"How much tranquility and beauty this countryside has to offer..." wrote geologist Róbert Reichert in 1936. And indeed, we are on a remarkably beautiful route: one of the most special parts of the National Blue Trail leads through the buttes at Lake Balaton.

Volcanism not only takes away, it gives. The scene of the once devastating eruptions is tamed into a peaceful and rich countryside. This is typical of the fifth route of the National Blue Trail, which is very short but truly uplifting. We begin our journey through the mountains with interesting shapes, which have so far only been admired from afar and thus we enter one of the most exciting geological regions of the country: we can get up close and personal with the geological and social effects of millions of years of volcanism, the huge buttes and basalt organs, and the wine culture that came to life on volcanic soil.

After our rest on the shores of Malom-tó in Tapolca, a longer asphalt road awaits us on which we can approach Szent György Hill. The pavement on the vineyards is solid, but the terrain becomes harder from the lodge. We can see the basalt columns here first. We climb the basalt organs hidden in the lush green forest. With a small detour, we can also visit the peak that promises a wonderful panorama and then descend to the plains again.

Our next stop is Szigliget, the famous settlement on the shores of Lake Balaton. Its castle, wines and the bustling, yet human-scale summer turmoil is a friendly experience before we head on to Badacsony. If somewhere, then here you should interrupt your hike and bathe.

If we’d like to integrate our holiday with meaningful pastime at Lake Balaton, we couldn’t find a better option than one of the Blue Trail routes of the Balaton Uplands.

TIPS

•The home of the basalt organs, Szent György Hill, is a wonderful geological attraction. Here we can interrupt our tour to spend a night in the Károly Kaán chalet at the foot of the mountain.

• In Szigliget we are the closest to the shores of Lake Balaton, so it’s worth dipping in the lake here, as an accompanying program of the wine tasting and the castle visit.

• On Szent György Hill, from the Tarányi press-house it is worth making a small detour to the spooky Ify chapel and from the Károly Kaán chalet to the Örömhírvétel chapel. Both are reachable on the S sign.

Route lengths from stamp to stamp (in kilometers)

Tapolca 6 Szent György Hill 7.8 Szigliget 3.4 Badacsonytördemic

Recommended intermediate embarkation and disembarkation points along the route

• Kisapáti (near OKTPH_28): Kisapáti, bus-waiting room bus stop, Nemesgulács-Kisapáti railway stop

• Szigliget (OKTPH_29_1, OKTP_29_2): Szigliget, Fő tér bus stop