Wild Grapes and Blackberries

If you're on a low budget but want a totally relaxing, low-tech long weekend in the Hungarian countryside Blaise Trailer and I say check out the village of Bakonybél. It's so quiet and a wonderful place to hike in the woods.

There are a couple of hotels: Hotel Bakonybél and Vadszőlő Szálló és Étterem ("Wild Grape Inn and Restaurant", Fürdő u. 45, Tel: 06 88 461 105). The first place has better amenities (sauna, massage, pool table, ping pong, etc.), but the second one is much more homey and we usually eat great meals there, which never cost more than about 3,000 forints for two (including mugs of Belgian beer which only cost 300 forints!); the decor is very eclectic - like having dinner in someone's home: old furniture, bookshelves full of books, fireplace, etc. There's also relaxed outdoor seating with umbrella tables in front of the place.

The bus to Bakonybél leaves from Budapest's Népliget Bus Station. Tickets are about 2,000 per head and the journey takes 3 hours. It's wonderful to see how the landscape changes, getting very hilly and filled with tiny, idyllic villages. The bus makes a 10-15 minute stop at a little bar called "Lesz Vigasz" a play on words, because it sounds like Las Vegas in Hungarian, but roughly translated means "there will be something to cheer you up". There is! You can get a "piccolo" glass of beer there for 86 forints! Don't worry, the bus driver only drinks coffee.

The hikes can be strenuous or lax. We got up early our first full day and hiked up to a lookout tower. It took about 6-7 hours round-trip. The next day we jaunted to a freshwater spring that really seemed in the middle of nowhere (stuffing ourselves with fresh blackberries along the way), had lunch at the lone table and headed back to base camp for a massage (1,500 for half an hour) and a nice dinner at the Wild Grape.

Take a day trip to the town of Zirc, which has a very interesting church and quaint museum of natural history.

On our last trip to Bakonybél a couple of weeks ago, we decided to hitchhike instead of wait for the bus. People picked us up instantly and we got to where the bus stops and had another 86 forint beer, before taking a bus the rest of the way back to Budapest. It was a great way to end a cheap and relaxing weekend.