Hajdú-Bihar: Puszta, Nature and Regional Culture
Accommodation in Hajdú-Bihar
Hajdú-Bihar offers impressive landscapes, nature experiences and insights into the history of rural life. The Hortobágy Puszta and its shepherd culture shape visitors’ experiences, as do museums in places such as Hajdúböszörmény, Álmosd and Balmazújváros. There are also walking and cycling routes, as well as thermal pools in Hajdúszoboszló. Which of these aspects you most want to explore may also play a role in choosing a location for your holiday rental.
Puszta, Ponds and Wildlife
The Hortobágy National Park – the Puszta World Heritage site covers almost 75,000 hectares on the Great Hungarian Plain in eastern Hungary. As a cultural landscape, it preserves visible evidence of more than 2,000 years of traditional pastoralism. This gives the vast landscape a distinctive cultural dimension: it is not only a natural environment, but also one shaped by a long tradition of grazing.
The Hortobágy Fishponds system has several conservation and World Heritage designations: it is a Ramsar site, an Important Bird Area, part of the World Heritage site and a Natura 2000 site. To explore the landscape on foot, you can choose between 3.6, 5.4 and 10-kilometre routes on the Hortobágy Fishponds nature trail. The routes have no difficult sections; their different lengths make it easy to plan your day.
At the Hortobágy National Park Visitor Centre, the “Nature of Hortobágy” exhibition introduces the landscape’s rich flora and fauna. Another exhibition, “The World of Cranes”, combines a diorama with tactile objects, quiz questions, a magnetic puzzle and a digital drawing board. It offers hands-on learning and entertainment for all ages.
Exploring the Hortobágy Puszta
The Hortobágy Wildlife Park showcases the native wildlife of the Hungarian Puszta, including wolves, Przewalski’s horses, vultures and pelicans. A bookable Land Rover safari with an expert guide takes visitors to see wild horses and aurochs. Check the current booking conditions before making plans. A carriage ride lasting around an hour and a half introduces visitors to the landscape’s natural and cultural heritage, as well as its shepherding traditions.
Crane migration is also a widely enjoyed nature experience in Hortobágy. Around 1,500 visitors watch the cranes at feeding sites during the day and at their roosting sites at sunset; numbers may vary by season. The options available therefore differ not only by activity, but also by whether you would prefer to experience the Puszta on a guided ride, on foot or while watching the birdlife.
Shepherd Culture and Regional History
The Shepherd Museum focuses on shepherds’ lives and displays handmade clothing, tools and decorated personal belongings. It is housed in a former coach house that was part of the Hortobágy Csárda complex. The Körszín exhibition complements this perspective with faithfully recreated workshops for traditional crafts, including saddlery, pottery, shoemaking, blacksmithing, hat-making, gingerbread-making and wagon-building. The Hortobágy Csárda exhibition explores the inn’s history, transport in the Puszta and famous guests; it also features historical costumes to try on and a photo spot.
Museums and memorial sites in various towns across the county offer further insights. In Hajdúböszörmény, the Hajdúsági Museum is housed in the former seat of Hajdú County and preserves the region’s history. The village museum in Álmosd has permanent exhibitions covering archaeological periods, local history and traditional rural culture across 100 square metres. The former home of Ferenc Kölcsey houses an exhibition about the poet. He spent his childhood and part of his adult life there.
The Veres Péter Memorial House in Balmazújváros explores the living conditions of the poor rural population in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as well as what Veres Péter experienced in this house. In Bakonszeg, the Bessenyei Memorial House is a museum in a thatched-roof mud house. The Mihalkó Hat-Making House in Balmazújváros displays hats and other folk-art objects, and presents a family craft tradition dating back to the 1800s. Access is by prior arrangement; contact the museum before your visit.
Excursions and Choosing a Location
In addition to museums and the Puszta, there are other destinations to suit different kinds of day out. The exhibition house and arboretum in Debrecen-Bánk introduces visitors to the landscape’s plant and animal life, as well as material evidence of rural life. The 15-hectare arboretum includes deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs. If you prefer to explore actively, you can walk or cycle the Hajdú-Bihar section of the Alföldi Kéktúra. A circular cycling route starts and ends in Debrecen and passes through, among other places, Hajdúhadház, Hajdúböszörmény, Balmazújváros, Hajdúszoboszló, Berettyóújfalu and Álmosd.
For a different kind of excursion, the Zsuzsi Forest Railway runs seasonally to the Hármashegy rest area, where it provides access to further tourist attractions. The narrow-gauge railway was originally built in 1882 to transport timber from the Gúth forests near Debrecen. As it operates seasonally, it is advisable to check the timetable in advance.
If thermal pools are the focus of your trip, Hungarospa in Hajdúszoboszló is a useful reference point when searching for a holiday rental: the complex is open year-round from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and has three indoor thermal pools and four outdoor ones. Its certified medicinal water enables medically supervised treatments that are supported by health insurance. Opening hours may change; check the latest information before your visit. If you are focusing on shepherd culture and Puszta experiences, you can use the attractions in Hortobágy to help choose your location. For museums and cycling routes, the towns mentioned also make practical starting points for planning your trip.
Explore Other Subregions
Discover more destinations: Debrecen, Berettyóújfalu, Derecske-Létavértes, Balmazújváros, Püspökladány, Hajdúszoboszló, Hajdúböszörmény, Hajdúhadház, Polgár.
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