The Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton is a lake stretching 72 m from south-west to north-east in Transdanubia, Hungary. The opposite shores are 15 km away in its widest part, while the Tihany Peninsula on the northern shore is only 1.5 km from the southern shore. Ferry services are operated here, providing a quick way to cross the lake ‘by car’. The northern and the southern shores are different in terms of their geography; as a result, they offer different experiences. The northern shore is a bit more romantic and richer in natural treasures. Almost the whole territory belongs to the Balaton Uplands National Park. The lovers of the southern shore may be attracted by the free and paying beaches with their shallow water as well as the wide selection of services and entertainment facilities. Come with me on a virtual trip around Lake Balaton. Let’s start from Siófok, the centre of the southern and south-eastern part.

Siófok and its surroundings

The nicely-kept town with its wide range of services, long free beaches (Golden Beach, Silver Beach), wellness bath and aqua park makes a nice holiday resort for families. It is ideal also for those who would like to enjoy a pleasant combination of relaxation on the shore during the day and having fun in the night. The most famous place of amusement is the Beach House where various foreign and Hungarian performances can be seen in the evenings during the summer period. It is the main beach of the town where this stage is located: it is a pleasant beach during the day with dining and sporting facilities. The boat station can be found at the beginning of the lakeshore promenade situated here and this is the place where restaurants and bars line the shore. The thermal baths and aqua park were opened in 2005 in Siófok, offering a full range of wellness services (thermal water, various saunas, outdoor and indoor pools, therapies, fitness). The baths offer daily tickets and also tickets for a few hours.
With the baths and the fact that the town has become significantly more beautiful in the past few years, it is an attractive target for holiday-makers not only in the short summer season. Visitors will find nice parks, squares, flowers, statues and nicely renovated buildings at every turn. It is really worth taking a walk in Siófok, and not only in summer but also in autumn and winter. The development of Siófok is shown by the fact that hypermarkets have appeared in the outer areas, offering a full range of shopping facilities. The sailboat station has also gone through great developments in Siófok. You can rent sailboats and also with training. Boat trips start from the opposite side, i.e. the boat station, to one of the boat stations of Lake Balaton: you can take part in half day-long wine-tasting trips to the wine-growing regions of the northern shore or just go for a pleasant, one-hour-long sunset cruise.
Sóstó and Balatonvilágos can be found east of Siófok, where the shore is built-up in most areas. This is the place where we have two lakeshore holiday houses in our offerings.

Zamárdi is located west of Siófok, along the shore of Lake Balaton. Similarly to Siófok, Zamárdi is another very popular place where both foreigners and domestic tourists return to year by year. Besides the free beaches of Siófok, you can find here another long section of the shore (3 to 4 km long) used as a free public beach. Fine summer cottages are situated in its peaceful streets close to the lake and there is a wonderful view of Tihany and Balatonfüred from the shore.

Southern shore

If you travel west on the southern shore, you can see smaller and larger holiday resorts and towns, including some major ones like Balatonlelle, Balatonboglár and Fonyód. They offer similar entertainment opportunities as Siófok, though on a smaller scale. Nice beaches, good dining and shopping facilities are available here as well. There is a fascinating view from the shore of the mountains of the northern shore, including Mt. Badacsony.

West Balaton, Keszthely

A real wonderland and a natural as well as cultural ‘goldmine’. Its central town is Keszthely, one of the nicest small towns of the country, where one of Hungary’s most grandiose buildings, the luxurious Festetics palace can be found. You can approach its gate on a promenade. Keszthely is the other capital of Lake Balaton, like Siófok but on the other ‘end’ of the lake and with a different atmosphere. The main focus here is on the sights, trips and looking around. Good Hungarian dishes, kind hospitality and the delight of good wines grown in the nearby regions. There are three different wellness and thermal baths near Keszthely. Perhaps, the most famous is Hévíz, a nice town almost ‘grown together’ with Keszthely. Its reputation is due to its round thermal lake which is one of the largest such lakes in the world and has special healing power. The other two thermal wellness parks can also be found within 15 kilometres: Zalakaros and Kehidakustány. Little-Balaton, a valuable part of the Balaton Uplands National Park, with its special fauna, can also be found near Keszthely. You can take enjoyable trips and bicycle tours in the Keszthely Mountains, exploring picturesque little villages. The development of the town and the whole region is shown by the fact that an international airport was opened in Sármellék and also that there is a complete row of international hypermarkets in the outer areas of Keszthely.

North West Balaton, Mt. Badacsony

Leaving Keszthely and other pleasant holiday resorts (Gyenesdiás, Vonyarcvashegy), you get to the northern shore. First, the most beautiful scenery of Lake Balaton, and maybe the whole wide world unfolds before you from the so called “Szépkilátó” - Beautiful Look-out of Balatongyörök. Volcanic cones of a height of merely 400 metres, scattered around in a disorderly manner, yet it is a real grandiose sight. You can see Szigliget in the foreground, with its picturesque castle ruins on the top of the mountain, while Mt. Badacsony in the background, rising above like a giant. And indeed, it has something to do with giants: according to the legend about the formation of Lake Balaton, it is the tomb of one of the last giants, Badacsony. Badacsony was the forefather of Balaton, the giant that wrung the water of Lake Balaton. The mountain of the daughter of Balaton, i.e. Haláp closes the Tapolca basin, the plane of which volcanic cones rise from. The top of Mt. Haláp, which had been the same shape as Mt. Badacsony, was unfortunately mined away in the past decades. Fortunately, it is quite far from Lake Balaton, however, the sight is still annoying. Besides Mt. Badacsony, the picturesque Mt. St. George, Mt. Csobánc, Mt. Gulács and Mt. Tóti have remained in their original form.

An intimate wine-tasting is an indispensable part of a holiday at Lake Balaton. Although grapes are grown and wine is produced almost everywhere along Lake Balaton, Mt. Badacsony and its ‘fellow’ mountains (Mt. St. George, Mt. Gulács) make up one of the most famous Hungarian wine-growing regions. The rich soil of the plantations nourished by rain washing down nutrients from the mountains, the sunny slopes and the traditional professionalism of wine-growers guarantee success. This is a region for white wine primarily. The aristocratic member of the ‘white wine team’ is the Kéknyelű (Blue Stem) which has been named after the bluish stem of its leaves. It is quite expensive to grow, therefore it is available only in bottles even in this region. It is a wine with a fresh bouquet. It is a unique variety because it is grown only on Mt. Badacsony all the world over. Other typical wine varieties: Szürkebarát (Pinot gris), Muskotályos (Muscatel), Olaszrizling (Italian Riesling) and also a red wine: Kékfrankos (Blue Frankish).

Tapolca is located 10 km from Lake Balaton. It is another kind small town. Its main attractions: the Cave Lake and the Mill Lake. This latter is famous for the festivals organized in its picturesque surroundings: performances are held on a stage erected on the surface of the lake. There are huge carps and grass carps swimming in the lake. Like other towns around Lake Balaton, Tapolca is also notable for its clean and orderly image. It is also a real beauty spot.

Szigliget is a place in the region with a special atmosphere. One of the most splendid sights unfolds before you from the castle ruins on the top of the mountain. You can see houses with a thatched roof from the 17th and 18th centuries in the zigzagging streets of the village. It is worth visiting the summit of the hill ‘Fox Catcher’ where you can find a little white chapel. Badacsony is revealed in its entirety from here, including the huge reeds between the two mountains. It is an interesting place, for opposite the grandiose scenery of Badacsony you can find a lovely valley with nice houses and vineyards.
The picturesque view of Badacsony and its surroundings has always attracted artists, painters and writers.
The memorial museum of József Egry, one of the most passionate painters of Lake Balaton can be found in Badacsony. A Salvador Dali exhibition was organized in the museum in 2007.

It is worth visiting mountains located a bit farther from Lake Balaton, including the southern slope of Mt. St. George or the castle ruins on Mt. Csobánc, from where the whole region can be seen. A special view is offered from here of Lake Balaton glinting among the mountains.

It is worth popping into any of the region’s restaurants: good Hungarian dishes and attentive service are guaranteed.

North, north-east, Káli Basin, Tihany, Balatonfüred

Leaving Badacsony behind and travelling east on the northern shore, you go through smaller holiday resorts (Révfülöp, Zánka, Balatonakali, etc.). Another natural phenomenon hides behind them: the Káli Basin with its exciting natural formations (Hegyestű, Stone Sea) and a peculiar flora due to its special microclimate. Recently the Káli Basin has become a place worth exploring. You can find the castle of Nagyvázsony, which was the family seat of Pál Kinizsi, the famous Hungarian hero, only a few kilometres from the shore of Lake Balaton.

Tihany is one of the most well-known mountains of the northern shore. Its main sight is the Benedictine Abbey, the twin towers of which can be seen from the whole Eastern Basin. The Baroque style interior of the church is beautifully decorated. Its historical significance lies in the fact that the foundation deed of the Abbey from the 12th century is the oldest document written in Hungarian. Tihany with its typical houses and shops offering the masterpieces of Hungarian handicraft is a first-class place to visit. Foreign tourists rarely miss Tihany when they come to Lake Balaton. There is a small oval lake in the inner part of the peninsula, the Inner Lake. The picturesque location and the typical, slightly Mediterranean atmosphere attract artists. Maybe, the most famous resident of Tihany was Miklós Borsos, one of the most dominant and versatile artists of the 20th century.

It is worth taking a walk on the eastern part of the Tihany Peninsula or just driving along it because there is a nice view on Balatonfüred from there. This is one of the largest towns around Lake Balaton (third after Keszthely and Siófok) and another popular holiday centre. Füred has gone through great developments in the past years and as a result, offers great services. Also a large aqua park has been constructed here. The one-kilometre long shore promenade, named after Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Hindu poet, is the centre of its summer life. He found healing in the Heart Clinic of Füred in 1926 and therefore he planted a tree here. According to a Hindu legend, those who plant a linden tree at an elderly age will live to see it come into leaf. Tagore lived for another fourteen years after he had planted the tree.  

The Anna Ball organized in Balatonfüred is unique in the row of illustrious balls in Hungary, due to its historical traditions. This outstanding social event has been held on the first weekend closest to Anna Day (26th July) every year, since 1825, traditionally in Anna Grand Hotel. The most prominent artists and politicians used to meet at the ball organized in this lively spa in the 19th century. The event was not really ‘visible’ between the two World Wars and officially it was restarted in 1954. Also Jenő Huszka, the famous composer was inspired by the charm of the Anna Balls. His last composition, the Anna Ball Waltz has been traditionally played as the opening dance after the Palotás since 1962. The highlight of the event is the election of the ball queen and her court. The next day after the ball the ladies are taken through the town in a horse-drawn carriage. Of the accompanying events of the ball, the play ‘Hearth Fishing’ adapted from the short story ‘Heart Fishing in Lake Balaton’ by Gyula Krudy might attract viewers. On the day preceding the Anna Ball, i.e. on Friday, the guests are to catch wooden hearths from Lake Balaton from aboard a ship decorated with Japanese lanterns. Costume plays and dance shows entertain the audience on the Pier Stage, then a brass band follows with their performance, while in the evening the public can enjoy a street dance.

 

Travelling further on the north-eastern shore, towards Budapest, you can come across further pleasant holiday resorts: Csopak, Alsóörs, Balatonalmádi.

Veszprém, one of the important historical towns of the country, can be found only 10 km from the shore of Lake Balaton. It is a county seat and has a fascinating ‘old town’.