Téglás Gokartpálya

In Téglás, in eastern Hungary, near Debrecen, the Téglás Gokartpálya lays out six hundred and fifty metres of open-air asphalt track, seven metres wide. The length of the layout makes it a genuine sporting course, with real chances to overtake and to build up speed, far from small urban tracks. You drive petrol karts here, in a country setting at the heart of the Great Plain.

Karting stays open to all, with no licence or experience: a briefing, a helmet, and you head off to find your best lap. The length and width of the layout delight beginners trying it out as much as confident drivers out to test themselves against the clock, and groups happily set up close races. Pricing comes by the session, and people happily come back to beat their time. As the activity takes place outdoors, it is best to check opening times by season before coming.

Téglás is a small town in the Hajdúság region, in eastern Hungary, a few kilometres from Debrecen. The country's second city, famous for its great Reformed church and its university, is worth the detour, as is the Hortobágy national park, a vast steppe listed by UNESCO where you discover the puszta, its herds and its horsemen-herders. The region's thermal baths round out the discovery. Téglás is reached by road from Debrecen or Budapest, in a farming, sunny part of the country.