Normafa: the Buda highlands lookout
The great upland view over the city, beech-forest paths, the ski meadow, and a strudel house. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Normafa meadow and the lookout
Start on the open meadow at the top, where the whole city lies out to the east on a clear morning. Come early; the light is best and the strudel queue shortest. This is the *oh-my-god* of the walk, and it's the first thing you see.

2. Normafa Síház — the rétes stand
The ski-house restaurant beside the meadow, famous for its *rétes* (strudel) — apple, cherry, sweet curd, poppy seed. Buy two and eat them on the grass looking at the city. You came up the hill; you've earned the pastry.

3. The beech-forest paths
Strike into the woods on the marked trails behind the meadow. Tall beeches, soft leaf-litter underfoot, the air noticeably cooler and cleaner than the city below. Pick a colour-blazed path and follow it; they all loop back.

4. Anna-rét clearing
A wide grassy clearing deeper in the forest, a favourite for families and kite-flyers at the weekend, empty and lovely on a weekday. A good turning point before you start the loop back.

5. Erzsébet lookout tower (Jánoshegy) view
The white neo-Romanesque tower on János Hill, the highest point in the city, stands a ridge to the north — visible through the trees and worth the longer detour if your legs are willing. Otherwise just clock it on the skyline and walk on.

6. Back to the meadow and the bus
Loop back to the top meadow for a last look at the city before the climb down. The 21 and 21A buses run from the Normafa stop back to Széll Kálmán tér and the M2; the children's railway is the slower, finer way if you have the time.

Normafa: the Buda highlands lookout