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The highlands on the northern shore of Lake Balaton are a paradise in the heart of Hungary. Vineyards on volcanic hills all around, views over the lake from the summits of silent volcanoes, picturesque villages full of ancient and typical Hungarian houses. Unfortunately, everything was once again shrouded in a dark gray mist. January is not the best month to discover this rural gem. But I was here anyway, and Dani Szontagh would show me around the most beautiful places.

Dániel is one of the organizers of the 'Hungarian Divide' ( a tough bikepacking event every year in June. 1400 km and 23,000 altitude meters through the best of the best (and toughest) Hungary has to offer. I've seen some of that in the past 2 weeks, but in June the circumstances are a bit more favorable.

The Balaton Highlands are an unmissable classic. Lake Balaton has long been a popular holiday resort among Hungarians, but the region is gradually being promoted as the mecca of Hungarian cycling tourism. Also in the gravel scene. Brochures and websites market Balaton as a Hungarian gravel walhalla.

Dániel let me taste it for a while, in a beautiful route that, despite the many asphalt roads (due to too much mud off-road), climbed into vineyards and forests several times.

We started in Veszprém, one of the oldest cities in Hungary and European Capital of Culture this year.

Below Veszprém, dead-straight roads run for miles through fields that were grey-green-brown today, but yellow and purple in other seasons.

Villages are scattered here and there. Just before one of the villages, Vöröstó, fortunately one with a cozy coffee bar: flat tire. But it turned out to be just a loose valve.

The owner of the coffee bar Szeszelyes Nyar used to live in the big city of Budapest for a long time, but bought this old milk house in this tiny village where the farmers used to bring their milk. He made something really nice out of it. It shows that the Hungarian countryside has potential and that cycling tourism can provide attraction and new life. The government certainly understood that. Erszebet, Miklos and Balint, who accompanied me in the Mátra Mountains, do major efforts within the Hungarian government to build cycling infrastructure and promote adventure cycling.

Loaded with coffee we left for a first gravel road through the forest. Here we also cycled into the volcanic landscape. Cones rose everywhere, the result of intense volcanic activity millions of years ago. The cones are either covered with forests or villages, and between them are fields and vineyards.

One of the highest cones is the 🏔HEGYESTÜ, literally: sharp needle. The 3D map on Strava clearly shows this is a volcano. We climbed it to a height of 336 meters.

At the top there is a sharp rock peak that is being mined. There we saw a silver line on the horizon. It wasn't immediately clear what it was. "That's the lake!" said Dániel. It's gigantic.

The dividing line on the horizon between the white-grey misty sky and the silver lake was barely visible.

We were half way through and we had to speed up. The days are so short. At 35 km/h we flew over the plain between the volcanic cones. Until we turned into the hills through one of the many picturesque rural islets of vineyards, undulating gravel roads, and isolated cottages dotting the hillside. Steep climbs on the flanks of 🏔FEKETE-HEGY.

In the distance, no less than 6 cones rose from the landscape, one of the highest at 435 meters stands right on the lake shore.

After 15 km of speeding, we finally cycled straight towards the large silver surface. This lake is located on a tectonic dividing line that was responsible for the formation of this unique landscape. Millions of years ago, huge spectacles must have taken place here with so many active volcanoes together. Today you can map out an endless number of unique cycling routes on this landscape. It's a region you can return to again and again, and I'll try to do that.

I was at the end of my Hungarian adventure. But fate had another prize in store for me.

In the train station of Balatonfüred, our arrival place, I heard: pssssjjjjjj. I started laughing out loud. This couldn't be true!? It's so absurd and this happens to me on every major bike ride. After 850 km and 13,300 altitude meters, in a difficult and wet winter period on heavy terrain, in 12 stages through 4 mountain ranges of the Northern Hungarian Mountains, I encountered a sharp stone in the very last 100 meters and: flat tire. Hilarious.

Anyway, we had something to do during the hour and a half train journey to Dániel's village of Tarnok.

He invited me for a pasta dinner and overnight stay with his family. Wonderful hospitality.

Thank you for giving me this beautiful ending to an unforgettable cycling trip, Dániel.

In Budapest I returned the Bianchi Arcadex GRX600 gravel bike, which had served me perfectly besides the inner and outer tube troubles, to 

It's a wrap. Hungary surprised me. The landscapes and the people. I will return.

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Pieter Stockmans

Hungary 🇭🇺 Balaton Highlands

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