On the mediterranean paths of Tihany

Itinerary

• From the Apáti church ruins, we set off into the forest following the ZT trail marker.
• At the S▲ trail fork, turning left allows a detour to the Watchtower lookout. (The tower is just 200 meters away, at the end of a short climb.)
• A long, panoramic path section begins; after the lookout fork, we walk 3.9 km until we reach a shady resting place. Here, the ZT trail takes a 90-degree turn to the left.
• Among the geyser cones, the ZT turns left where the S+ turns. We must continue straight ahead following the S+ marker! This descends to the shore of the Inner Lake.
• Turning left on the shore of the Inner Lake, we leave the trail, walk 300 meters along the fence, then follow the nature trail ZT marker again.
• Leaving the Inner Lake shore, the trail climbs between the weekend houses of Kis-Erdő-tető on a dirt road, then winds along a path to the Szélmarta Rocks viewpoint.
• After the rocky outcrop, we descend to Kossuth Lajos Street leading to Tihany, cross it, and climb up a dry, sunlit hillside.
• The splendid view opening to Füred Bay disappears behind bushes as the ZT markers guide lower. The path makes an S-turn and turns into the cliff face hiding the Friend's dwellings.
• We pass in front of the Friend's dwellings; the path descends and soon reaches the paved road running along the peninsula shore. We head south (right) on this and after 800 meters arrive at the bus stop next to the boat station.

About the tour in detail

View of the quieted volcanoes

From the bus stop, we briefly walk along the road toward the western edge of the peninsula. We pass a small lavender field, a reminder of lavender cultivation introduced in the 1920s. From the Apáti church ruins (on the ZT trail), which recall a long-vanished village, we head up the hillside, sometimes steeply, ascending Apáti Hill slope. At a meadow, the S▲ trail branches left, leading with an exhausting but short climb to the Watchtower lookout (named for the presumed ruins on nearby Csúcs Hill).

From the top, the breathtaking panorama: the Balaton almost encircles the Tihany Peninsula, its western end disappearing into mist. The Bakony appears in the distance, the Somogy highlands on the southern shore and the Körös hill valley bridge show, and closest of all, Füred's hills look blue. Tihany’s inner structure unfolds like a relief model, and multiple episodes of the terrain’s formation can be read from the surface shapes. About 7 million years ago, basaltic magma broke through the thinned crust of the Carpathian Basin precisely here, initiating the volcanism of the Balaton Uplands: the molten rock did not reach the swampy surface but boiled the water content of sediments to steam, which erupted in a huge explosion. The resulting debris formed rings around eruption centers; researchers identified three—one each at the Outer and Inner Lakes, and a third south of Csúcs Hill. (Later, slag scattering also characterized the process.) Shallow craters filled with lakes after volcanism ended; this gave the name for this type of formation, “maar,” meaning crater lake in German. After 4 million years of activity, the Tihany landscape finally quieted, its rejuvenated rock began to erode, and former crater rings were worn away by erosion. This transformation was accompanied by intense hot spring activity; at that time, there was no trace of Lake Balaton. Only about 20-25 thousand years ago, three lake basins formed, later merging due to subsidence. Water levels fluctuated with climatic conditions; during some periods, the Tihany peninsula became an island as the surrounding lake swallowed its flat base. Human settlement has altered the landscape nearly beyond recognition: for example, in the early 19th century, canals were dug, and the Outer Lake drained for hay meadows. Forests receded to the edges and highest peaks of the peninsula; with tourism and increasing attraction of Balaton, nature protection became necessary: in 1952, Hungary’s first landscape protection area was designated here, with its own nature guard. Today, the national park is responsible for preserving values, and the peninsula has received the European Diploma, placing it among Europe's highly protected natural heritage sites.

Panorama trail above Balaton

Returning to the nature trail, we conquer the summit of Nyereg Hill. The whitish rocks already form a microclimate tending to heat up in the mild spring sunshine, and the stunning longitudinal view of Balaton's western basin lies right beside us, starting at the base of the steep, plunging hillside. Moreover, this bay of the lake is quite peaceful, with only small, lesser-known settlements along the marshy, muddy shores, no boats venture here. (At one point, the path splits; the right branch leads down to Sobri Jóska cave, named after the infamous outlaw—likely never having been there, the hidden cave inspired the adventurous name.)

Unless rocking in a sailboat, this is essentially the only place on Balaton from which the lake’s western part can be viewed lengthwise. In summer, Central Europe's largest lake truly seems endless from here, as the misty air curtain conceals the shoreline of Keszthely Bay. Not so the witness hills; the distinctive flat ridge of Badacsony is almost always visible. On the southern shore, the higher Somogy landscape rises above the water mass. We descend multiple times, each followed by a climb, but the most beautiful views open from exposed cliff ledges and the trail’s higher sections. At one point, we descend onto an asphalt road, cross it, and with a walk easier in views, climb to the resting place at Hálóeresztő Hill’s top.

Following hot springs

Here we exchange the coastal tour route for exploring the peninsula’s interior, but the area does not become less interesting: snow-white, rugged rock formations edge our path. Numerous similar formations line the peninsula’s southern tip: the geyser cones are the heralds of Tihany’s fiery landscape. At the end and after the calm of volcanism, marshy areas spread where today’s Balaton exists; hot rocks at depth allowed percolating waters to break through as hot-water solutions along fissures in the rock body, creating over a hundred hot springs (not geysers) with high silica contents that cemented other rocks and precipitated the quartz sandstone called geyserite from rapidly cooled waters. The geyser cones scatter the southern Tihany landscape; approaching some, remnants of former vents and channels to open air can be detected. Their internal structure was often revealed by mining before the protection status as quarries extracted pieces from them.

The best view of the Inner Lake comes from the rocky cones of the geyserite field. The ZT trail passes among many distinctive rock formations; the most famous is the Aranyház cliff. Its name comes from yellow lichens covering it, coloring the rock vividly especially during autumn foliage coloring. From its top, the view over Tihany’s inner areas is nice but does not rival the one found a bit lower on the S+ trail at the Hármashegy geyser cone. From there, the panorama is literally picturesque: the dark blue mirror of the Inner Lake reflects the tidy settlement of Tihany rising above, behind it appear white sails dotting the turquoise Balaton. Let us walk down the S+ trail to the Inner Lake shore, where turning left we can soon return to the nature trail marked ZT!

Back to the shore

After circling the Inner Lake, the path climbs a hillside again to reach the Szélmarta Rocks at the Kis-erdő-tető summit. The basalt volcanic formation group, markedly tilted sideways by tectonic processes, has had softer layers nearly eroded by wind-blown fine grains (e.g., sand). Meanwhile, relatively soft basalt tuff is shaped by frost shattering along fissures. A perfect resting place awaits before the final roller-coaster section descending to the shore.

We head downhill again, cross the Tihany access road, then climb onto the peninsula’s edge hills. Views open to Füred Bay and recognizable hotel monsters of Balatonfüred and beyond to Csopak. A loop leads to the outer side of the mountain ridge and the final stage of our tour.

On the slope of Óvár Hill stands the well-known Friend's dwellings, attracting the curiosity of many arriving in Tihany. The setting reminiscent of Indiana Jones movie sets is due to the structural peculiarities of basalt tuff formed from ash and debris, a byproduct of volcanic activity. This rock is well workable and carvable. Among the cells built by monks settling here in the 11th century, some were buried by rockslides, but surviving ones were restored and secured. The peninsula’s only spring, the Ciprián spring, also operates nearby, which likely supplied water for the monks.

From the Friend's dwellings, a pleasant trail leads down to the road running along the peninsula side. Walking about 100 meters on the parallel sidewalk, we reach the boat station, where there is also a bus stop.