From wine region to industrial area on the slopes of the Gerecse

Itinerary

• In Biatorbágy, leave the roundabout next to the station towards the Centrum and cycle along Dózsa György Street. When you reach the valley, go straight at the STOP sign until the end of Öntöde Street. First turn left, then immediately right (Ady Endre Street), and at the next corner (by the post office) turn left again.
• The Ybl Miklós promenade leads straight to the viaduct. Return from the viaduct in the same direction, then turn left at the first opportunity, and at the end of the short street turn left again. At the next corner, turn right onto Szabadság Street.
• On Szabadság Street, leave the roundabout at the second exit in the direction of Sóskút (Etyek).
• At the border of Biatorbágy, take the right at a Y-junction towards Etyek.
• Entering Etyek, take a detour towards the Körpincék on Cemetery Street.
• Returning to the main road, after passing the church, turn right at the bottom of the slope towards Bicske (Óvoda Street).
• Continue straight to Botpuszta, where a short detour to the church is recommended.
• Continue to the end of this road and turn left onto the old road parallel to main road 1 towards Bicske. Follow the cycling route signs until you reach the Galagonyás terrain on the outskirts of Bicske.
• Cycle along the Bicske wine cellars row and at the other end of the terrain road, turn right towards the observatory, then follow the cycle path until it ends. From here, continue a few hundred meters on a forest road (marked PL) to the ruined building. Return by the same route from the observatory, then turn right at the first opportunity towards Tarján.
• At the bottom of the slope, turn right onto the cycle path. After reaching Csabdi, leave the cycle path turning right onto the village's main street (Szabadság Street), then turn right again at Malom Alley towards Vasztély. Cross the stream and continue on the pedestrian and cycle path to the village boundary, then continue straight towards Vasztély.
• In a bend, turn left following the cycle route signs towards Tarján. From here, continue straight on the flawlessly paved asphalt road to Tarján.
• Upon reaching Tarján, turn left at the Y-junction, then again left upon reaching the main road (Rákóczi Ferenc Road). After passing the church, turn left at the intersection towards Tatabánya. From here to the county seat, you do not need to leave the road in any direction.
• At the border of Tatabánya, cross main road 1 and continue straight on Tarjáni Street, then Cement Factory Street. Upon reaching a larger intersection (STOP sign), turn right (Kormos Street, then Táncsics Mihály Street).
• To approach the Turul Monument, turn right onto Tolnai Street (a modest sign indicates the correct direction 10 meters before). Tolnai Street and then its continuation, Panoráma Street, lead to the monument.
• Ride back from the Turul to the center of Tatabánya on Táncsics Mihály Street, then turn right. Where the main road bends left (where the first panel houses appear), turn right and follow this road (Mártírok Road) to the Main Square – here turn right again.
• From Komáromi Road, turn left at the not exactly friendly police building onto Álmos Vezér Street, which leads to the train station.

Detailed description of the tour

Getting off the train at the Biatorbágy train station, it does not immediately occur to one that they have arrived at a wine region’s edge. The station building, built in the late 1970s, mostly inspires to start the tour as soon as possible, so we head towards the town center. Already in the first meters, it becomes apparent that it is a tidy small town, which was previously two villages: Bia and Torbágy (in fact, until 1984, Herceghalom also belonged here). Elements of suburban, village, and garden city mix on the small streets as you head to the town center, creating a unique atmosphere.

Today's town center was built around the old train station: between 1975-1977, the Budapest-Győr-Hegyeshalom railway line was moved to its current track, freeing the site of the old station building and adjacent tracks. The railway station currently functions as a community house, but the settlement’s most famous attraction owes its existence to the relocation of the line: the railway viaducts, now without function, arch over the Füzes stream as a unique transport history monument in Hungary. They can be crossed on foot or by bicycle, and from the northern valley bridge there is a spectacular view of the (small) valley of the stream flowing through Biatorbágy, with the extensions of the Buda Hills reaching to Sóskút to the south. If indeed the Budapest-Balaton cycle path leads this way, the dozen or so meters across the viaduct will be one of its coolest sections. The valley bridge is also connected to the most famous Hungarian railway sabotage: on the night of September 13, 1931, Szilveszter Matuska blew up the express train bound for Vienna on the left track (the southern bridge), whose locomotive and first six cars plummeted into the depths, claiming 22 lives.

Etyek, wait, I'm coming!

From Biatorbágy, we start through the town towards Etyek. In the middle of the roundabout at the end of Szabadság Street stands the Holy Trinity statue, next to which is the Sándor-Metternich Castle, likely one of József Hild’s early works, now functioning as a school. We also pass by another noble residence, the Szily-Fáy Castle (currently also an elementary school), before leaving Biatorbágy.

On the way to Etyek, three smaller hills must be climbed, with the hilly landscape unfolding before us and the Gerecse visible in the distance. Etyek is still clearly part of the agglomeration, with considerable traffic expected until reaching the settlement.

Etyek is mostly known for its wine, deservedly so, as it can be considered one of the centers of the Etyek-Buda wine region. Accordingly, it is worth taking the first detour to the Körpince from the main road. The tidy cellars indeed lie in a circular depression (possibly a former abandoned mine pit), and sometimes an open wine cellar can be found here where you can taste local producers' wines.

Returning to the main road, after passing the Church of Our Lady of the Visitation, it's worth casting a glance at the Hungarian Well in the middle of the town, imagining that for at least a century locals came here to water their animals, wash, and children bathe. The classicist style well, and the Nádas Lake formed from its water, are surrounded by a pleasant park to rest a bit. Only a few meters from here, a calvary starts on the road bend, from where you can look down on the well and the church towering above it.

Heading north from Etyek, the next recommended detour is in Botpuszta to a chapel standing on a hill. The small church stood beside the former Bot (or Botth, or Bod) village, destroyed during the Turkish era. The chapel took its current form in the 15th century, and in the 18th century Nazarene monks built a small monastery attached to it, which probably functioned briefly as a hospital until Emperor Joseph II abolished the monastic orders. After WWII, a Soviet barracks operated in Botpuszta, which explains the panel buildings towering above this garden-city-like district.

Leaving Botpuszta, we continue for long kilometers along a chestnut tree-lined avenue, and to the right of the road – though not visible – lie the vineyards of Bicske in the Táborállás and Sajgó terrains. The Tarján-bound cycle path bypasses Bicske town, but it passes through a third terrain called Galagonyás, running along the Bicske wine cellar row. In the area squeezed between main road 1 and motorway M1, several still practice winemaking using the press houses as intended, while other buildings show signs of being permanently inhabited or appear destined for slow decay. Regardless, this few hundred meters on the outskirts of Bicske is atmospheric, from where we head towards an observatory.

Give me the stars!

At the end of the cellar row, one can choose to turn right or left to continue towards Tarján. Those turning left continue along the cycle path next to the fishpond, and those turning right can include the observatory en route. Nobody will be disappointed; the cycle paths are of excellent quality in both directions. The road towards the observatory is as steep as it appears from the motorway heading toward Vienna. After passing under the motorway, the cycle path ends on a small hill, from where the observatory can be reached within about half a minute via a forest road marked PL. First, a small mausoleum-like building appears, and further inside the woods are the ruins of an observatory.

The estate was once owned by Károly Nagy, a mathematician and astronomer, and there used to be a small castle here, which was destroyed during WWII. The observatory tower was one of Hungary's most modern scientific sites of its time, despite never being completed as the astronomer had imagined, as he emigrated abroad due to his role in the 1848-49 revolution, leaving the estate to the state. The tower never served its original purpose again, its last documented role was as a German observation post during WWII; today it is dangerously dilapidated.

Back on the cycle path, fortunately, we can also witness development: from the motorway to Csabdi, a real bike highway leads, which might even be envied in the Netherlands. In the village, it is worth a short detour from the road passing through the village due to another ruin: the Csabdi church ruins, once the remains of a two-towered church built in the 13th-14th centuries, surrounded by a former cemetery.

We continue towards Tarján along the valley of the Saint Ladislaus stream, but anyone glancing superficially at the map, seeing a road parallel to the watercourse, might encounter an unpleasant surprise. The road indeed runs along the stream, but undulates continuously – although no major climbs or descents are expected. We leave the low-traffic road towards Vasztély at a bend, from where a perfectly smooth asphalt road leads to Tarján as part of the Etyek-Tarján bicycle route. The Saint James pilgrimage route, whose ultimate destination is Santiago de Compostela and whose Hungarian endpoint is the pilgrimage site of Lébény, also passes here – perhaps explaining why cyclist rest areas on this section include crosses and shrines. For stopping and resting, we recommend the shore of Tarján fishing lake: to the left of the road there are dozens of weekend houses, and to the right the water surface is broken by reeds, with the Gerecse massif visible in the distance behind the slopes.

From the 'Little Carpathian Basin' to the coal basin

We arrive in Tarján riding along a cellar row (recommended resting place: the shaded small grove with table-bench sets in front of the semi-circular row of cellars). As the village website says: "its location evokes the Carpathian Basin. The hilly, stream-cut small basin is embraced by the mountain wreath of Gerecse." One third of the population is of Swabian origin (Count József Eszterházy settled forty German families here in 1737), and not without reason does the municipal website have a separate menu item for "Sramli bands." Tarján is evidently the center of the "little Carpathian basin," with various small and large shops along the main road, and even a Bavarian-inn-style restaurant.

From Tarján, just a dozen kilometers remain to reach Komárom-Esztergom county seat – first up a climb, then a long, winding descent to the border of Tatabánya. Today's Tatabánya originally consisted of four separate settlements – Alsógalla, Felsőgalla, Bánhida, and Tatabánya – which were merged in 1947. Until the late 19th century, agriculture primarily defined life here, but the discovery of nearby coal deposits completely changed the area around the foothills of Gerecse. In 1896, the first coal cart was brought to surface, and six years later, thanks to the economic boom brought by mining, the independent settlement of Tatabánya was established. By the 1950s, it had become an important coal mining and heavy industry center and the county seat of Komárom-Esztergom. At the mining peak, it provided work for over 15,000 people, but by 1987 the coal deposits were exhausted. The memory of the former mines is preserved in the Outdoor Mining Industrial Open-Air Museum located in the area of shaft XV. The museum comprehensively showcases the lives of local miners, including exhibitions in former office buildings, the so-called "hatajtós" or former six-family mining houses, and you can even descend into an inclined shaft, making a detour here definitely worthwhile.

Before that, our way leads to the city's symbol, the Turul Monument, towering over the city on Kő Hill. Panorama Road is as torturous uphill as it is rapid downhill. However, once at the majestic or scary (depending on viewpoint) bronze bird, the lookout tower converted from the former mining shaft on Csúcs Hill is also accessible by bike. This cannot be said of the Szelim Cave, which opens in a cliff, but this sight is reachable on foot comfortably as well. Active recreation enthusiasts can enjoy exciting via ferrata routes at the huge Turul’s base, offering stunning panoramas and various difficulty levels. The 2018-opened Gerecse Gate Visitor Center offers a restaurant and exhibition space for tourists.

Riding back into the city, it is worth spending some time on the new city center developed in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Although it lacks an attraction like the Dunaújváros Socialist Realism educational trail, various architectural forms from the Kádár era are well observable here, from the oppressive police building to the relatively spacious housing estates, the large green spaces between houses, and the plane tree row on Komáromi Street. The short art history tour ends at the train station, which itself is worth studying – a dilapidated, probably never particularly impressive work from the late 1980s. Those who find the tour too short can add a few kilometers along the Által-ér towards Tata or Oroszlány.