! For this hike we had 3 adorable dogs join us and brighten up our day a little more with their excited bouncing around and seemingly endless energy. I think that I can say on everyone’s behalf, that by the end of the hike we had fallen totally in love with them. Even if we were a little jealous of the amount of energy that they had! Our hikes usually consist of 3 main parts: the first is where everyone gets to know each other and we normally warm up before tackling the harder hills of the day. Following this we take a lunch break, have a beer or two and talk, play some games and relax.

Hike part 2

We all know how good a beer can feel after a few hard kilometers up hill! After this we normally take a much easier trail back down the mountain where we get on our private coach and travel back to the city of Budapest for a well earned Burger & some beers! Budapest Hikers is not just about hiking, but meeting new people, socialising, having great conversations and enjoying being in the forest together. Our events are half exercise & hiking an the other half connecting and having fun! We always have a nice mix of local Hungarians, expats, nomads, travellers and erasmus students. At such a big event It wasn’t easy to fit everyone in one picture, but we did it! This is how 100 hikers look together. Such an awesome bunch of people, huh?

Now you are probably wondering how you can join us. Our next event is going to be on the 1st April. RSVP on Facebook or on Meetup and get your ticket in time to make sure that you don’t miss out our next hike!

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The distance between London and Berlin is 933 kilometers. The National Blue Trail is 1128 kilometers long. The latter is the oldest long distance walking route in Europe; it was in 1938 when the first hikers completed the horizontal blue stripe between two white stripes – marked path (yes, the trial is named after its marking). You can still follow their steps at any time of the year and walk more than the distance between London and Berlin, seeing arguably even more dazzling sceneries. Does 1128 kilometers sound too tough? The Blue Trail is not a competition. You don’t have to do it all in one go!

You can buy a personal completion brochure which gives you all of the information that you require to choose your preferred section(s) of the trail to hike from a direction of your choice.

How should I do it?

You can hike or even ski run between the checkpoints and there is no time limit. The goal of the Blue Trail is to collect the stamps at the checkpoints in your brochure. Ideally, you start at a checkpoint and finish at a different one. There are 149 checkpoints and once you’ve collected them all you can send your collection to the Hungarian Ramblers’ Association (MTSZ) and in return, you will receive the infamous Blue Trail Badge! All the checkpoints, the reward of a Blue Trail Badge sounds already a lot more intriguing than most types of treasure hunt, or aimlessly wandering around playing including Pokémon Go but that is not all! 

There is an even bigger reward in hiking the Blue Trail which is the breathtaking scenery along the way. To make completion of the trail easier the 149 checkpoints and 1128 kilometers are divided into 27 smaller hiking trials. The longest is 74 km between Becske and Mátraverebély while the shortest is 14 km between Hűvösvölgy  and Rozália téglagyár.

The spectrum, you can choose from when deciding which part of the Blue Trail to hike, is extremely colorful and wide. While hiking through Hungary in a West-East direction, from the Austrian border to the Ukrainian one. The sights that you can discover throughout the route include plenty of forts, castles, and lookout towers. All with the own history and story to tell!

What can I see on the way?

The path leads along three World Heritage Sites in Hungary, namely the banks of the Danube and the Castle District in Budapest (or at least you can throw a glance at these sites). The old village of Hollókő and the Stalactite Cave of Aggtelek are also particularly amazing sights to behold.  

The Blue Trials goes along Lake Balaton, the Danube Bend, and the spent volcanoes of the Basin of Tapolca, to mention a few more of outstanding attractions that are on the way.  

Hungary doesn’t have huge mountains or the seaside but there is still plenty to offer and you will not be disappointed! The hills and lowlands, the magnificent Lake Balaton, the historic and rich history & culture which is more than 1000 years old, & the stories of the countrymen you’ll meet along the way are making up for that and then some!

You can be sure that Hungary offers diverse and unique experiences that will enchant you. Pick a part of the Blue Trail that suits your interest most and just go for it!

Look around at our future hikes event.

The post The Colour Blue: Relaxation, Peace, Wisdom and Something Else appeared first on Budapest Hikers.

Shoes. For half of the society, it can be a crucial issue in their everyday life. Shoe-shopping can make us addictive and some people are defining their happiness through purchasing a pair of shoes. When it comes to hiking shoes, it is rare to hear that someone owns 750 pairs – as it is the case for Christina Aguilera if we take the total number of her shoes- but there are things that need to be told regarding hiking boots. Their vital role is to keep your feet feeling great until the very end of your hike. Those feet that get you to your destination and then bring you home. Let’s spend a few minutes on how to choose the perfect pair of hiking shoes what will be a crucial step towards planning your perfect hike trip.

I learned why good hiking shoes are important the hard way. When my Dad introduced me to hiking, he insisted on getting the appropriate shoes for it. But my first impression was that he only wanted to satisfy his obsession towards sports superstores. I was very wrong; wearing my running shoes for the event caused me a semi-twisted ankle, I had to complete the hike in my wet shoes and the very same footwear that are perfect for my runs failed me, and seemed to not even fit my feet.

So what have I learned?

There are some basic rules that I suggest to follow when you are in need of a good pair of hiking boots.

Firstly, the support that the hiking shoes give you is hugely relevant. It is simple, the higher it gets the more support your ankle will get from twisting and bending.

Secondly, pay attention to the material the shoe is made of. Buy a water- resistant pair for rainy conditions or if you are planning to cross through streams. However, for warm weather you might want to consider a more breathable material. Softer and lighter boots are the most comfortable, but maybe last for a shorter period of time.

The last but probably the most significant factor is how the boots fit. This probably sounds self-explanatory; there are a few tricks that are useful to know, though. The shoes must not let your heels rise up as you step and at the same time your toes need to have some wiggle room so that they won’t hit the front as you go down hills. When you’re purchasing new hiking shoes it is better to do it at the end of the day since feet swell throughout the day, but with this technique you surely will get the true size.

When you are looking for the perfect hiking shoes, it is worth to look beyond your needs, budget and particular style. A pair you spot might seem cute, but remember to check out the supporting ability, material and how well they fit, as well, before you purchase!

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