Bicycle tours in Hungary - Frequently Asked Questions - TradNatura Sport

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Throughout the years there were many questions about our bike tours, asked by our guests...
We thought maybe they can provide you with some useful information about our tours, so we have collected a few of them here:

How difficult are your tours, can I manage the cycling?
Our tours are designed for everybody who would enjoy appr. 16 - 65 km / 10 - 40 miles of leisure cycling a day. Hungary is rather flat with some gentle hills or undulations, where we always try to cycle mostly on the downhills. When there are big uphills, we take our bus which is big enough for the whole group.

Do I need to prepare myself before taking your cycle tours?
If you have a reasonable fittness level and you do some regular sport acivities, you won’t have any difficulties on our tours. If you never do any excercise, you will also manage doing our tours, but we would recommend doing some gradual preparations before you come, to make your holiday more enjoyable. However, should you get exhausted any time, our support van is always available.

What happens if I get tired?
Whenever you want to have a rest, you can take our support van which is always near our groups.

Can I cycle more than the daily distances, if I would like to?
On many days of our tours we have several optional routes which we can use depending on the fittness level of our groups or the weather conditions, and when there is a possibility, we are also pleased to cycle a few extra miles with you.

Can I take a tour if I don’t cycle at all?
Yes of course, you can travel in our bus, and enjoy every part of the tours, except the cycling. We are happy to take non cyclists as well on our tours, we have even few returning guests who come with their husband or wife who cycles, and they just enjoy the scenery, the sights, or the spas, and the food and wine.

What is included in our tour prices?
Practically everything, except your trip between your home and Hungary, your travel insurance, and your extra / individual costs here. Detailed information please find at the General Information or at the details of Our Bicycle Tours.

What kind of hotels are we staying at?
We use very nice 4 or 3 star small castles, mansions or hotels in quiet locations with beautiful surroundings, mostly in beautiful parks with ancient trees. All of them are selected for their antique or special atmosphere, for their good quality, and friendly service. The old buildings, where we stay, have rather thick walls, or when we stay in a new one, most of them have air condition, so you can have a nice and cool room even if the weather would be hot.

What can we eat and drink during the tours?
Every day you can have a buffet breakfast, a 3 course gourmet dinner with some wine and mineral water, and during the cycling you can have our home-made picnic lunches and refreshing cool mineral water or fruit juices. For our dinners we have selected the finest local specialities of the traditional Hungarian cuisine, and you can taste excellent wines of our historic wine regions, in some of the best gourmet restaurants and ancient wine cellars of Hungary.

Is the tap water drinkable in Hungary?
Yes, it is drinkable everywhere, and we have several kinds of very good mieral water, fruit juices, beer, and excellent wines, or schnapps. (But drinking alcohol is not allowed in Hungary, when you ride a bicycle, only afterwards.)

What should I do if I’m vegetarian, or if I can’t eat something?
It is no problem at all to arrange vegetarian food for you, or delight any other special dietary requirements, if we know about this in advance, so just please let us know when you make your booking.

What kind of sights I can see on your tours?
We will show you our nicest historic towns, splendid palaces of famous noble families, medieval castles and churches, wonderful national parks, lakes and rivers, relaxing thermal baths, interesting museums, and many hidden treasures of the countryside. Please find more information at the details of Our Bicycle Tours, or at Why Hungary.

What happens if I’m not very much interested in museums and churches?
It is never a problem, if you tell us, you can always take various alternatives of walking around the streets or among the shops, trying to find some souvenirs, or having a drink...

What kind of roads / routes we will cycle along?
We have selected the most scenic and quiet routes of the regions, where you can enjoy the beauties and peacefulness of the nature. If there are sometimes any busy roads, we take a bus transfer with our bus. We cycle mainly on paved roads, cycle paths, or sometimes short distances on smooth gravel paths.

Are your tours guided?
Yes, all our tours are fully guided. One of us will cycle with you showing the way and the sights, and help if you have any troubles, and one of us will drive our support van to provide the catering service and technical background. Both of us will help / guide you from morning till night throughout the whole tour. (But of course we will let you to have some free time too.)

What kind of support do you have?
We have our air conditioned support minibus, which can take our whole group up to 15 guests, which is the maximum size of our groups. This provides a flexible opportunity to cycle only at the nicest and most quiet parts of the routes, and having this help, you can cycle as much of the daily distances as you want. We both have tools, spare parts, first-aid kits and mobile phones with us, should we have any emergency cases during the tours.

Will my luggage be transported during the tours?
Yes, we have our special trailer to carry all your luggage, (and the bikes when we take a bus transfer).

How big are your groups?
Our groups range from 4 to 15 people, so you can enjoy a nice family atmosphere on our tours.

Do you offer any special tours, or self guided tours?
As we would like to offer our guests a thoroughly enjoyable holiday and a total relaxation, we offer only fully guided and supported tours. However, if you have a group, we can organise a special tour for you with pleasure, just please write us as early as you can, to find a suitable date for you. Please find details at Bespoke Tours.

Do you provide bikes on your tours?
Yes, we have very comfortable hybrid bikes in various sizes, with 24 gears, good quality Shimano elements, suspension fork, shock absorbing seatposts, panniers, and a water-bottle, and the use of them is included in the tour price. Should you prefer bringing your own bike, we can reduce our tour prices by Euro 3 / cycling day.

Do I need to wear a helmet in Hungary?
It is not obligatory, but we would strongly recommend using one. It’s maybe the best if you bring your own comfortable one, but if you don’t want to carry in your suitcase, we can also provide one for you free, but our ones are used.

Is it worth bringing my own saddle, or pedals?
The seats on our bikes are rather comfortable, and we have a few softer gel seats too, but if you prefer bringing your own accustomed one, of course we can also put it on your bike with pleasure.
We have regular pedals on our bikes, but if you prefer bringing your clip-in pedals, or toe clips, we can put them also with pleasure on your bike here.

What is the weather like in Hungary?
We have continental weather, which means that we usually have nice and sunny summers. In April it may be a bit changeable or sometimes cooler, but in May it is usually nice and pleasant appr. 20 ºC, in June 20-25 ºC, July and August are usually the sunniest and hotest months with 25-35 ºC, (we have our easy tours in these months, with lot of swimming opportunities) and September is again 20 ºC pleasantly warm and sunny. It is still nice in October, but then it is a bit cooler again, appr. 15-20 ºC.

What happens if it is raining?
Normally the weather is nice and sunny in Hungary most of the time in the Summer season, but sometimes the weather is quite unpredictable nowadays. If we have any bad weather, we can always take our bus, and visit a museum, or a thermal bath as an alternative.

What shall I bring and wear?
Any kind of comfortable cycling shorts and jerseys, (padded shorts may help to minimise saddle soreness) or any casual styles (such as loose fitting shorts and t-shirts) for the cycling, and any leisure and comfortable clothes for the evenings, and rest days. Though we often stay in 4 star hotels, you don’t need to be too smart, as all of them have a relaxed atmosphere, as most of their guests spend also their holidays there. Sun glasses are essential, and even if the weather is usually nice here, it is recommended taking a breathable rain jacket, and being prepared for cool weather too. Helmet, or at least a hat against the sun is strongly recommended, some sun-blocker too, and mosquito repellent for the days when we are cycling at a river or lake, or canoeing. It is worth bringing a swimming gear and a towel, and a sandal or a slipper for the baths or beaches and the canoe tours, when your body or feet may get wet...

Do I need to take my passport with me?
Yes, you need to have a valid passport to enter and leave Hungary. If you are a national of any countries of the European Union or Switzerland, your Identity Card is enough, but only if your nationality is in your ID card. So, British, Irish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic nationals need to have a passport, as well as citizens from the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. (A Visa is not required, only for stays longer than 90 days.)

Do I need to have a travel insurance?
Yes, we strongly recommend you to obtain a comprehensive and adequate travel and medical insurance in your home country, to cover unexpected costs due to illness, accident, lost luggage, tour interruption or cancellation, etc., and ensure that your policy covers you for the sport activities you will do.

How can I get to Hungary?
Hungary is in the middle of Europe, so it is easy to get here. It is rather popular to come by low cost airlines which come to Budapest from several places of Europe. Some companies where you can buy tickets: from Europe: easyjet.com, wizzair.com, from Overseas: (Canada, USA, Australia or New Zealand) webjet.com, flightnetwork.com.
How do I get to the hotel in Budapest?
We will arrange free transport for you to the hotel here, just let us know in advance the exact details of your arrival.

Can I pay with Euros in Hungary?
We use our own currency, the Hungarian Forint, but many of the restaurants or hotels in tourist areas accept Euro as well, just they calculate with a bit worse rate.

Can I pay with my credit card in Hungary?
Yes, in many of the restaurants, hotels, and shops you can, but it is worth having some Forints with you for the hidden places where we often cycle.

Where do you recommend changing money in Hungary?
You can find change offices already at the airport, but they usually have bad rates. There are ATM-s and exchange offices at several places in Budapest, and in the other towns, or in many of the hotels you can also change.

How much money should I change?
Not too much, because so many things are included in our tour price. But something for your extra drinks, ice creams, or souvenirs, depending on what would you like to buy of course. A large beer a day won’t cause you financial troubles, but if you want to buy a bottle of “6 puttonyos” Tokaj Aszú wine from 1972, (which has won the title of “The wine of the century”) it may cost you more than 100 beers...

How can I pay the cost of a tour?
We are able to accept only bank money transfer, because this proved to be the best, cheapest, and safest solution so far. All the other ways would result a relatively big increase of the tour prices, which we didn’t wanted to have.

What age your guests are?
Our guests we had so far were 14 - 80 years of age, most of our guests are between 30 - 70, and all of them enjoyed our tours very much.

Where are your guests from?
Actually we can say, from all over the world, mainly from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, but also from Germany, Switzerland, Norway, etc.

We hope we could help you with these questions a bit, and you can find further information at the details of Our Bicycle Tours, or at the General Information as well. We will also send you some useful information if you book a tour with us.

And we have almost forgotten a rather important question! >>> How to book a tour? <<< Please find here the answer...

If you have any further questions, please never hesitate to contact us, we are always happy to help you with any information.

We look forward to welcoming you on our tours.

Marietta and Peter