Bike tour around the Lake Balaton, Part II.
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Bike tour around the Lake Balaton, Part II. : the south-western shores
The cache coordinates: N46°42,7(y+2)y, E 17°14,zxx, where
X: Date on the memorial: 1867-191x at N 46° 47,3630' E 17° 41,5940'
Y: Date on the memorial: 1876-19y0 at N 46° 45,0480' E 17° 33,3180'
Z: Date on the sign: 199z at N 46° 42,8670' E 17° 29,1940'
Circling the whole Lake Balaton without engine power, it’s an amazing performance, you could be proud if you did it! After accomplishing the Balaton-bike tour around the eastern bay of the lake (GCPGHE, Balaton-bike tour), it’s good time to continue ont he south-western shores .GCPGHE was a circle tour by itself via crossing the strait at Tihany peninsula by ferry; so, forget that boat and go furher to west ont he beach; you will circle the whole lake: approx. 220 km. 3 days, 3 caches !! This is the second – and the easiest – part of the tour between the cities of Szántód and Keszthely. You can accomplish it within a day, there will be time to take a bath in the lake, sightseeing, searching for another caches….. and you mustn’t be a close relative to Lance Armstrong to do it :)
The quality of the bike road is good, no elevation, you can go at an easy pace. If you will finish hit, you can continue on the Northern shores, but this track is connected to another cache… Accomplishing the three parts/caches, int he end you’ll get a Balaton-shaped GPS track :)
The points of this multicache could be approached by car and by train as well, but the track was designated mainly for bikers ! The order of the points not so important, you can start with the last, if you wish… but the recommended route ends with the cache.
Some of the waypoints are needed to find the cache, some only keeps you on the road.
The cache coordinates: N46°42,7(y+2)y, E 17°14,zxx.
A Recommended Route :
You can start at Szántód, at the junction to the ferry (there is a parking lot, here you can leave your car); or we can advise the trin-station of Balatonföldvár. Here, the bicycle road goes beside the highway. The first waypoint to find the bike-road–near to the marina -at N 46°51,2900' E 17°52,8720' 109 m . The avenue is enchanting, but you need to get back to the asphalted bike-road… Next stop is Balatonszárszó, at the second waypoint (N 46° 49,9550' E 17° 49,7600' 107 m ) there is a nice park to rest a while. Continuing the journey, you can roll through a shady promenade to Balatonszemes then to Balatonlelle. If you want, take a bath in te lake at one of the beaches…. The third waypoint will remaind you to do it ! (N 46° 47,3630' E 17° 41,5940' 110 m ). At here you can find a sign. Think about the ladies and gentlemen of the early 1900-s in their old-fashioned swimsuits !
On the memorial sign there is a date: 1867-191x.
Lets’s go further, the road bringing you through Balatonboglár to Fonyód. At the Port of Fonyód you can find the fourth waypoint at N 46° 45,0480' E 17° 33,3180' 112 m . You need to leave the bike-road, be careful, there are lots of pedestrians near to the port, perhaps better to push the bike here… ! At the waypoint you can find a memorial,
On the sign below the name is written 1876-19y0.
Get back to the bike-road, and go further : Balatonfenyves, Balatonmáriafürdo, Balatonberény are the next villages. Beside the road there are many summer cottages, so the journey turns to be a little bit monotonous at this point, but you can increase your speed at here ! Meanwhile, there is your fifth waypoint at N 46° 42,8670' E 17° 29,1940' 135 m
here is a sign, and 199z.
Beware ! The next 15-20 km after these villages will be deserted, so bring some refreshment with you ! Leaving Balatonberény, the road goes through the beautiful nature conservation reserve of the swampy Little-Balaton. After the bustling villages, the silence amongst the green reeds and willows is really relaxing ! At N 46° 42,1540' E 17° 15,5540' 118 m you cross the river feeding the lake. It is worth to stop here and look around a little.
And now, our next stop is the hideout of the cache ! At Fenékpuszta, you need to leave the bike-road to the Bike-road of kis-Balaton. Crossing Road 71, (beware ! traffic !) you’ll see the ruins of Valcum Castrum, remnants of the late Roman Empire.
The cache is near to it, try the N46°42,7(y+2)y, E 17°14,zxx coordinates.
After the cache return back to the Balaton Bike-road. Soon you will arrive at Keszthely. This is the endpoint of this tour (connecting to the cache), but you can continue for the next : Bike tour around the Lake Balaton, Part III. : the north-western shores.
Have a nice tour!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Svaq n gjva-cvar