A slow, boozy bus tour of Hungary's secret vineyards

The spa town of Balatonfüred on Lake Balaton — often called the Hungarian Sea — has gained a new way to explore its little-known wineries. The Guardian reports on a hop-on, hop-off vintage bus service, the 46° Balaton Borbusz, that launched this summer and now carries visitors on day trips to 22 local vineyards along two routes.

The service is the idea of Virág Szabó, who modelled it on the vintage wine tram running between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek in South Africa. Riders board a bright green 1984 DAF bus found in the Netherlands, and the area it tours sits at the same latitude as Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône. For travellers without a car — the hundreds of small wineries here were traditionally hard to reach — the bus finally makes tasting them simple.

It is an appealing outing for readers who enjoy a slower pace of travel: a 90-minute train ride south-west from Budapest, a historic spa resort town popular for sailing and swimming, and countryside to the north suited to walkers. No driving required, and the tasting comes to you.