Bugac
Bugac is a small village in the Great Hungarian Plain, on the sandy soils of the Kiskunság ("Little Cumania") region. There are two most likely scenarios that you end up in this village: either visiting the puszta, or the steppelands, of the Kiskunság National Park or attending the Kurultáj, kind of a cross between a reenactment festival and a geniune celebration of the life of the Hungarians' nomadic ancestors, with a neo-pagan twist.
Understand
Bugac (pronounced BOO gahts) is a fairly new town founded in 1909 on a land that is as flat as a pancake and as sandy as a beach, partially covered with natural grasses tall and short. Afforestration efforts in the area has been ongoing since the 18th century, when the Austro-Hungarian queen Maria Theresa (r. 1740–1780) decided to stop the wind erosion and to stabilize the sand dunes that were growing larger and larger.
Get in
It is 12 km W of Kiskunfélegyháza.
The regional public transportation company Kunság Volán provides several daily buses from the regional hub of Kecskemét.
For self-driving travellers, the easiest access is through the M5 motorway, which connects Budapest, the national capital with the Serbian border near Szeged in the south. Take the exit (kijárat) 109 towards Kiskunfélegyháza and Bugac, which will bring you to an overpass straddling the motorway and onto a crossroad. From there on, follow the signs for Bugac.
Get around
Bugac is a very orderly and small place, where you will find it easy to walk around its grid plan. The main sites of interest, though, lie out of the town — the site of the Kurultáj is 3 km west, while the national park is a further 3 km away on the same direction. During the Kurultáj, intercity buses from Kecskemét make it all the way to the gathering site.
Do
- 🌍 Bugac nature trail (bugaci tanösvény). Bugac puszta is the largest of seven disjoint units making up the Kiskunság National Park.