Kiskunság National Park

Introducing Kiskunság National Park

Kiskunság National Park (adult/child including museum & horse show 1100/550Ft) consists of half a dozen 'islands' of land totalling more than 760 sq km. Much of the park's alkaline ponds, dunes and grassy 'deserts' are off-limits to casual visitors, but you can get a close look at this environmentally fragile area - and see the famous horse herds go through their paces - at Bugac on a sandy steppe 30km southwest of Kecskemét.

The best source of information on attractions at the park, transport possibilities and the park in general is Bugac Tours (372 827; bugactours.kft@axelero.hu; Szabadság tér 4/a, Bugac; 9am-noon & 1-4pm Mon-Fri); it also has a small office at the park entrance that can only help with prices. The House of Nature (482 611; www.knp.hu in Hungarian; Liszt Ferenc utca 19, Kecskemét; 9am-4pm Tue-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat), the park's official office in Kecskemét, is another good source of information.

At the park's entrance you can board a horse-driven carriage (adult/child including museum & horse show 2200/1100Ft; 12.15pm May-Sep, extra carriage 2.15pm Jun-Aug) or walk 1.5km along the sandy track to the Herder Museum (10am-5pm May-Oct), a circular structure designed to look like a horse-driven dry mill. It's filled with stuffed fauna and pressed flora of the Kiskunság, as well as branding irons, carved wooden pipes, embroidered fur coats and a tobacco pouch made from a gnarled old ram's scrotum.

The horse show (1.15pm May-Sep, extra show 3.15pm Jun-Aug) is the park's highlight. Outside, you may come across a couple of noble Nonius steeds being made to perform tricks that most dogs would be disinclined to do, but the real reason for coming is to see the csikósok (cowboys) crack their whips, race one another bareback and ride 'five-in-hand'. This is a breathtaking performance in which one csikós gallops five horses around the field at full tilt, while standing on the backs of the last two.

Sleeping and eating is centred around Bugaci Karikás Csárda (575 112; Nagybugac 135; mains 1500Ft) at the entrance to the park. It's overly kitsch (and the decaying bulls head inside the door is a little off-putting) but the food is hearty and the accompanying folk-music ensemble will get your foot tapping. Next door, Bugac Tours (575 122; camp sites per person 800Ft, bungalows per person 4500Ft; ) has a basic camp site and rustic bungalows.

The bus (423Ft, one hour, 35km) is your best option for getting from Kecskemét to the park; the 11am departure will plonk you at the entrance around noon. The return journey leaves at 4pm Monday to Friday and 6.25pm on Saturday and Sunday (a change at Jakabszállás is required on weekends), but a better (and more fun) option on weekends is the narrow-gauge train (326Ft) between the two centres. It leaves Bugac-felső station (a 15-minute walk south of the park entrance) at 5.34pm, arriving at Kecskemét KK train station around 6.50pm. The train from Kecskemét to Bugac leaves at 7.30am, so you'll be twiddling your thumbs for quite some time until the horse show starts.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009