Beautiful views: From ridge to ridge – from Ördögszószék to Tűzkő Hill

Itinerary:

• You must leave Márton Áron Square following the Z▲ sign, which leads all the way to Ördög-orom.
• From around the middle of the Ördög-orom panorama ridge, head down south along the hiking trail marked Z ◼.
• At Gazagréti Road, switch to the trail marked P ◼, which leads to the foot of Rupp Hill.
• P ◼ leads through Rupp Hill to the former Frank Hill tourist house.
• From the tourist house, head back along P ◼ again to the Ördög-orom slope.
• At the Ördög-orom slope, turn right; at the end of the road awaits the last stop of the route, Tűzkő Hill.
• You can return from Tűzkő Hill along the known path, but one or two optional shortcuts can be added.

Detailed description of the route:

No need to think much about where to start: Márton Áron Square next to the Farkasrét Cemetery is the obvious choice. No car is necessary, as this is the terminal stop of tram 59 coming from Széll Kálmán Square, making the start point well accessible by public transport. From the square, you can reach the base of the climb to Ördög-orom via Törökbálinti Road and then Zsigmondy Vilmos Street, but the easiest is to follow the Z▲ hiking sign.

This takes you all the way up to the Ördög-orom panorama ridge, considered one of Budapest’s most spectacular and defining rock formations according to hiking literature, yet it remains little known. The panoramic ridge is over 100 meters long, with the highest point being the 317-meter-high Ördögszószék, from which you can look down over the landscape above an abandoned millstone quarry cliff.

The panorama trail is protected by a safety railing all along. The view is superb: you can clearly see Sas Hill, further away the Gellért Hill, and across Farkas Valley rises Szabadság Hill. Below in the valley, 10-15 meters lower, runs Edvi Illés Road. Many visitors on the ridge edge do not realize that beneath their feet carved into the rock lies a dark labyrinth.

Between the two World Wars, a shelter system was created in the Ördög-orom dolomite rock, which still has three former entrances (now closed with iron gates) and upper ventilation shafts intact. Ördög-orom’s fauna and flora are so unique for Budapest that in 1942 Antal Pénzes already recommended the area as a nature reserve in his book "The Wildlife of Budapest," highlighting the bluish meadow sainfoin and naturally the dove-blue flower gray devil’s eye. Among the butterflies of the area, the endangered small Apollo butterfly and the bumblebee hawk-moth are especially important.

Before walking to the other end of the panorama trail, bordered by Nőszirom Street, it’s worth looking across the valley. Where there is now a neglected empty lot, once stood the famous Ördög-orom Inn with live music entertainment. Unfortunately, only the memory of this once renowned Buda restaurant remains, but in 1951, it was described as: "Its huge, shady garden is visited by hikers. Its menu offers a wide selection of well-known Hungarian dishes." Poet Lőrinc Szabó often visited this place, composing many translations in the peaceful shade of the terrace.

From around the middle of the panorama ridge, head down south along the Z ◼ hiking trail which ends at Gazdagréti Road, but by cleverly switching to the P ◼ trail on Ördögorom road, within a few minutes you will already be at the foot of Rupp Hill, at the entrance to the nature reserve. No major climb is expected here, just a mild ascent of 40 meters vertical difference leads you to a resting clearing on the hilltop.

At the 257 meter-high summit there used to be a wooden pole with a Hungarian flag attached to an iron table (a geological measuring point). The bare, grassy clearing has a uniquely calm atmosphere, although it’s becoming increasingly popular. Mainly locals stroll on the hilltop along the pleasant circular path dotted with benches. On sunny days, you can spend a long time reflecting on one of the benches.

Looking farther north, you can follow the ridge of Széchenyi Hill, and in the distance southwards, the peculiar concrete shell of the water tower on the Tétény Plateau is visible. A plaque placed by the nature conservation association informs that the hill was named after the owner of the area, György Rupp, a citizen of Buda, as far back as the 1800s.

One of Rupp’s main works is the 1868 publication "The cadastral history of Budapest and its surroundings," which contains interesting explanations of place names. The suburb next to the hill, Pösingermajor, was named after Ferencz Ignácz Pösinger, who settled here in 1688 and was the first magistrate of Buda after the Turkish occupation, his original profession being a pharmacist. The district now called Spanyolrét got its name from Spanish sheep bred here during the Zichy era, while the current Madárhegy district was formerly called Seregélyes and earlier (in German) Starentanz, "named after the starlings that usually gathered here."

Next to the small Rupp Hill (strictly a hill ridge), over the past centuries, orchards and later holiday plots with weekend houses turned into residences have gradually spread, and when urbanization fully surrounded it, it was declared protected almost at the last moment in 1977.

From the top of Rupp Hill, you can follow the P ◼ trail to descend to the road called Ördögorom slope. Around its middle, the trail turns right aiming north towards nearby Frank Hill. Here you can decide whether to tackle the 150-meter elevation gain to the Frank Hill tourist house for some refreshing food and drink, or skip it and continue straight to Tűzkő Hill about 300 meters away.

The former tourist house standing at 438 meters is now mainly a restaurant (and even houses a sauna park), operating as accommodation only exceptionally, but its interior preserves some of the old atmosphere, and its exterior terrace still offers quite a good panorama.

If you managed to refresh at the former tourist house, you can descend back to Ördögorom slope, where at the end awaits the last station of the route, Tűzkő Hill. This 278-meter-high hill (more a hill than a mountain) is even more secluded than the two previous viewpoints. It is no longer within Budapest’s boundaries, but 50 meters beyond the administrative border, in the easternmost part of Budaörs outskirts.

The hill is basically a forest trail with a small wooden bridge and at the end a small bench shaded by trees, offering a very pleasant panorama towards Budapest and Törökbálint. It’s a great place for solitude, peaceful sitting, and meditation.

The 200-meter-long nature trail running along the axis of the 2.2-hectare park forest has four stations. The signs placed here provide a lot of information about the history of the place, Árpád-era findings discovered there, the flora and fauna of the hill, and the replacement of artificially introduced black pine stands with native tree species (Turkey oak, flowering ash). The otherwise spectacular black pine favored by tourists at Tűzkő Hill is slowly dying out without replacement, as in most domestic habitats. The likely causes are aging, the frequency of drought periods, and insect and fungal infections that exacerbate the situation.

Tűzkő Hill is the end point of the route. From here, depending on the blood alcohol level, you can again go back via Rupp Hill and Ördög-orom to the starting point, but the route can be shortened via Ördögorom slope and Lidérc Steps, or even towards the Gazdagréti housing estate, aiming for the terminus of bus lines 8, 108, and 139.