Tiny houses in Bükk Hills (Noszvaj)

Design-led wooden stair-houses rise on stilts among the beech forest of the Bükk Hills near Noszvaj, a small village in a karst region better known for the cave dwellings cut straight into its soft volcanic cliffs. Some of those cave houses are still lived in today, and a handful can be visited or toured, giving the area an oddly layered feel — modern timber architecture standing a few hundred metres from centuries-old rock-cut homes.

Eger, one of Hungary's best-known wine towns, is a short drive away and gives the region its other main draw: Egri Bikavér, the "Bull's Blood" red blend, along with a historic castle and thermal baths in the town itself. Between wine tastings and cave tours, the Szalajka Valley to the north adds an easy forest walk past waterfalls and a narrow-gauge forest railway, making the Bükk Hills an easy two- or three-day loop out of Budapest.