Tour Horizont regions: Keszthely Mountains and the monadnocks

The third region covered by the 2026 Tour Horizont. This is the 24th and 23rd section of the Horizont bicycle tour route.
🚴 Distance: 110,4 km I 🚵 Elevation gain: 1330 m I 💪 Difficulty: 6/10

In Zala, a lone adventure cyclist doesn't get the same feeling as in the Őrség or the Vas regions—that three steamrollers smoothed out the buttery gravel roads in honor of the arriving cyclists. Rougher terrain, windier solutions, and occasionally steeper sections are coming, but the efforts will not go unrewarded. At least for those who have the time to look around and immerse themselves in the landscape... but that's exactly what the Tour Horizont is for, and not for rushing!

The kilometers following Batyk feel like Zala and like a hilly region, but they don't strictly belong to the Zala Hills. Regardless, the Zala River must be crossed twice before reaching Szentgrót—the last settlement before Keszthely where a larger grocery store can be found. It probably wouldn't be a big risk to bet on whether groups of cyclists will be sitting in front of the shops during Tour Horizont, munching on the ends of crescent rolls and bananas.

After refreshing, the Vindornya villages can follow! Although there is even an otter (in Hungarian: vidra) nature trail around here, the name Vindornya has nothing to do with the small aquatic animal. Several explanations have been born for its origin: some say it comes from the Latin word "vinitor" (vineyard worker), referring to the region's long history of viticulture. Others believe the term originally designated a peaty, marshy region and may refer to the once extensive Vindornya Lake that used to spread here, which today is just a marshland. Regardless of the naming, this is already typically a part of the route where many will think they surely wouldn't have wandered here on their own.

Between summer houses, a sometimes quite steep, sometimes quite stony road leads up to the next stamping point. In every second bend, one must pay attention not to commit a trespass, though it's no big deal if you do, you just have to turn back. Surely the Buddhists also liked the region if they built one of Europe's largest stupas here. The Stupa symbolizes Buddha's spirit, wisdom, and his compassion and love for all living beings. It looks out at Lake Balaton from the 316-meter-high Világosvár hill, and from the nearby souvenir shops, it sends the pungent scent of incense out into the landscape.

After Zalaszántó, the Keszthely Mountains are already visible, with Rezi Castle on its northernmost tip, where climbing up is not mandatory but not forbidden either. Following the route through the rolling Zala landscape, a solitary oak tree appears, guarding the tiny Jewish cemetery of Karmacs with a wide stance—it looks like a tree that has its own personality; one could even say hello to it. At its base is a cyclist rest area for cyclists in need.

The vindornya-buddhist-israelite spiritual journey is eventually ended at one point by the noise of civilization, which the Hévíz swamp cypresses—magnificent in every season—still soften to some extent, but soon Keszthely follows, with its castle, pier, scent of donuts and lángos, and Lake Balaton. A short glide on the Balaton bike path, and then one of Hungary's most picturesque parts can follow: the panorama of the monadnocks unfolding from the side of the Keszthely Mountains.

Of course, you still have to climb for the panorama, specifically across the mountain and through the forest, on bumpy asphalt and gravel roads where in places the gravel bed is deeper than it first appears, but a few kilometers later, looking down from the Vakondturzás viewpoint, this will only be a distant memory. Between Nemesvita and Raposka, the pastures may still hold a surprise—a watering trough, mostly for four-legged animals. That's how it is; in rainy weather, you have to power through it with great momentum or go around it.

What's less surprising than this is that the Saint George Hill really behaves like a mountain—high, steep, and the road winds all over the place on it. But it's beautiful from below, from the middle, and from the top, and while climbing, there's time to examine it from everywhere. Here, somehow, even the road that originally looked like a downhill can eventually go upward. The yellowish-white, Baroque-style Lengyel Chapel has nothing to do with the Polish (in Hungarian: lengyel) people, but it was built by the Lengyel family and consecrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

Compared to the Saint George Hill climb, cycling on the Roman Road running along the side of Badacsony is already a joyride—meaning a short rest before the more difficult terrains of the Káli Basin.