Tour Horizont regions: Balaton Uplands

The fourth region covered by the 2026 Tour Horizont. This is the 22th section of the Horizont bicycle tour route.
🚴 Distance: 72,8 km I 🚵 Elevation gain: 1053 m I 💪 Difficulty: 6/10

The Balaton Uplands are a favorite among cyclists — and it’s easy to see why. Quiet villages, vineyards, forests, hills, and plateaus alternate one after another, while the shimmering view of Lake Balaton keeps reappearing along the way. Of course, those stunning panoramic viewpoints don’t come for free: there are some demanding climbs and a few rougher sections too. Still, this route captures the very essence of everything the region has to offer.

From the Badacsonyörs railway station, the route heads uphill through the vineyards toward Örsi Hill. From here, a rare perspective opens up onto Badacsony — especially its basalt-column “side.” Most people probably know the mountain better from floating on an air mattress than from this angle. At the Salföld Manor, animals of all shapes and sizes stare curiously at passing cyclists, though they probably aren’t judging. They’re hot when it’s hot and soaked when it rains too — they just deal with it differently.

The Káli Basin is like the “Rózsadomb” of Lake Balaton: refined, elegant, and difficult to criticize. The surroundings are sophisticated, and so is the local hospitality. What cannot be claimed, however, is that anything around here operates with record-breaking opening hours. Anyone with special needs — say, on a Monday morning — should definitely check ahead.

Few people realize that the Nivegy Valley may actually be even more beautiful than the Káli Basin, but the aptly named Panorama Cycling Route makes a convincing case for it. There have even been reports of cyclists being seen crying tears of joy somewhere between Balatoncsicsó and Dörgicse.

As for the fig trees guarding the ruins of Saint Balázs Church, one can only guess how many figs they have produced over their lifetimes. What seems more certain is that the building itself has spent roughly 800 years gazing over the waters of Balaton from a true VIP box seat. The route briefly doubles back here to collect the stamp, but nobody is likely to mind.

Dörgicse and Vászoly are so charming it’s hard to find the words for them. Still, it’s worth stocking up at the Bodza boltja (local shop) or filling bottles from the nearby blue artesian well, because the Hideg-hegyi Meadow that follows can become brutally hot in summer — hot enough to dry out even the crickets. And the bathtub-like troughs set out for the grazing horses? Those are strictly for hooved bathers.

From Tótvázsony through Nemesvámos to Veszprém, the road may look straight from above, but the elevation profile still hides plenty of bumps. But then again — who has ever seen a completely flat upland?