A little piece of the Netherlands on the edge of the Little Hungarian Plain

Itinerary

• From Tatabánya train station, two routes are available: cycling parallel to the railway or passing through the downtown along Esztergomi road (equipped with a pedestrian and bike path parallel to the main road) heading north – the important part is to head towards Környe upon reaching Rákóczi Ferenc road!
• The road first goes under the railway and then over the Által-ér on Rákóczi Ferenc road, after which you must turn right before the roundabout onto the bike path leading to Tata.
• In Tata, after leaving the lakeside promenade northwards, the bike traffic route is not fully resolved yet (both sides of the Által-ér are quite densely built within the city), but by following wayfinding signs, you will eventually reach Fényes Fasor, from where the path is unmistakable all the way to Dunaalmás.
• Before Dunaalmás, the bike path ends; turn left onto road 10 (westward), then near the border of Almásfüzitő, turn right upon reaching road 1 towards Komárom/Győr.
• In Almásfüzitő, cycle along road 1, then continue on the former alumina factory’s parallel bike path (of not very good quality until the railway crossing)!
• In Komárom, cycle a long stretch on the main road (bike lane or bike path), then turn right onto Bem József street to reach Csillagerőd fortress, from where both the Elizabeth Bridge and the train station can be accessed westwards on Sport street.

Detailed route description

The mining town

We start our journey at the seat of Komárom-Esztergom county. Today's Tatabánya originally consisted of four separate settlements – Alsógalla, Felsőgalla, Bánhida, and Tatabánya – which were united in 1947. Until the end of the 19th century, the lives of locals were mainly shaped by agriculture, but the discovery of coal resources near the Gerecse foothills completely turned things around. In 1896, the first wagon of coal was surfaced; thanks to the economic boom caused by mining, the independent settlement of Tatabánya was established six years later. By the 1950s, Komárom-Esztergom’s seat had become a significant coal mining and heavy industry center. At its peak, mining employed over 15,000 people, but coal resources were depleted by 1987. The open-air Mining Industrial Museum, established on site XV shaft area, preserves the memory of former mines. The museum offers comprehensive exhibits on local miners’ lives, visiting former office buildings, the so-called "hatajtós" (houses with six apartments), and even descending into a sloping shaft. The city's symbol, the Turul monument, stands on Kő Hill above the city and can also be reached by bike on a detour (not part of the route). If you are already there, the lookout on Csúcs Hill, converted from a former mine tower, is accessible by bike as well. The same cannot be said for the Szelim cave in the rock wall, but it is reachable on foot. For active recreation lovers, exciting via ferrata routes with stunning panoramas and various difficulty levels await at the foot of the mighty Turul. The Gerecse Kapuja Visitor Centre, opened in 2018, offers a restaurant and exhibition space for tourists.

From the train station, we set off north on the bike path alongside the Által-ér towards the Danube. The Által-ér originates in Vértes near Pusztavám and passes through Bokod, Környe, Tatabánya, and Tata, following the western foothills of Gerecse to reach the Danube at Dunaalmás. Its regulation was carried out in the 18th century to turn marshy lands into meadows, pastures, and hayfields suitable for agriculture.

We can cycle on an exceptionally good-quality bike path alongside the watercourse up to the Old Lake in Tata. At the border of Vértesszőlős, an information board beside a cyclist rest spot highlights the area's interest, notably the "Hungarian Neander Valley." A 400,000-year-old archaeological site was uncovered in limestone mining, the oldest such object in Hungary, famously known as the home of the "Samu" fossils. Evidence of the Heidelberg-type human life includes millions of stone tools, animal bones, human milk teeth, and a skull fragment.

The city of waters

Approaching Tata along the Által-ér, small and large lakes appear beside the bike path. Our favorite is the Által-éri settling pond, where charming weekend houses create a fantastic atmosphere – most of them built over water or piers. After passing smaller lakes, we reach the shore of Tata’s Old Lake. Although the bike path runs a long stretch next to main road 1, in several places it is possible to roll out to the lakeside. On the promenade, cycling must be slow and careful of pedestrians, but the view of the Tata castle from the lake side is worth the few minutes lost. The lake area was once extensive marshes and swamps replenished partly by the Által-ér and partly by springs around and in the lake basin. These springs dried up in the 1960s after a water breakthrough in one of Tatabánya’s mine shafts, along with other Tata springs. The lake is drained every autumn and refilled in spring, which in November becomes the winter habitat for wild geese coming from the Eurasian tundras. The presence of these birds forms the basis of the Tata Wild Goose Festival, held on the last Saturday of every November.

From spring to autumn, instead of wild geese, many catering units await hungry and thirsty cyclists around the lake. The New Kajakház Ecotourism Centre offers guided hiking, cycling, and water tours, and families with small children can rent running strollers or child bikes. Attentive visitors will find many informational boards along the lakeside promenade inviting them to thematic city walks, for instance, tracing the master builder (looking for the signature of the estate builder Jakab Fellner), the woodcarver, or following the path of King Matthias or stones. Along the waters’ path, one encounters the Pötörke mill – once, there were 15 mills in Tata, both flour and fulling mills. If you move away from the lake shore a bit, towards either the old town or Gerecse, you will encounter many attractions. Near the castle stands Esterházy Palace, not far from which is the town hall and Calvary Hill with its lookout tower and geological park. Heading in the other direction, the bell tower (also called Watchtower) is worth visiting – like many other buildings in Tata, it was designed by Jakab Fellner. The eight-sided structure's curiosity is that no nails were used in the woodwork of the upper part. Not far from here, Hungary’s first English-style garden can be found, built at the end of the 18th century at the Esterházys’ order. Hungary planted weeping willows here for the first time; many capitals and pillars from the Vérteszentkereszt Abbey were incorporated into the ruins by the lake shore.

Shortly after, we first cross the Budapest-Hegyeshalom railway, the first electrified rail line in Hungary along its entire length, then cross main road 1 to continue following the watercourse. Passing a convenient cyclist rest, we experience a small wonder: for kilometers, it felt like cycling in the Netherlands. The impeccable-quality bike path runs along the stream bank, meeting other cyclists – a little piece of the Rhineland on the eastern edge of the Little Hungarian Plain.

The city of fortresses

Continuing along the Danube, the main road 10 borders us; here the bike path ends – we can continue the journey right towards Esztergom or left towards Komárom. This time, we head west to the city known for its fortresses. Fortunately, only about four kilometers on road 10 separate us from Almásfüzitő. The town is primarily known for its former alumina factory, but fewer may know that an oil refinery operated here in the first half of the 20th century. The alumina factory was dated to 1941, but production started nine years later. The plant – which operated until 1997 and was the largest alumina factory in Hungary and Central Europe at its peak – processed bauxite from Vértes and Bakony. The closed plant now presents a sad sight, awaiting reclamation.

From the factory gate, the bike path continues towards Szőny; Komárom’s easternmost part was once a significant Roman fortress called Brigetio, where one of the four Pannonian legions was stationed from the early 2nd century until the end of Roman rule. Numerous Roman artifacts were excavated here, including bricks decorated with legion seals, coins, jewelry, glassware and ceramics, and the remains of a bath complex.

Komárom (Új-Szőny) later remained a strategically important settlement facing the confluence of the Vág and Csallóköz Danube branches. The construction of the currently known fort system began after an unsuccessful Turkish siege in 1594, reaching its final form after the 1848-49 freedom fight, creating the strongest fortress system in the Habsburg Empire along both banks of the Danube. On the left bank were the Old Fortress and New Fortress parts; on the right bank, the Csillagerőd, Monostori fortress, and Igmándi fortress. After World War II, both banks were used by the Red Army until the Soviet forces withdrew. Today, many exhibitions operate in the Monostori fortress, and renovation of Csillagerőd is ongoing.

It is worth crossing the Danube to the other side, to today’s Révkomárom, the birthplace of Mór Jókai. The two city parts are connected by the busy Elizabeth Bridge – if not cycling on the roadway, the narrow and not very high-railed sidewalk must be chosen until the construction of the new Komárom bridge. From the bridge, you get a good view of Slovakia’s second-largest port; immediately, it is worth turning right and heading towards the historic city center. Here can be found St. Andrew’s Church, the Zichy Palace, the town hall, and a few hundred meters away, the fortress. Numerous restaurants line the city’s walkways where you can eat good strapačka or Jókai bean soup or drink a mug of freshly tapped Kofola.

The easy touring route runs entirely on flat land, mostly on bike paths. The only exception is the section between Dunaalmás and Almásfüzitő. A detour to Gerecse is also possible, as is starting the route from Vértes – by 2019, a bike path connecting Tatabánya with Környe will be completed, allowing the tour to be extended by an additional 13 kilometers with safe cycling infrastructure.