Danube-Ipoly National Park (Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park)

Established in 1997, the National Park lies north of the capital, and includes large areas of the Pilis and Börzsöny Hills between the Rivers Danube and Ipoly. The Danube Bend is one of the most beautiful parts of the more than 60,000-hectare area.

The uniqueness of the park is that it is a meeting point of three different large landscapes: valleys, hills, and plains.

The most stunning example of the meeting of the Danube and the hills is the Danube Bend, the result of the Danube breaking between the Börzsöny Hills and the Visegrád Hills several thousands of years ago. The alluvial forests which border the riverbank give the area a unique landscape. There are also smaller and larger islands that developed on the river between Esztergom and Budapest; these also belong to the national park.

The Pilis biosphere reserve, the Szemlőhegy Cave, and the Alcsút Arboretum are part of the National Park.

The National Park provides an excellent opportunity to acquire new or to broaden existing knowledge about environmental protection, and also to shape ones ecological standpoint. Important branches of the educational features are the study-walk in the study-walk in the floodplain woodland near Vác and the Mogyoróhegy Educational Centre in the Pilis.