Panorama path between Óbuda and Hűvösvölgy through the cultural forest trails of Hármashatár Hill

Itinerary:

• We start from Viharhegyi Road on the ZΩ trail to the Táborhegy Cave, then to Guckler Károly Road.
• On Guckler Károly Road, we briefly follow the Z+ trail.
• Turning onto the Z trail, we climb at Nagy-Farkas Gorge up to the Hármashatár Hill road.
• We reach the Hármashatár Hill peak on the K trail.
• Descending on the western side of the peak on the K↺ trail, we go down to the base of the Újlaki Hill to the asphalt road.
• On the S trail, we descend steeply to Hármashatár, where we join the K trail again up to the Árpád lookout.
• From the Árpád lookout, we follow the Z trail all the way down into Hűvös Valley.

Route description:

Climbing Tábor Hill

We start from the Viharhegyi road bus stop on the ZΩ trail along Királylaki Road between garden houses. Follow the markings carefully because we turn into the hillside forest through a narrow passage between two properties. The mountain presents a serious steepness almost immediately; luckily, the path uses traversing to avoid the steep climb, but this first section of the hike still demands considerable effort — flat areas have been taken over by the rapidly expanding city after World War II. In the old days, there were still forests here, with vineyards covering the gentler slopes, cultivated by the majority German population of Óbuda, sustaining their Rhine valley roots. However, phylloxera and the post-war changing world transformed the area. The vineyards became overgrown, and large parts of the forests were cut down during the harsh war years.

The ascending path in the hillside reaches a junction with a level trail. A short detour leads to the Táborhegy Cave, whose entrance is protected by an iron grate — usually open thanks to curious explorers. The spectacle and the atmosphere in front of the cave are the main attractions. From here you can see the mouth of the Aranyhegyi stream in the wide Danube valley and the extensive area occupied by the city. Around us is lush nature; the rocky promontory is covered by dense kermes oak thicket. The most spectacular part of the cave can be glimpsed from here: a hall made of a series of wide spherical niches climbs up inside the dolomite pillar. Dolomite is a carbonate rock that is less soluble, so caves develop less, yet the thermal water upwellings typical of the Buda Hills have carved significant passages inside the hill. With its roughly 160 meters, the Táborhegy Cave is notable among dolomite caves, even though much of its passages are narrow and maze-like.

Returning to the ascent, we turn towards the dolomite pillar and overcome most of the elevation on the steepest terrain. We continue north along the relatively flat cut of the salvation-the Guckler Road on the Z+ trail. As a forestry pioneer of the 19th century, Károly Guckler established well-passable exploration trails on the steep slopes of Hármashatár Hill and was later honored by naming the popular walking and running path after him.

Along the promenade, we bypass the Kis-Farkas Gorge incision and on the far side of the side ridge fight the remaining elevation of Tábor Hill in the Nagy-Farkas Gorge basin accompanied by the Z trail. Among old beech trees, we reach the flat area of the hill's plateau, where parallel to the asphalt road leading to Hármashatár Hill, we turn right on the K trail. After the slope carved by Farkas Gorge, crossing the asphalt strip, we start climbing again through a wooded area with flowering ashes and bushes.

At the Hármashatár Hill viewpoint

We arrive at the summit on a dolomite rocky, blocky path, circling around the manor restaurant building to the summit block dotted with transmission towers. The toothless karst shrub forest opens to the old glider airfield to the west, offering a great view of the Pesthidegkút basin and the surrounding Buda Hills. On the opposite side of the peak, adorned with bunkers, stands an interesting spherical structure built from three- and hexagons: the Guckler Károly Lookout. What we couldn't see from the clearing opens up to us here from the eastern side of the summit. The Danube valley stretches crosswise with the sprawling metropolis covered densely by endless buildings. The downtown, castle surroundings, Parliament, and the silver line of the Danube networked with bridges are also visible to the south. The most spectacular sight, however, is the neighboring ridge, the backs of Kevély and Pilis dotted with white rocks dominating the northern horizon. Below us are the former hangar buildings and the renovated Rotter Lajos Tourist House of Hármashatár Hill hidden in the transmission towers' shadows.

Returning to the clearing on the far side of the peak, we head west along the meadow left from the former runway on the K↺ trail. We descend gradually, then traverse through bushy ash groves under the rocky ridge, all the way down to the foot of the neighboring Újlaki Hill. Here the S trail joins, and we descend together, then turn right with it on the steep side of the block, crossing the asphalt strip of Szépvölgyi Road. What we climbed on the far side of Tábor Hill, we lose here with similar steepness. Fortunately, the slope soon softens, and we traverse comfortably along the K trail on the flat of Határ saddle.

On Buda promenades; viewpoints on the city's edge

After the level sections, we continue traversing comfortably on the gentle promenade along the side of Kecske Hill under the Kecske Rocks. The steep cliffs of the white dolomite towers rise above us like white rock goats in front of the guarding lion. The picture is only metaphorical, though the lowest block touched by the path was actually carved into a lion shape when the promenade was established. Today the rock shape only hints at its predecessor, as during World War II a soldier of the Red Army symbolically broke off the lion's head.

The comfortable traverse with a slight ascent leads to the top of Látó Hill, where the Árpád Lookout's pavilion built of patinated stone overlooks Budapest. From here, we can observe the city center more closely, with a more spectacular view of the Danube bend adorned with downtown bridges in front of Gellért Hill, crowned by the castle and the Parliament. In the sea of houses, the last green patch directly below us is Ferenc Hill, beneath which the already built-up sides of Szemlő and József Hills contrast. Matthias Hill still retains some remaining green areas among the Buda forests on the city's edge.

Anyone who has heard the phrase that Budapest is the capital of caves will recognize the previously mentioned names. Each hill hides a spectacular and famous cave, among which the Szemlő Hill Cave and Pálvölgyi Cave — which forms a system with Matthias Hill — can be visited on a developed route, while overall-equipped exploration tours to Matthias Hill Cave are organized by the national park. In fact, the caves grouped around Szépvölgy presumably form a system; many connections have already been discovered or scientifically demonstrated, thus a huge cave system outlines beneath us thanks to the unending curiosity of speleologists. The currently explored passage length exceeds 31 kilometers. The longest in Hungary is the Pálvölgyi Cave system — the trend remains unbroken, and whenever a new larger cave is connected, its length increases dramatically.

We descend south on the Z trail along the rocky side of Látó Hill. The promenade is eased with steps and retaining walls, allowing a comfortable arrival at the Törökvész Road saddle. Here we can end our hike — although the last section continues downhill and passes the most spectacular viewpoint by character, the Apáthy Rock.

The path traverses further on the other side of the road; in the ash-karst shrub forest, it passes beside the Kőkapu's spectacular erosion form. According to experts, the reddish clay rock towers are heritage from the Pannon Sea, caves carved by waves on the seashore millions of years ago. The neighboring Apáthy Rock also hides several similar caves.

As we circle the ridge, the Apáthy Rock dolomite bastion towering above Hűvösvölgy appears on the opposite side. The view from the tower top is simply magnificent: the city's outer streets lie at our feet while facing us are the most distinctive Buda Hills: János Hill crowned with the Erzsébet Lookout and the monumental Freedom Hill adorned with the antenna tower stretching over the hilly district.

From here, we return to the city's street network weaving the hills. We descend down staircases and pleasant garden suburb streets towards the Grand Bridge, where our Budapest scenic hike ends at the tram stop.