THE ROAD TO HUNGARY

Written by MOTORBIKE EUROPE Road Writers -

Hungary consists mainly of an area of plains, surrounded in a semicircle by the Carpathians. Border countries are Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. In prehistoric times, the Hungarian landscape was completely under water, and when the waters subsided, large mineral deposits were left behind, which make for a very fertile area for farming.

Budapest is Hungary's capital, and the name is composed of the names of two cities, Buda and Pest, located on either side of the river Danube. On the Buda side is Gellert Hill with its famous citadel. On the flat, Pest side is the parliament, the splendid boulevards and large housing estates. The city has 1,700,000 inhabitants. The old town is located in Buda, and the modern town of Pest, is on the eastern shore.

THE CARPATHIANS

The Carpathian Mountains stretch in an arc, from the Czech Republic in the northwest, through Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Ukraine, to Romania in the east. It is actually the second longest mountain range in Europe, at a length of 1,500 km. The mountains are also home to the largest population of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynx in Europe. The highest peaks in the Carpathians are the Tatras, on the border between Poland and Slovakia, where the highest peaks are over 2,600 m. The second highest mountain is located in Romania, where the highest peaks are over 2,500 m. The Carpathian Mountains are usually divided into three parts. The Western Carpathians located in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia.

The Eastern Carpathians are located in southeastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania. The Southern Carpathians, in Romania and Serbia.