Keszthely – Tapolca (OKT-04)

The stamp in Keszthely can be found on the wall next to the railway station toilets. The National Blue Trail can be reached via the blue stamp mark running parallel to the rails at the Helikon Park.

Initially, the possibility to cross Lake Balaton was provided by ships departing from the nearby Fenékpuszta, but from the 7th century, Keszthely assumed this role. The town's development began with the appearance of the Festetics family in the 18th-19th centuries, when among others, the castle and Europe's first agricultural college, the Georgikon, were built. The Helikon Park also commemorates the bustling town life of that era: its trees were planted by participants of the Helikon festivals, mainly literary festivals, organized by György Festetics between 1817 and 1819.

The Blue Trail joins under the avenue of plane trees in the park, and we start following it heading in our direction. We walk 2 kilometers on asphalt before entering Gyenesdiás, which has grown together with the town. At the intersection of Avar Leader Street, there's a statue of an Avar leader, reminding of the 6th-8th century Avar settlement located where Gyenesdiás stands today.

At the edge of the roundabout, under a shelter, there is a press older than 100 years, referring to the once prosperous viticulture and winemaking in the settlement. We leave behind the ceramics house reminiscent of Balaton shore folk architecture and then the Gyenes cemetery. The 'youth' of the two formerly separate settlements, Gyenes and Diás, is best reflected in their churches, as the lack of a historical town center shows: they were built in the 19th century, so their style is neither the usual Baroque common in rural Hungary, nor their size is typical; they rather resemble vineyard chapels – as they indeed were. The building we come across was built by the residents of the Gyenes vineyard, which then belonged to Keszthely, with the permission of László Festetics, and was consecrated in 1826 in honor of Saint Helena because of the count's daughter.

We pass by former dolomite mines planted with black pines. The extraction of the main rock forming the Keszthely Mountains had already begun before World War II and lasted here until 1976 – however, mines still operate along the Keszthely–Várvölgy minor road. The reclamation of the abandoned quarries was done by planting black pine forests.

The K marks lead to the popular hiking spot Nagy-mező, but before reaching it, the left-branching K▲ mark at the saddle takes us to the Festetics lookout on Varsás Hill, offering a nice panorama, so we can reach the well-equipped resting place here with benches, fire pits, a playground, parking, toilets, and an outdoor stage. The lookout offers exciting views not only of Lake Balaton but also of the Keszthely Mountains, as the terrain viewed here, surrounded by deep steep-walled valleys and interspersed with pine forests, gives the impression of a much higher landscape.

After Nagy-mező, we begin the forest section of our tour. The Keszthely Mountains are full of lookouts offering panoramic views over Lake Balaton, but the Blue Trail bypasses them, so it's worth including the Berzsenyi lookout on the S mark, which is not far away. We pass the shelter of the Hatlábú barn in the Büdös-kúti valley, then the Ferenc József tree. The broken trunk was once part of Hungary's largest beech tree with a 50 m diameter crown, and it got its name because Emperor Franz Joseph once had lunch in its shade during a hunt. Abandoned meadows and forest paths alternate in the valley inhabited by beeches with ever cooler climate. Upon climbing out of the valley, the long straight of Iván-hát follows; we leave fallow lands, cross a ditch, and soon reach the southern border of Vállus.

On the asphalt road connecting Vállus and Balatongyörök, the K▲ mark leads to the Láz-tető lookout, offering views of the Keszthely Mountains, the Southern slopes of the Marcal region and Bakonyalja, and even into the Tapolca basin through the low saddle of the Lesencefalu vineyard. North of the lookout, the Z▲ mark descends to the stamping place in Vállus, although it leads on a very steep, crumbly hillside – we recommend also using the K▲ mark when going back to avoid bypassing the village itself.

The small village lies on the northern exposure of the Keszthely Mountains in a trough-like valley – its name derives from the word forming it. It has only been like this since the 18th century when the Festetics invited German settlers to repopulate the deserted village usually found on the territory of today's Pusztatemető.

We pass a shop with irregular opening hours and then by the late Baroque church built in 1836. After the bus turnaround, we exit the village at the cemetery – here we also find the stamp.

Vállus – Lesenceistvánd

Cutting through the ridges lowering to the north of the Keszthely Mountains, we begin to ascend. On the left, the basalt cone and castle ruins of Tátika are clearly visible, which geographically belongs to the mountain but differs in building material. We pass by a medlar orchard and then through a forest section to reach the Lesencefalu vineyard.

We walk among fields, vineyards, gardens, and holiday homes, crossing the Várvölgy–Lesencetomaj road – standing practically at the entrance to the Tapolca basin. Instead of descending into it, we set off to the Alsó vineyard.

The Bakony ranges protect the vineyards from the cold northern winds, and the warming southern slopes tempered by Lake Balaton's water surface create an excellent Mediterranean-style mesoclimate for viticulture, already exploited by the Romans. The traditions of our Hungarian ancestors merged with those of the Romans and Benedictine monks from Western European wine regions, shaping the wine culture characteristic of Balaton-felvidék. Typically, this is the home of white grapes; among the varieties, olaszrizling is prominent.

At the left bend of the road, we can take a detour to the Alsó vineyard ridge, offering one of the most beautiful panoramas of the Tapolca basin. Looking slightly to the left, we can see as far as the southern Bakony ranges, with the 'witness hills' lined up opposite.

We cross the pine forest and after a few deserted press houses, the K▲ branches off to the left, leading to the Kő orra viewpoint. (The panorama is similar to the earlier one, although climbing up the logging clearing is not very pleasant.) After a short forest section, we cross to the eastern side of the mountain and begin descending among the press houses of Lesenceistvánd. We pass the spring with the Máté well draw-off fitting and then a weekend buffet – here we can also obtain a unique stamp equivalent to the official Blue Trail stamp, after which we wind down through the stations of the Calvary to the main street of Lesenceistvánd. We find one of the village's stamps here; it appears as a mosaic on the wall of the former pub opposite, indicating the award for completing the trail.

Lesenceistvánd – Tapolca

At the bus stop in front of the elementary school, we find another stamping possibility in Lesenceistvánd, and then leave the village at the Holy Trinity statue. It is worth taking a look at the statue which, unlike the historical European towns, was not erected in gratitude at the end of the medieval plague epidemics: according to the inscription, it was raised in 1919 by a Lesenceistvánd couple in memory of their sons-in-law who died in the world war.

After Lesenceistvánd, we walk among pastures, with the structures of the basalt quarry at Uzsa visible before reaching the 'tehénKÉK' pasture, where we have to fasten and unfasten the chains at the entrances. Passing the former rocket battalion barracks here, we arrive at Tapolca railway station, where the stamp is located in front of the Lokomotív buffet.