Visit Lake Balaton

First impressions of Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton is the Hungarian Riviera — not a coastline most foreigners know about, but for Hungarians it's the place where the country's summer happens. The lake's two shores have completely different personalities: the south shore (Siófok the largest town) is flatter, sandier, and built for partying — endless beach clubs, water-slide parks, and the country's largest open-air nightclubs; the north shore is the cultured, scenic, wine-soaked one, with the volcanic-cone Tihany Peninsula thrusting into the lake (its 18th-century Benedictine Abbey on the hill commands the best view of the whole lake), the lakeside resort of Balatonfüred (Hungary's oldest spa town, where Habsburg royals once cured rheumatism), and the hillside wine villages of Badacsony, Szigliget, and Káli-medence. Don't miss a swim at the gentle Tagore Promenade in Balatonfüred, a visit to the puffer-fish-shaped echo on Tihany's Echo Hill, a tasting of the local Olaszrizling and Kékfrankos wines, and the spectacular Festetics Palace at Keszthely on the far western tip — one of the largest baroque palaces in the country, with sumptuous library and gardens.