With youngish energy to Sümeg – round trip for lovers of adventure

1. Route details

This 74 km long tour leads through the lines of Keszthely Hills and beyond it reaches town of Sümeg.
Due to the terrain (level differences) and the length of the tour it is a difficult, performance tour.
The route contains a strong uphill before Büdöskút (see point 2).
The tour can be completed in two directions.
The recommended route to complete the tour follows Keszthely Gyenesdiás, Vállus, Várvölgy, Sarvaly, Sümeg, Sümegprága, Bazsi, Zalaszántó, Vindornyalak, Vindornyaszőlős, Karmacs, Hévíz and Keszthely. To complete it follow the bike signs green D, A, C and B.
The starting point of the tour is the shore of Lake Balaton in Keszthely. From here we ride on the northern Balaton Bike Route to Gyenesdiás junction where the green D sign starts. From the bike rest area named ‘Hármaselágazó’ follow the green A sign. After that from the Várvölgy crossings follow green C to the Szebike bike rest area. There is only the road number (135) from here to Sümeg and to Tátikahidegkút. From here, Tátikahidegkút follow again green C to Zalaszántó village centre and green B to Keszthely.
Road numbers on the tour: 10 (Balaton Bike Route), 132 (Pilikán – Hármaselágazó), 133 (Hármaselgazó – Sarvaly), 135 (Sarvaly – Sümeg – Zalaszántó), 23 (Zalaszántó – Vindornyaszőlős), 13 (Vindornyaszőlős – Keszthely).
The tour partially leads through built-up area and mainly on asphalt roads (low-traffic, forest and signed bike roads) while some parts are gravel roads.
Along the route there are several bike shelters and rest places (Pilikán, Nagy Messzelátó-hegy, Hármaselágazó, Lázi-hegy, Jágerházak, Szebike, Tátikahidegkút, Vindornyaszőlős, Karmacs, Angolnás, Vadaskert, Pipáskert) and other places to stop and rest (Sarvaly, Hertelendy mansion in Vindornyalak, Vindonya bog).
In the inhabited areas of the tour there are dining, food and other shopping facilities.

2. Difficulty factors in the tour

The route runs through the rolling hills of Keszthely Hills thus it contains smaller and larger slopes.
The dashed lines on the maps indicate dirt and gravel roads that are difficult to cross after rain (Büdöskút road, Szebike forest, hillside of Vindornyalak and between Karmacs and Hévíz).
The asphalt-gravel forest section (Büdöskúti road) there may be smaller and larger potholes.
After the Pilikáni rest place there is a 1.5 km long dirt road section. At the end of this we enter the forest where gravel roads are typical.
A slow but steady uphill road begins here. As it is interrupted by smaller downhill and straight sections and because there are resting places after the harder parts, it may not be an impossible mission to reach the top of the hill. There is a 2.5 km long challenging section before the ‘Nagy Messzelátó-hegy’.
There are some sections on the roads between the Képesfa and the northern village boundary of Várvölgy that are difficult to cross in rainy weather.
In the section between Zalaszántó and Tátikahidegkút (ca. 2 km) there may be more car traffic.

3. Highlights of the tour
If you have more than just traditional cycling in mind, this round trip is the ideal choice! We particularly recommend to young and ambitious cyclists this tour full of adventures and experiences between Keszthely and Sümeg. Adventurous people can try to climb up to Sümeg Castle is definitely not for the faint-hearted. But in Hévíz you can relax afterwards, and back in Keszthely you can round off the tour with a lángos, a cocktail or a whisky.