The Lila Hill Lookout on Nyúl Mountain

Győrújbarát is less than 130 kilometres from the capital, just over an hour's drive away. It is only 10 km from Győr and 13 km from Pannonhalma. You can park anywhere in the village for free. Now we just need to grab our hiking boots and backpacks to conquer the Sokoró peaks. (The lookout is accessible from several sides: as it is located at the highest point of the Sokoró hills, on the border of two villages, Győrújbarát and Nyúl, it can be reached from both villages. We recommend the tourist route marked with the red sign, which starts from the Győrújbarát children's camp.) These red signs will lead you along a concrete road at first, then on a dirt road. When you turn north, you will immediately see the lookout. From here, it's worth paying close attention to your surroundings, as you will pass by some extraordinary natural formations. You can see, for example, so-called loess paths, formed by the erosion of rainwater. Each gully is home to an exceptional insect population, which is highly attractive to forest birds, so you can discover an extraordinary array of flora and fauna if you keep your eyes open. In our country you can see, among others, the protected bird called the bee-eater- this species was named "bird of the year" a decade ago, and is the most abundant in Hungary. The migrating bird makes a distinctive bubbling sound and has beautifully coloured plumage. You might even see a black stork if you go hiking in the spring, and white-tailed eagles are not uncommon.

When you reach the lookout tower, you'll immediately notice the unique, modern wood panelling and slender form of the 11.7-metre-high tower. Let's start climbing; there are sixty steps up to the roof. Halfway up the old concrete tower, you can see the original concrete rings both above and below. Upstairs, a wide 12-angled terrace has been created, from where you can enjoy a fabulous panorama of the Sokoró hills, the Bakony mountains, the Vértes and the Gerecse. Looking in the other direction, you can see the Csallóköz plain and the Sopron mountains, and if the weather is really clear, you can even see as far as the foothills of the Alps. 

At 313 metres above sea level, the reinforced concrete structure originally served as a geodetic measuring tower. It was built in 1977, but in recent decades it became unused and unsafe and then fell into a state of complete disrepair, when it could have been one of the most useful tourist attractions in the area. The Kisalföld Forestry Company recognised that once renovated, the tower would be able to function not only as a measuring tower, but also as a lookout. So in 2018, it received wooden cladding and a year later the interior was renovated. The inside of the viewing cylinder, previously covered in graffiti, was cleaned and decorated with appropriate motifs: an artist painted artwork on the walls, based on the flora and fauna of the area. On the terrace, tourists are greeted by a series of panoramic pictures and a map showing the main points of interest in the area. The tower is also equipped with a unique 120-degree solar lighting system, which switches on after sunset so that the lookout is still magnificent at twilight.

There is a wide range of tourist attractions in the area, so it is worth combining a trip to the lookout with a hike on the Pannonhalma educational trail. Care should be taken to view the environmental beauty of the landscape while preserving its integrity.