People First

We are in Orfű, one of our favourite place of excursion. The Orfű excursion is also described in a separate article in the database, which you can find here:  https://peoplefirst.hu/en/directory/barrier-free-pecs/orfu-2/
But if you're looking for a wilderness setting a little further away from the main tourist sites, visit the lovely little village of Tekeres at the dam-end of Lake Pécs. It's actually now incorporated into Orfű.
This year, the bicycle lane connecting Tekeres with the fourth, most remote and beautiful lake of Kovácsszénája was completed. And bike lanes are always an excellent barrier-free option for wheelchair users, visually impaired people, families with stroller and elderly people. At the very end of April 2024 we walked the new route on a beautiful Saturday. This time we did it not only with our expert team, but also with a larger group of disabled and elderly participants, so we gained even more experience.

Our starting point was the Natura Pension at the beginning of Tekeres village. In front of it you can park your car, and the long-distance bus from Pécs stops right here.
Passing through the village on a smooth concrete road, you can admire the old, charming, beautifully restored houses and the bell tower. Then we come to the Herman Otto fishing lake. We will continue to use concrete roads, and reach the forest, the newly constructed bike lane begins, painted and well signposted. The strong yellow markings on the edges of the pavement and in the middle of the road help visually impaired fellows to find their way. The Tekeres village - Kovácsszénája section was 5.6 km for us, with a nice slow tempo, stopping occasionally, looking at plants and other beauties, talking and sometimes pausing. We did it in about 2 hours.

Accessibility:
the concrete road at the beginning is also well maintained, smooth, free of holes and bumps. The bike lane is perfectly smooth, making it pleasant for the visually impaired. As visually impaired you can keep a straight line on the edge of the bike lane with a white cane. The grass verge along the roadside is a great help.
However, the bike lane has 3-4 uphill and downhill sections. These are 6-7%. In one place there is a sign indicating a 10% gradient, which clearly seemed more to us when pushing the wheelchair. With an electric wheelchair the route can be completed without any problems. Pushing a manual wheelchair is a little more difficult and tiring for the helper in some sections because of the climbs. Both chairs can also fit in one side of the bike lanes. With a manual wheelchair alone along the route we recommend the trip only for those who are good at using their arms.

There is a serious lack of benches along the road for occasional rest, both for disabled and able-bodied.

Arriving at Kovácsszénája, we are greeted by a beautiful view, a paradise for anglers, and the tiny village itself.
But why does the village have such a strangely nice name? For centuries the village was called Kovacéna, which is of Slavic origin. It's hard to imagine now, but the settlement, which has existed since the Árpád era, played a prominent role in its surroundings until the late 1600s, thanks to its ecclesia. Even during the Turkish occupation it was not depopulated, but the plague epidemics of the 18th century decimated the population. In the 19th century, it was strange, but it was fashionable to Hungarianise the names of localities. So Kovacéna was first called Kőhalom (pile of stones), then Kovácsszéna, and finally Kovácsszénája (smith's hay)... who knows why, but it sounds good.
Unfortunately, at the end of the trip, there is currently no buffet or restaurant in Kovácsszénája where you can have a drink or a meal. But hopefully this will be provided in the near future as the number of people using the cycle path increases.
A much more serious shortcoming is that there are no stone paths leading to the lake, so people with wheelchairs or strollers cannot enjoy the lake up close. This, along with the roadside benches, would be good to replace.

Website:
The logo and the slogan are very creative, the site is pleasantly cheerful, but unfortunately the website is not accessible. There is not even a separate accessible menu on the site.
Not well suited for mobile phones, designed for larger screen diagonals, only suitable for laptops. Not pleasant for people with sensory over-sensitivity, difficult to navigate, too much colour, flickering, constant movement, in several places the contrast is inadequate.
As visually impaired or blind, the site is of limited use. The hotels and restaurants are readable with a screen reader, but the events calendar is not. The images are not captioned or there are no replacement texts, so they cannot be seen or enjoyed by visually impaired or blind people.
Those who use a keyboard or tab to search the website may also find it more difficult to use the site, as there are too many clicks to get to certain parts.

Getting there:
by bus, buses depart from Pécs bus station to Orfű. You should choose a bus that goes to the stop called "Tekeres forduló"!
The Pécs bus station is accessible, you can read more about it here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/directory/barrier-free-pecs/long-distance-bus-station/
The bus stop in Tekeres is barrier-free, with a concrete ramp leading to the bus stop level.
The timetable can be found here: https://menetrendek.hu/ If you need a bus with accessibility, please contact the traffic office in advance at 72/520-154.

by car, Orfű is 16 km from Pécs, about 20 minutes drive. There are two directions from Pécs: via Uranváros, towards Daindol. This is the most popular way, the bus also goes there. Or through the city centre on the Hunyadi road, towards the church of the Pálosok, over the hill on the Lapisi road. The roads to Orfű are serpentine in both directions, so expect that.
On site, in Tekeres, a good place to start on foot the above-mentioned Natura Pension, which has parking facilities in the vicinity. You can also find a description of the Natura Pension in our database.
If you are going the other way round, perhaps driving to Kovacsszénája, start towards Abaliget, then you can approach Kovácsszénája via Husztót. There is a large car park on the shore of the fishing lake. There is no barrier-free parking.