"Witness Mountain Circuit" on two wheels

Itinerary

• Starting from Badacsony railway station, reach Római út via Park street, then turn right.
• Follow the signs of the Balaton bike circuit cycling route to pedal to Badacsonytomaj.
• After the Basalt Church, continue straight, then turn left at the roundabout towards Tapolca.
• At the bottom of the slope, turn right and continue towards Tapolca.
• Pass through Nemesgulács, then turn left at the church towards Kisapáti.
• Cycle through Kisapáti and enter Tapolca via Szent György and Arany János streets.
• Descend left to the Malom Lake.
• Follow along Malom creek, then follow the blue stripe signs of the National Blue Trail to exit the town on the same path you came.
• 600 m after the railway crossing, on the right starts the cyclist path marked 22.
• Follow the signs and markings towards Raposka, then Hegymagas, and finally to Szigliget.
• In Szigliget stay on the main road, then turn right onto Kossuth Lajos street.
• By the coastal road, circle around the settlement and when you reach the Balaton bike circuit, turn right.
• Near Badacsonytördemic cross road 71, then turn right on Római út and return to the starting point.

Detailed description of the route

In the footsteps of the Romans

We start from the bustling and easily reachable-by-train Badacsony, where parking lots and bike rentals are available. Our route starts on Római út at the foot of Badacsony, which is part of the Balaton bike circuit, so in good weather, we will meet many cyclists. There is some car traffic, but for the reasons mentioned, the road sometimes appears more like a busy bike path than a road. We head east, aiming for Badacsonytomaj first. Római út, as its name suggests, preserves the memory of the Romans who once settled here. They established the transportation route, which stretches about 6.5 km from a few hundred meters from the waterfront and still runs under the slopes of the mountain on the southern skirt of Badacsony. Nowadays, the main road leads closer to the lake, so fortunately, the old, charming Római út has remained a side road and a "main" cycling path.

Witness mountains in every direction

In just under 2 km, we arrive at Badacsonytomaj's main square, dominated by the unique Saint Imre Church built from locally quarried basalt. Here ends the classic Római út, but at the end of our circuit, we will also explore the remaining part between Badacsonytördemic and Badacsony. We continue straight, not following the cycling signs turning right. At the end of the street, as if heading straight, the almost perfectly conical Tóti hill rises.

At the first roundabout, turn left and leave our previous route (József Attila street), then exit the town onto a cycle path towards Tapolca. Once we pass the last houses, the route leads out to a four-digit road – from here to Tapolca, we will cycle on low-traffic roads. There is no need to worry because the traffic is sparse here, and after some time, the road widens to two lanes in our direction, giving plenty of space for cars – and for us too. In return, we travel on high-quality asphalt along a long, stretched but not steep climb. Vineyards line both sides of the road, with Gulács mountain to the right and the less known side of Badacsony to the left.

While sightseeing, we reach the hilltop and suddenly the next in line, Saint György mountain, appears before us. Then we switch to rolling, but before we accelerate too much, we must brake as we turn sharply right before the slope ends towards Tapolca.

Rest in Tapolca

We continue along a gently downhill road, with Gulács showing its western face to our right and, behind it, the flat top of Csobánc appearing. We reach Nemesgulács straight ahead, where at the first major intersection, we turn left towards Kisapáti. On a relatively flat section, we continue along the eastern foot of Saint György mountain and soon arrive in Tapolca. We descend on a sloped street to Malom lake, the most atmospheric part of Tapolca. The lake is framed by colorfully painted medieval houses, with cafés and restaurants along its shore. Since we have passed the harder part of our route, the lake is a perfect resting place.

If we are ready to continue cycling, head along the promenade beside the mill. Here, it is better to push the bike since many people usually walk along the nicely developed creek bank. For a short time, we join the National Blue Trail marked with a K, following it out of town. We return on the same road we came, but do not stay long: about 600 meters after the railway crossing, on the right, starts the (22 marked) cycle path, where we can finally leave the roads.

Asphalt strip in the middle of the field

From here to Szigliget, we can enjoy cycling on a bike route opened in 2022, rolling beautifully southwards, circling around the "king" of the witness mountains, Saint György mountain. The first section is roughly 1.5 km, which we cover among green fields, arable lands, and vineyards, admiring the mountain from a respectful distance. This route is a hidden treasure: we can cycle in perfect tranquility on excellent quality roads – needless to say, with the sight of the witness mountains beside us. If someone comes from the opposite direction, Csobánc rises opposite, so there is also time to admire the ruins of the castle remains on its top. If that is not enough, looking back towards Tapolca, we can identify the quarried top of Haláp.

After overcoming a short climb, we reach Raposka at the western foot of the mountain, whose main street is guided by a baroque church. However, before reaching it, we turn left following the green cycling sign (22, Szigliget). We roll through fields, vineyards, and flower-meadow pastures to the other foothill village, Hegymagas.

The cycling highway of the Tapolca Basin

From here, we join the last section of the Tapolca–Szigliget cycle path, which runs straight into Szigliget. We reach an open area where the road waves among grassy pastures interrupted by groups of trees, with the silhouette of Szigliget castle rising in the distance as a goal.

The 2023 season was the first when cyclists could take possession of this route, which became visibly popular the following year. Not by chance, as on the one hand, it replaced a busy road section, and on the other hand, we rarely get such a wide panorama as this route offers: scanning from north to south, the Saint György mountain, Gulács, Badacsony, and the Szigliget Castle Mountain rise in sequence. This kind of view is pleasant to watch for a long time, which is why it is great that we can finally cycle independently on a protected bike path on the western part of the Tapolca Basin. Not only cyclists share the experience, but also the Blue Trail hikers since the National Blue Trail route was also transferred to this road.

However, this section also ends someday: cycling through a forest patch, at Ciframajor we cross road 71. With a quick change from the previous sightseeing, quiet, traffic-free landscapes, we arrive in the midst of tourists because Szigliget with its splendid panoramic castle has always been an extremely popular destination.

On the queen’s skirt

If you have the desire and time, visit the castle; you certainly will not be disappointed. However, if this is not our goal now, continue cycling on the main road towards Újfalu to circle around one of Balaton’s most beautifully located settlements along the coast. There is no need to pay attention to turning as the road leads along the southern tip of Szigliget.

Above us, the wooden tower of the Óvár lookout, which stands on the ruins of Szigliget’s other, almost forgotten castle, is initially still visible. Further cycling towards the beach and beyond, we pass hills with special names like the Queen’s Skirt or Fox Trap. It is worth observing the houses standing among the vineyards, vineyards and small streets: the village deliberately encourages preserving the old, rural settlement image, so we see few newly built houses and the building density is looser than the Balaton average.

If you want to rest, the harbor is a great choice. Walking onto the pier, we can see neighboring Badacsony from a perspective rarely possible from the northern shore: from the water. Since both Badacsony and Szigliget hang peninsularly out from the shore and the bay mirror between them lies behind the reeds, the mountain shows a really impressive picture from this foreground.

We continue on the same road, keeping our eyes on Badacsony. Soon a severed tower appears on the right side of the road, the ruins of the Avasi church. The 13th century building was the church of the former Avas village; today, a beautiful park surrounds the remains.

At the foot of Badacsony

At the intersection, turn right, and soon reach the Balaton bike circuit. For the rest of the route, we follow its signs, first turning right. We carefully cross road 71 and after one block find ourselves on Római út again. Now we have more time to admire the unique atmosphere of this road than when we started: let's take advantage since the route ends soon. The narrow road without sidewalks slightly undulates just like the surrounding landscape. We cycle beside stone walls and vineyards, sometimes seeing Balaton, while on the other side, Badacsony still reveals its new faces. Closer to the road are holiday homes among the rows of vines, wine press houses, occasionally mountain chapels and winery buildings color the environment – only basalt is constant. The quarrying of Badacsony continued until the 1960s; old mine yards can still be seen along tourist routes. Looking up, the vertical basalt columns on the mountain’s basalt cap are clearly visible.

Nothing marks the end of our route better than the growing number of wine bars along the road. Turning right in Park street, we arrive back at Badacsony railway station.