alpannonia® Hard - Uphill

Our route mostly follows the yellow and red alpannonia® markings, as well as the red hiking trail sign.

• Our starting point is the alpannonia® information board at the Velem bus turnaround. We begin the route following the yellow alpannonia® marking, from the information board turning right onto Petőfi Street heading into the forest, but at the first opportunity we turn left off the asphalt as the yellow alpannonia® marking runs along the stream in the valley called "Lovers' Island", parallel to Petőfi Street.
• After leaving the former Avar Inn, we reach a paved forest road, but at the first hairpin turn we immediately return to the forest, continuing straight on the Mountain of Cultures nature trail.
• The nature trail's information boards are found further up; until then, a little thrill is the almost fairy-tale-like "witch's hut" (shack), which stands/collapses to our left...
• Our path marked with yellow alpannonia® turns left after a while, here we already see information boards, shortly after we spot St. Vid Chapel, whose white-painted walls "shine" in the forest, and we climb the steps onto the chapel level.
• From St. Vid, following the yellow alpannonia® marking and the blue cross, we reach the asphalt forest road, which we immediately cross, continuing our "mountain climb" diagonally right-forward following again the yellow alpannonia® and the blue cross markings. We pass through forests of mixed composition, at the first intersection turning left and shortly afterward turning right at the second, nearby is the 1st checkpoint/insect hotel, finally turning left we exit to the Hörmann parking lot.
• At the Hörmann parking lot, we follow the asphalt road towards the forest, encountering information and direction boards, as well as a barrier. The barrier only prohibits car traffic, as indicated by the worn path beside it, many tourists and hikers use this path.
• Soon after the barrier, we reach an intersection, the Hörmann spring is down to the right, the path to Írott-kő and the Írottkő nature trail is upwards to the left. Following the red alpannonia® and the blue and green hiking trail signs, we begin the "summit attack". From Hörmann parking lot it takes about three-quarters of an hour at a normal pace to reach the Írottkő lookout, the highest point of Transdanubia and Burgenland. About 50 m below the lookout, we actually first reach an intersection, as several paths lead to the lookout. There is also a small wooden hut and shelter here.
• From the lookout facing Austria, turning left after a few steps, we see the real Írottkő with the cross marking the summit.
• Walking back to the Hungarian side, we leave the lookout; to the right of the wooden hut begins a less-used path, where we must follow red and green hiking trail signs, which is essentially the border line running along a ridge, here we descend until we reach the Dark Valley.
• From the ridge descending into the Dark Valley, we turn left, cross the stream with the help of some logs and Hungarian hiking trail signs. Having crossed we follow the red hiking trail marking on the left side relative to the flow of the stream. We continue for a long time, at the next intersection we also keep left/straight following the red hiking trail sign, rising to the right we would reach the cave of Kalapos-kő above Bozsok.
• Shortly after the intersection, we spot the charmingly named and actually very pleasant Pütyör spring in the stream bed. It is worth descending here to linger a bit by the babbling stream, fill our water bottle with delicious spring water, and here we also find the 2nd checkpoint/insect hotel.
• After the "spring visit" continuing the route, we reach another barrier, which we bypass, turning left at the hairpin bend of the Írottkő Nature Park bike path towards the Saint Spring, which is about 150 meters from here to our left side.
• Following the green bike sign of the Írottkő Nature Park bike path, after a gentle climb we turn right, shortly after entering the border of Velem, where we again meet the yellow alpannonia® marking.
• Following the yellow alpannonia® marking, we turn into Kossuth Lajos street beside the building of the Camphill Association of Hungary. On this street, among others, we pass a large green building complex with the name Novák on it, and finally behind the Mayor's Office, we reach the starting point of our route at the bus turnaround at the alpannonia® information board.