Tucked away in the Buda hills, a short journey from Széll Kálmán tér (square), is Kalandpálya (Challengeland) Csillebérc Adventure Park. Children and adults can have fun testing their strength, skill and stamina as they climb and swing on rope courses between the trees.
The popular park in District XII opened in 2006. Anyone is allowed to climb who feels physically fit enough, is taller than one metre and takes part in the safety briefing. After a trial run consisting of three to four obstacles, visitors are free to choose their own route.
However, they must work their way through the levels of difficulty. “It’s not uncommon for teenagers in particular to overestimate themselves and have to be brought down using a rope,” says one employee.
Safety first
Owner Loránd Tompos explains that all the courses are colour-coded according to difficulty. Alternative routes are provided for less-skilled climbers to avoid the most difficult obstacles. The park also puts on training courses for children and adults. Visitors climb without constant supervision but staff are always on hand to help and check that they are following the safety rules.
“We continuously modernise the routes and comply with European regulations so that safety is always ensured,” says Tompos. Reckless climbers can be excluded from the park at any time, he says.
Challenges
Visitors first need to fill out a declaration of agreement with the rules. Then they are given a helmet and harness. Park staff help to put on the harness and explain what the two carabiners (metal safety loops) and the pulley are for. The carabiners are used for the zip-lines marked red, while the pulley is used for those marked yellow and allows visitors to glide along a rope.
The obstacles are very varied, from swinging like Tarzan across chasms to climbing through barrels and making it to the other side in wooden boats, and the difficulty keeps increasing. Between the individual tasks there are platforms in the trees to rest and think about how to master the next stage.
The courses for children are very similar to those for adults but are much closer to the ground, so that parents can help their offspring to overcome the obstacles and follow the safety rules.
Tompos says the adventure park is continuously being expanded. This year, for example, a new course opened that can be used by all age groups and in pairs.
The park also organises team-building sessions, children’s birthday parties and night-time climbing tours.
Kalandpálya Csillebérc Adventure Park
District XII, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 21
Open: April to October daily 10 am to 6 pm; November to March, Sat. and Sun. 10 am to 4 pm
Tel.: (+36-1) 274-5705
www.kalandpalya.com
Tickets cost HUF 3,990 for adults and HUF 2,990 for children.
Family climbing ticket: two parents and two children (under 14) or one parent and three children (under 14) HUF 12,300.
