Hungary awaits: 3+1 adventure tours beyond the Lake Balaton bike circuit

During the excursions, you can discover the hidden treasures and little-known sights of the region. For a fantastic experience, all you need is your curiosity, a bicycle and the Balatonbike365 application, which offers 75 hiking routes in several categories and can also be used as a tour planner.

This 25-kilometre-long tour, mostly on minor roads, leads through the charming settlements of the Káli Basin. You can cycle from Köveskál through Kővágóörs to the Theodora spring in Kékkút, where you can quench your thirst. From here, it is worth taking a few kilometres to the Salföldi farm, which preserves the peace of the past, and which awaits you with native Hungarian animals, a petting zoo, and a playground. Returning to Kékkút, the road leads through Mindszentkálla and then Szentbékálla to the special rock formations of the stone sea, one of the most attractive attractions of the Balaton Uplands. From here, you can trudge back to the starting point of the tour.

TIP: Try to tilt the giant pendulum stone at the stone sea!

Photo: MTÜ

The 40-kilometre tour combines the experience of train, bike and ferry rides. Arrive by train with your bikes in Veszprém, from where the road descends almost all the way to Felsőörs. Reach Csopak through Lovas, where you can join the bike path around the lake. After admiring the beauties of Balatonfüred and Tihany, take the ferry, which runs all year round, to the southern shore, where you can extend the tour as you wish, before catching the train.

TIP: Have breakfast in the train's dining car!

This circular tour, which is also recommended for beginners, will take you to discover the romantic Nagyberek and the beauties of the Somogy landscape preparing for winter sleep. The route of the 35-kilometre tour runs from Balatonfenyves to Imremajor. You can cycle on flat terrain through the marshy countryside, crossed by canals, to Kéthely; the former Jewish cemetery here preserves the traces of the Fancsika plank castle. You can reach Balatonmáriafürdő via Balatonújlak and then Balatonkeresztúr, and pedal back to Fenyves along the shore of the lake.

TIP: You can reach Csisztafürdő, which is also open in autumn, with the Balatonfenyves light railway in about 35 minutes.

Photo: Zoltán Vanik

We recommend completing the tour, which covers the northern and eastern ranges of the Keszthely Mountains, by electric bike due to the 51-kilometre distance and the two serious climbs. We head from Keszthely towards Cserszegtomaj and then Rezi. The next stop is the snow-white Peace stupa in Zalaszántó, which also shows the way to your inner peace. Before Büdöskút, you have to overcome another handrail, but from here, enjoying the joy of good work, you can roll all the way to Balatongyörök, to arrive back to Keszthely on a bike tour that hugs the lake.

TIP: If you have a long wind, climb up to the ruins of the Rezi Castle or the St. Michael's Chapel in Vonyarcvashegy for an unparalleled view.