January 9th, 2008Lake Balaton in Hungary
Lake Balaton in Hungary :: Gallery of Photos :: Europe Travel 2007
Photos taken during my Road Trip in Europe
About my Trip to Lake Balaton ::
The border to enter Hungary was a bit more serious than the previous ones. We had to show the car registration papers and the man asked us if we had anything to declare. First and only time there were real checkups. We entered Hungary at night and rain was pouring like crazy. We only had a vague map of Lake Balaton from our Tourist Guide book. We were aiming for a city called Keszthely. We saw a very small sign on the road in that direction and followed it. We ended up completely lost and people absolutely did not speak French or English so good directions were hard to get. We stopped at a small bar where i found a young Hungarian male who spoke a little English. I was showing him on the tourist guide map where we wanted to go. We were in the correct direction but it was still 40 kilometers away!
It’s still raining when we get to Keszthely. We stop at 4 different hotels, all closed or prices of 80 EUR. We wonder around and start seeing many signs on houses for renting small apartments. We tried a couple and eventually find the most perfect place! Beautiful house and the lady is offering us a complete apartment with living room, kitchen, tv, bedroom and our very own bathroom! WOW! 13 EUR a night per person! Cheaper than the prices in Italy and we have a LOT MORE for the buck! That night we slept like babies. The next morning we wake up to a beautiful sunny day! WE ARE SO LUCKY we think! The moment was just perfect! We decided to stay two nights. On Monday, we visited this old castle around lake Balaton and on Tuesday we spent a couple hours at the Heviz Thermal Spa. Biggest thermal lake in Europe! The water naturally was at a temperature of 33 degrees! Nice! Before leaving for Budapest, we bought 3 days of food for 10 EUR ! Hungary was the cheapest of the 9 countries. Our stay at Lake Balaton was a Blast!
About the Lake Balaton in Hungary ::
Lake Balaton, located in Hungary, is the largest lake in Central Europe, and a popular regional tourist destination. Due to Hungary being landlocked, it is often affectionately called the “Hungarian Sea”. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalized Sió is the only outflow. Lake Balaton has a length of 77 km and a width ranging from 4 to 14 km. The lake’s surface is 104 m above sea level, and its depth varies up to 12.2 m.
The major resorts around the lake are Siófok, Keszthely and Balatonfüred. Siófok is known often as the “Party Capital of Hungary”, which attracts many young party goers in summer due to its numerous large discos. Keszthely is the site of the famous Festetics Palace and Balatonfüred is a historical bathing town home to the annual Anna Ball.
The high tourist season extends from June until the end of August. The average water temperature during the summer is 25°C, which makes bathing and swimming possible. Most of the beaches consist of either grass, rocks or the silty sand that also makes up most of the bottom of the lake. Many resorts have artifical sandy beaches and all beaches have step access to the water. Other tourist attractions include sailing, fishing and other water sports, as well as visiting the countryside and hills; wineries on the north coast and night life on the south shore. The Tihany Peninsula is an historical district. Badacsony is a famous volcanic mountain and wine growing region as well as a lakeside resort.
Although the peak season at the lake is the summer, lovers of Balaton think that it is also worth visiting the lake in winter, when you can go fishing through ice-holes, or, if the ice is thick enough, brave visitors can even skate, sledge or ice-sail on the lake.
Lake Balaton Links :: Balaton Tourist Office :: Travel Info on Lake Balaton :: Go to Lake Balatone
Hungary Lake Balaton Photo Galleries ::
The Photos from my Euro Trip to Central Europe; Lake Balaton in Hungary
