Hiking the waves of the Fonyód high shore

Itinerary :

• From the station to the sports field, we follow the P trail.
• We navigate to Sipos Hill, then descend via the P▲ trail.
• In the garden city, we continue the walk on the P trail, which leads through Kossuth Forest to Szaploncai Promenade.
• On Szaploncai Promenade, we switch to the P+ trail, which climbs up the side of Castle Hill.
• The P▲ summit trail then takes us to the top of Castle Hill, from where we descend to the villas.
• We walk back to the railway station through the garden city on the P trail.

Detailed description of the route :

From the Fonyód harbor to the city viewpoint hill

We start in front of the Fonyód railway station and head towards the city hills following the P trail. From Szent István Street, at the police station, we turn right onto József Street, where at the beginning of the wooded slopes of Sipos Hill we turn up the hillside along the P▲ trail. With a winding path, we leave the houses bordering the forest behind and enter a small forest ambiance as we walk to the hilltop.

The woodland path winds among gnarled oak trees on a trail covered in amber ivy. Soon we arrive at a spiral staircase and telecommunications tower with a viewing platform. The Somogy side is flat and strategically valuable with the city’s centrally located double peak that is fully utilized by mobile service providers.

Climbing to the lookout, visitors focus solely on the exceptional panorama. Over the wide water surface of Lake Balaton, basalt volcanoes and the hills of Balaton Uplands unfold like pages in a picture book. We can see far across the Hungarian sea, clearly outlining the former volcanic island, now a tranquil peninsula—the Tihany ridge—with the abbey towers in the middle. Beyond is a view into the Keszthely Bay towards the town nestled at the foot of the dolomite hills. The defining sight is the rhythm of the opposite witness hills, with the famous flat Badacsony and its playful smaller siblings catching the eye. After the almost perfectly symmetrical Gulács, the trapezoidal shape of once-fortified Csobánc extends, then the distinct cone of Tóti Hill, before the Vulcanic ridge merges with surrounding hills near Örsi Hill. Below us, sailboats glide over the waters of Balaton, their white sails adding movement to the colorful water surface.

Walk on the Fonyód high shore

On the P▲ trail, we descend on a steep concrete ramp on the western side. At the forest edge at the foot of the hill, we return to József Street at the P trail via a hairpin turn. For a short section, we follow a garden city street, then turn right onto Templom Street towards the picturesque white-painted Catholic church and descend to the high shore. Here, the street and then the promenade follow the steeply falling edge amid a park decorated with old oak trees, a romantic walkway.

In the well-maintained public park of Kossuth Forest, surrounded by woodland, we begin the promenade. At the first thinning of the trees, we can enjoy the best parts of the panoramic view admired from the lookout: Szaplonczay Promenade offers a long view of Balaton and the witness hills. Characteristic reform-era lion benches line the promenade, perfect spots to rest and immerse in a romantic atmosphere. We pass 19th-century villas and the Szinyei Museum, and also pass the memorial plaque of Szaplonczay Manó, the visionary behind the spectacular development of the recreational area on this site at the end of the 19th century.

Szaplonczay was county chief medical officer in Kaposvár for 25 years since 1891 and a lover of Balaton. He and his friends often hiked to Fonyód, believing that swimming in Balaton and walking in clean forest air had health benefits. Motivated by medical reasons and the wonderful panorama, he established a holiday home area on the northern side of Castle Hill. Count Béla Zichy, the landowner, embraced the idea: the hillsides divided into 29 villa plots were first owned by Szaplonczay and his friends. The district still bears the count’s name, and the promenade the active doctor’s. Built with villas spaced to the standards of the time, Béla estate created an ideal environment for rest; artists, aristocrats, and politicians of the era also often visited. Szinyei Merse Pál spent two summers here, capturing the impressive moods of the late 19th-century Balaton shore.

Halfway along the promenade, we switch to the P+ trail, which arrives at the western foot of Castle Hill among old Turkey oaks. From here, crossing Bartók Béla street with a hairpin turn, we ride the wooded waves of Castle Hill and reach our second lookout at the site of the former moat fortress.

Atop the fortified Castle Hill

We continue following the P+ trail on a path ascending between summer homes and oak woods. Several gray stone blocks next to us are remnants of the volcanic cover that formed the hill. Sipos and Castle Hills in Fonyód are southern continuations of the witness hills; however, the continuous rocky basalt cover on the less protected, more erosion-exposed southern end of the hilltop has not survived. We can only infer the millions-of-years-old basalt cover from the hill’s shape and volcanic stones found in the forest. We arrive in an atmospheric oak forest beneath the summit, where with a last climb we switch to the P▲ trail and take on the fortified lookout, a wooden tower resting on a basalt-rock base, crowned by an antenna forest.

The panorama from the Castle Hill viewpoint is even more striking than from the previous summit, as just below us the Balaton shore winds with its broad, shimmering water surface around the hill. The known rhythm of volcanic cones draws in front of us, and we can also follow the Somogy shore far westwards to the end of the Inner Somogy sand ridges. Below, the extensive swamp world of Nagy-Berek stretches to the sand dunes behind the resorts and highway. Rich aquatic wildlife inhabits this area within arm’s reach of the resorts. With some luck and sharp eyesight (especially with binoculars), we can spot groups of waterfowl above the reeds.

We descend the P▲ trail from the summit, which exits the oak forest with a right-angle turn onto the street above Kossuth Forest. Joining the P trail, we finally return to our starting point, the Fonyód railway station. If you haven't already, be sure to visit the nearby harbor, from where you can admire up close the largest lake in Central Europe with its timely colors and atmosphere.

The detailed description of the route can be read under the Directions menu.