Travel Guide Lac Balaton

Lake Balaton is the most popular summer destination in Hungary. It is Europe's largest freshwater lake. Water, shallow, warms fast in summer.The north shore, with its steep wild hills, is renowned for the beauty of its landscapes. The most remarkable sites are the city of Keszthely with the famous Palais Palace, the extraordinary hot thermal water lake of Hévíz, the peninsula of Tihany and the slopes of Badascony which produce wines since the days of Roman colonization, two thousand years ago. The south shore, much more flat, is only a suite of beaches, some of which are fine sand. Each year, they attract more and more holidaymakers, including a growing number of foreigners, mainly German-speaking. The proximity of Budapest makes it easy for locals to spend the weekend in the lake. The south shore is invaded by family holiday homes, campsites and old rest houses in the Communist era. The small town of Siófok attracts young people looking for sun. Nightlife also beats its full during the summer season, with countless bars, discos and nightclubs, not always the best taste… Many travellers cross the lake for Siófok from the Tihany Peninsula, crowned by an ancient abbey of 1754. The western tip of the lake consists of swamps covered with reeds, offering a refuge for wild and migratory birds that enjoy the protection of the national park of Du-Balaton. If the lake and its surroundings reserve nice surprises, the Balaton represents for many Hungarian and German visitors a continental and affordable Riviera: mass tourism that does not date from yesterday… For some years now, we are trying to bring tourists out of the high season, fruitful but short (from May to late August): wellness tourism is developed, many hotels and guesthouses offer services such as Jacuzzi, swimming pool, sauna, but also, on demand, massage, pedicure and hairdresser. These wellness centres go from the hostel to the 4-star, passing through the 400-room tourist complex. Fortunately, there are still small corners preserved by family masses and panzió. The lake is frozen much of the winter, so it can be randonner on almost all its surface, the Balaton region then profondément:: there are few hotels to be opened.