On this side of the border and beyond – Kőszeghegyalja and the Répce valley on two wheels

Itinerary:

• Rolling out from the railway station, turn right onto road 87, then at the first junction, turn right again toward Bük!
• After leaving Kőszeg and traveling 2.5 kilometers, turn right onto the forestry bulldozer road marked with K and K cycling signs!
• From here, follow the K cycling sign all the way to the boundary of Csepreg (after 2.5 kilometers on the K hiking trail, turn left onto the P sign – the designated cycling route also follows this). To reach the Peruška Mary chapel, follow the ᵯ signs of the Maria Road.
• In Csepreg, upon reaching Széchenyi Square, turn right, then at Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street turn right again (toward Szombathely)! Near the village boundary, after leaving the parking lot in front of the cemetery, turn left onto a dirt road! This leads to the Blessed Virgin chapel.
• After leaving the chapel, roll along the dam of the lake, then turn left, and upon reaching the paved road, turn right!
• After the railway crossing, turn left toward Bük! In Bük, upon reaching the main street (Kossuth street), turn left, and then proceed straight through Szakony, Gyalóka, and Zsira to the border – mostly on bike paths.
• Crossing the border, continue straight, then in the center of Locsmánd (Lutzmannsburg), follow the cycling route marked B44, first turning left, then after crossing the Répce, turn right. Turn left again at the St. Vitus Church; the lookout point is reached by turning left at the top of the vineyard hill.
• From the lookout point, head west across the vineyards on the hill, following the paved road to its end, then turn right onto the cycling route marked B43! Descending from the vineyard, turn left again! The B43 continues along the Répce river.
• Upon reaching the main street of Frankenau, turn left, then again left at the corner towards Oberloisdorf! After leaving the village, at the third opportunity (about 3 kilometers), turn left onto the B45/EV13 cycling route! From here to Rattersdorf, follow the cycling route marked B45 (passing through Klostermarienberg and Mannersdorf an der Rabnitz).
• At the border of Rattersdorf, turn left toward Kőszeg! First cycle on Austrian road 61, then on Hungarian road 87 to the edge of Kőszeg, then turn right at the first opportunity! This road leads straight into the city center along Kethelyi Street, Sziget Street, and Pék Street. From the Main Square, Rákóczi Street leads back to the railway station.

Detailed description of the tour

Our tour starts from Kőszeg, but we leave getting to know the city better for the end of the day, as a reward after the more than sixty-kilometer tour. First, we explore Kőszeghegyalja, then we roam a bit on the Austrian border side along the Répce, to approach the city again from the north at the end of the tour.

In forest and fields on Kőszeghegyalja

Kőszeghegyalja – considering its Hungarian part – is a 176 km² microregion, a southern-southeastern facing, gently undulated plateau foothill terrain of the Kőszeg Mountains, which is bordered by the mountain range itself to the west and extends eastward as far as the Répce River. Our tour also begins heading east, turning toward Horvátzsidány after leaving Kőszeg. Although significant elevation differences are not expected, the terrain offers a minor climb for cyclists in the first two kilometers. Once reaching a more forested part, one must watch for the National Blue Trail signs, as where this famous hiking trail crosses the paved road, you should turn right. The wide forest bulldozer road naturally has cycling signs, so you can immerse yourself peacefully in the dense forest. A section that might be a bit boring on a hiking tour – the blue sign travels long kilometers straight following a clearing – means smooth gliding with a bike along the forest road. It is necessary to watch the junctions, but these are generally well-marked roads.

The first resting spot is the Peruška Mary pilgrimage chapel on the border of Horvátzsidány, which became a pilgrimage site in the 1860s. In 1866, the son of Count Zsigmond Berchtold from Peresznye, who was hunting in the Tömördi Forest, got lost in the woods and was found three days later under an oak tree, on which hung an image of Mary. Initially, only the count and his family, then the locals made the tree a pilgrimage place. A chapel was finally built there in 1994, around which statues of patron saints of various professions stand. Nearby, benches and fire pits await hikers.

We continue through forest roads winding along the Csepreg Park Forest until reaching the boundary of the namesake town. Vas County’s smallest town was already a city at the end of the Árpád era and during the Anjou era (13th–14th centuries); the original church named after St. Nicholas may have been built at that time. Today, the oldest visible part is its late Gothic portal; the rest of the church was rebuilt in Baroque style. Not far from here, in the main square, stands the Schöller Castle of medieval origin, rebuilt several times but evidently long past its former glory. Fortunately, the neogothic Style Blessed Virgin Chapel at the village’s edge is well-kept and guards the eternal rest of its builder, Count Gyula Jankovics. On the way to the chapel, we also add another memorial site to the tour: once this way ran the Transdanubian HÉV railway line Zalabér-Sárvár-Bük-Felsőlászló (today Oberloisdorf, Austria), which ceased operation in 1974.

At the border of Csepreg, crossing the dam of the impounded water of the Boldogasszony Creek, we get back on paved roads toward Bük. The town on the Répce river is best known for its spa, which is somewhat a happy accident. In 1957, oil exploration took place near the village, but instead, thermal water emerged from over a kilometer underground. The calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate water was a jackpot for the village; a small spa was built in 1962, which has grown into one of the country’s largest medicinal spas. The spa is located outside the town, so a detour from the route is required, which turns north after reaching the main street of Bük and goes through the town, whose notable architectural monuments include a 13th-century church in a small park (now barely recognizable from its almost 800-year-old origins), the grave of the Reform Era politician Pál Felsőbüki Nagy nearby, and the privately owned Szapáry Castle enclosed by a high wall from the outside world.

Discovering the Répce valley

Our journey from Bük to Répcekethely (Mannersdorf an der Rabnitz) follows the Répce River with various detours. The river originates in the Rosalia Mountains in Austria and flows into the Mosoni Danube in Győr, where it joins with the Little Rába River, taking on the name Rábca. It's hard to imagine that the gentle creek can cause serious floods; the fluctuating water level mainly depends on snowmelt and rainfall, as its catchment area extends into the eastern foothills of the Alps. Along the river, three small settlements – Szakony, Gyalóka, and Zsira – line up to the border, connected by cycling paths from Bük. Passing through Zsira, the eye is mostly caught by the Rimanóczy Castle, a Baroque-style monument now functioning as a social home. At the border, we roll past an Iron Curtain memorial into the world of perfectly smooth agricultural roads. (This is important because in many places in Austria, separate cycle lanes are not built; instead, cycle tourism routes are marked on these roads.)

Right at the border, you can go in two directions: follow the EuroVelo13 (Iron Curtain) cycling route or continue into the village of Locsmánd (Lutzmannsburg). It’s worth entering the village if you’re looking for a restaurant, otherwise, the EV13 is also a perfect choice. One thing you definitely shouldn’t miss is the St. Vitus Church on the vineyard and the lookout point on the hilltop nearby. The church probably stood in a county castle and was also built on the foundations of Roman buildings – none of which are visible today. From the lookout, you can almost see the entire tour route from the Kőszeg Mountains to the Sopron Plain, and on clear days, even as far as the Schneeberg. Neatly lined vines cover the vineyard as far as the eye can see – this is the home of red wine, mainly blue frankish, but also zweigelt, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, blauburger, St. Laurent, and pinot noir are planted here.

Our route continues among the vineyards until we reach the Répce valley again, from where we travel on low-traffic roads to Klostermarienberg. The formerly independent settlement known in Hungarian as Borsmonostor is best known for a monastery in the center of the village; however, this is not the original monastery, which was consecrated at the end of the 12th century and stood on the Babaduri Hill above the village. The Cistercians from Heiligenkreuz were granted this by Count Domonkos, who thus acquired a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Nothing remains of the monastery built by 1198 (it was completely destroyed by the Turks who besieged Kőszeg), but those curious how it looked should visit the Cistercian Abbey Church in Bélapátfalva, as the layouts of the two buildings are identical. Today, a small chapel stands on the hilltop at the site of the church, and a new monastery founded in 1680 is located in the village.

Arriving at Répcekethely (Mannersdorf an der Rabnitz), we leave the Répce valley and descend to the border of Rattersdorf, where you must turn left toward the border. From here to Kőszeg, you reach the city on a moderately busy road on weekends (although an Austrian bypass road is already under construction), likely much busier on weekdays due to commuters to Austria. The last building at the border on the right side of the road is the former railway station building of Rőtfalva-Rendek (Rattersdorf-Liebing), which lay along the former Sopron-Kőszeg railway line. The railway border crossing ceased in 1960, but much of the track still exists in Austria, and between Neckenmarkt/Horitschon and Oberpullendorf, a 23-kilometer section can be explored by railbikes.

You approach Kőszeg from the northwest on main road 87 (fortunately, you only need to cycle about two kilometers on this road from the border). Before entering the city center, it's worth taking a short detour to the crown guard bunker: in 1945, the Holy Crown was guarded here in a structure specially built for this purpose for a few days before being taken out of the country permanently. However, most people first think of the city’s 1532 Turkish siege and the heroism of Miklós Jurisics. Against 60–70,000 Turkish attackers, a small fortress of a few hundred soldiers and 700 peasants who had taken refuge here fought and defended it successfully for twenty days. Eventually, after a symbolic surrender of the castle but about a month later, the Ottoman army moved on to Vienna, where they were met by a force strong enough to significantly hinder the siege (leading to Suleiman’s dagger breaking).

The city of the hero Jurisics

Kőszeg’s city center today resembles an Austrian small town. The neogothic Heart of Jesus Parish Church dominates the west side of the Main Square, while cafés, confectioneries, and restaurants await guests on the other sides. The medieval city center is reached by passing through the Gate of Heroes – on Jurisics Square stands the town hall, the town well, the Renaissance-origin Sgraffito House, and the Golden Unicorn Pharmacy Museum. Those interested in pharmacy history – uniquely in the country – can also visit another similar institution, the Black Moor Pharmacy Museum. Anyone wanting to get in-depth acquainted with the history of the Jurisics Castle can approach the fortress via a small street opposite the portal of the Gothic-style St. James Church, where permanent and temporary exhibitions help orient visitors among past events.

Climbing to the surrounding hills, a visit to the Calvary Church or the Bechtold István Nature Conservation Visitor Center is recommended. The Őrség National Park exhibition provides deeper knowledge about the unique wildlife of the Kőszeg Mountains. The surrounding Chernel Garden essentially serves as the second small arboretum (2.5 hectares) of our tour and houses a bird rescue station. If you still have strength, you can conquer the higher parts of the Kőszeg Mountains, where excellent forestry roads allow almost to cycle up to Írottkő.