Balaton – The place for endless activities for all ages

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Would you like to take time off and relax? You can do that and much more in Balatonfüred, Tihany and Siófok, the most well-known cities in the Balaton region.

Relax on a beach or in a bath house, visit a wine region, taste Hungarian wine, discover famous Hungarian villas, churches, drinking wells, walk on a promenade, to a pier or in a park, visit museums, listen to concerts, take part in festivals and extreme sports.

 

Balatonfüred is the perfect place to spend a holiday. It was the first official health resort of Hungary and since 1987 it is the International Town of Grape and Wine.

If you decide to come to Balatonfüred, you will be able to rest on one of the three main beaches, or in bath houses on Gyógy tér. You will also get a chance to drink medicinal water from the Kossuth Lajos spring, which is also located on the square. If you walk on the promenade towards the pier you will see the Fisherman and Ferryman statues and the Rose garden.

In Balatonfüred there is a great variety in sights, such as churches and villas. You can discover the Roman Catholic Parish Church, which is situated on St. Stephen Square (Szent István tér), the Round Church (Kerektemplom), the mansion of Mór Jókai (now a museum), the Lujza Blaha villa (where she spent the summer holidays) and the 120-meter-long Lóczy cave (Lóczy barlang).

Balatonfüred is also the center of the Balatonfüred-Csopak Wine Region, there are Wine Weeks in Balatonfüred, which take place in August. Here you will be able to taste the most well-known grape varieties of this region, such as the Italian Riesling (Olaszrizling), Tramini, Rizlingszilváni and the Muscal Ottonel (Ottonel Muskotály) as well.

 

In Tihany one of the most famous attractions is the Benedictine Abbey (Bencés Apátság), which is the symbol of Tihany. Under the abbey is the crypt, where the tomb of King Andrew I. lies.

The abbey is also very important in Hungarian history, because the deed of foundation of the Abbey contains a sentence written in Hungarian, which makes this document the first memory of the Hungarian language. There are breathtaking frescos inside the abbey and part of the abbey now functions as a museum.

The abbey is home to temporary exhibitions and classical music concerts as well. It is also important to mention the fascinating panorama that the surroundings of the abbey offer. One of the main attractions of the city is the Echo, which is Tihany’s phenomena, it can be experienced from the Echo (Visszhang) Hill.

The Hermit Houses (Barátlakások, created by Greek monks) are also quite significant, because they are the only hermit colony in Central Europe that still exists. Try out famous wines from the Balaton region, red grapes such as Cabernet, Zweigelt, Merlot and Kékfrankos are mainly grown in the Tihany peninsula.

 

Siófok is the largest touristic destination on the South Shore of Balaton and it is also the favorite place of partygoers in Hungary. Siófok is famous for its concerts, night life and sports.

If you decide to visit the main beach, you will be able to try giant water slides and bungee jumping as well. In Siófok you can also experience Go-karting, wall climbing, paintball, dodgems and riding quads in the Extreme Sport Park.

There are also great restaurants in Siófok where you will get to taste Hungarian and International cuisine as well, the variety in food here is endless. But that’s not all you can do is Siófok, you can also take part in festivals held here each year.

There is the International Show-Jumping Competition, the Jumping Derby (for lovers of horse shows) and the Golden Shell International Folk Festival (Aranykagyló Nemzetközi Folklór Fesztivál) in June, which shows Hungarian and other folk cultures.

 

The Balaton region has entertainment for everyone, you can find anything here from baths, beaches, museums, villas, churches, parks and drinking wells to wine, concerts, festivals, extreme sports and nightlife.