Zala "hill climbing" cycling tour

Itinerary:

• We cycle from Zalaegerszeg railway station to the Göcseji Village Museum and the Hungarian Oil Industry Museum.
• From Zalaegerszeg, we cycle through Platán row to the Göcseji road, then turn right at Becsali road and climb up to the TV tower.
• Passing through Bazita and Nagylengyel, we reach Gombosszeg, one of the quietest villages in Göcsej.
• We arrive at Kustánszeg via Becsvölgyé, where we can rest or even stay at the Göcsej Camping or by the Göcseji lake.
• Returning to Becsvölgyé, we reach Nemesnép passing through Szilvágy, Pórszombat, and Csesztreg.
• From Nemesnép, we cycle towards Kebeleszentmárton (Kobilje) in Slovenia, then via Lendvavásárhely (Dobrovnik) arrive at Zsitkóc (Žitkovci).
• At Zsitkóc, we turn left at the church, then leave the village and on a gravel road reach the border (taking a right at the junction outside the village) and the Hetés Friendship Park found there.
• Afterwards, we circle the Hetés villages exuding Őrség atmosphere (Bödeháza, Gáborjánháza), then arrive at Szécsisziget via Lentin and Kerkateskánd.
• We venture into Zala's largest forest in the neighboring Tormafölde, making a detour to the Vétyemi Ancient Beech Forest.
• Passing through Budafapuszta, we arrive at Bázakerettye.
• We reach our final bigger hill in Zala passing through Felsőborsfa, Bánokszentgyörgy, Szentliszló, and Bucsuta.
• Passing through Börzönce, Zalaszentbalázs, Bocska, Magyarszerdahely, and Újudvar, we arrive at the end of our route in Nagykanizsa.

Detailed description of the route:

From Göcsej to the corner of Őrség

The Göcseji Village Museum, the country's first open-air museum, has been showcasing the folk architectural and ethnographic relics of the hilly, winding Göcsej landscape since 1968. The word Göcsej itself originates from a term meaning hilly, barren land. Göcsej is one of the country's most characteristic small-village regions, where—similar to Őrség—the village parts consisting of a few houses called "szegek" are found on hilltops, and several such szegek form a settlement. Besides the clayey land where swampy valley bottoms were not very favorable for settlement, these "szegek" once served a defensive function, as this was a border guard area during the Árpád era, just like Őrség.

The open-air museum depicts an imagined single-street Göcsej village, with about forty different structures (from residential houses to wooden churches, vineyards' cellars, and road-side crosses), most brought here from small villages in Göcsej (except the watermill which stood by a dead branch of the Zala river nearby). The location is even more special as it also hosts the open-air exhibition of the Hungarian Oil Industry Museum, which presents the technical relics of the national hydrocarbon industry (mining, processing, transportation). This meeting of tradition and modernity is probably a world sensation, but definitely unique in Hungary.

From the museums, we cycle through Platán row to the Göcseji road, where the first quite steep hills of Göcsej can already be seen emerging behind the panel flats. The TV tower standing next to Bazita is also visible here—our next stop, which is definitely worth climbing for the view (a modest entrance fee applies from spring to autumn, and even a café can be found at the top).

Passing through Bazita and Nagylengyel, we reach Gombosszeg, one of the smallest settlements in the country, where it’s worth listening to the silence of Göcsej. Then via Becsvölgyé, our next stop is Kustánszeg, where the Göcsej Valley Camping entices us to stop, especially as we can stay here to get to know this unique landscape more thoroughly (and we can even take a dip in the nearby Kustánszeg lake—which is a big plus on a summer cycling tour!).

Leaving Göcsej behind, we cycle a longer distance passing through Szilvágy, Pórszombat, and Csesztreg to Nemesnép, where with dispersed farms, barns, and the meadows with fruit trees between them, we can already feel the atmosphere of Őrség. We admire one of the region's most beautiful bell towers, a sacred building typical for both Göcsej and Őrség. And yes, Nemesnép got its beautiful and special name because in the Middle Ages, royal soldiers who became petty nobles settled here.

The enchanting Hetés

From Nemesnép, we cycle through the Slovenian Kebeleszentmárton (Kobilje) and Lendvavásárhely (Dobrovnik). This is Slovenia's most underdeveloped region, yet there's a striking difference between the small, intensively cultivated plots on the Slovenian side and the large, untidy, industrial fields and fallows typical of the Hungarian end of the area, which looks like a true hinterland. Surprisingly, in Lendvavásárhely, we find a tropical garden and orchid farm, while in the last Slovenian village on our route, Zsitkóc (Žitkovci), the Deák statue is worth a visit because the family of the “father of the homeland” lived here for a long time. In the village center, we turn left at the volunteer fire brigade building and reach the Friendship Park at the border on a good quality gravel road. Here, there is a rest area, fire pit, and a “borderless” iron bird made from the barbed wire of the former Iron Curtain. Beyond the border, the “flat Őrség,” the lesser-known Hetés split by the border, awaits us. Like Göcsej, Hetés also forms an independent ethnographic region. Cycling through it feels like a real time travel. If planning several days for the itinerary, it is worth stopping in Hetés too, exploring the four Hungarian villages and getting to know locals and their customs along the Magical Hetés Greenway.

In the legendary green heart of Zala

Leaving the Hetés villages behind, we cycle through Rédics, Lenti, and Kerkateskánd to reach Szécsisziget, where the landscape suddenly changes, and the vast forest of South Zala towers in front of us, including the famous Vétyemi ancient beech forest. In the cooler, wetter hills of Zala, beech is the forest-forming tree, thus the hillsides take on an almost mountainous character. It’s also worth stopping in Szécsisziget: here, the Kerka river makes its way through the hills toward the Mura. Although the river, once branching into several arms, has been regulated and “confined,” near the beautifully renovated watermill, it feels like stepping back in time. On the wild riverside, buffalo graze; through the ancient willows, the beautiful Andrássy-Szapáry castle can be seen, and in the distance, there is the forest—like time has stood still.

The forest ahead is legendary among nature lovers and hikers, as it hosts Hungary’s longest track narrow-gauge railway. On the 109 km track, the Csömödéri State Forest Railway runs mainly timber transport trains alongside passenger services.

After Szécsisziget, we cycle in the shadow of the beech forest and turn left onto a forestry road after the cemetery in the center of Tormafölde. This road leads about 11.5 km through Zala’s green heart. A sign marks the turnoff to the Vétyemi Forest Reserve (P mark, 700-800 m forest dirt road to the start of the ancient beech forest). The Vétyemi old beech forest is one of the areas designated under the national forest reserve program where natural forest processes have been studied without human intervention for decades. In Zala, one of the country’s richest counties in forests, visiting the South Transdanubian beech “showroom” is practically a must.

In the cradle of the Hungarian oil industry

We exit the forest near Kiscsehi and continue straight to Budafapuszta, where the extensive spruce forest surrounding the hunting lodge built by the Zichy family forms the core of an arboretum. After Budafapuszta, the pine and beech forest quickly changes into an almost Austrian atmosphere. Around Bázakerettye, we see more acacias along the road, and naturally, oil drilling towers. In 1937, Hungary’s first oil field was discovered here, radically changing the life of the previously modest villages of Báza and Kerettye. At the height of its golden age, the town was considered more modern than many county seats, but now that is only history. The Bázakerettye exhibition of the Hungarian Oil and Gas Industry Museum is worth inserting into the itinerary, and the town also has a bathing spot.

At the border of Felsőborsfa, Bánokszentgyörgy, Szentliszló, and Bucsuta, we say goodbye to the forested part of Zala with real hinterland and quiet villages. From Bucsuta, a high-quality asphalt road leads through Börzönce, our last tougher climb. From the hilltop, the TV tower standing above Nagykanizsa dominates the landscape, and on the hillside, we find vineyards. Passing through Zalaszentbalázs, Bocska, Magyarszerdahely, and Újudvar, we arrive at the end of our route in Nagykanizsa, where, fitting the spirit of the place, we say goodbye to Zala’s unique and somewhat bygone world with the American suburban atmosphere of the former MAORT site.