Things to do in Lake Balaton
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Kedves
Like Bergman, Kedves will appeal to those looking for a break from madding crowds; this chilled café was also where Lujza Blaha herself took tea.
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Kakas Csárda
In a rambling basalt house almost opposite Kecskeköröm is this homely restaurant with its fair share of kitsch and Hungarian specialities.
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Abbey Church
This twin-spired, ochre-coloured Abbey Church was built in 1754 on the site of King Andrew's church and contains fantastic altars, pulpits and screens carved between 1753 and 1779 by an Austrian lay brother named Sebastian Stuhlhof. They are baroque-rococo masterpieces and all are richly symbolic.
With your back to the sumptuous main altar (the saint with the broken chalice and snake is Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism) and the Abbot's throne, look right to the side altar dedicated to Mary. The large angel kneeling on the right is said to represent Stuhlhof's fiancée, a fisherman's daughter who died in her youth. On the Altar of the Sacred Heart across the ais…
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Walking
The flat-topped forested massif overlooking the lake is just the place to escape the tipsy herds. If you'd like to get a running start on your hike, catch one of the open 4WDs marked 'Badacsony-hegyi járat'. The driver will drop you off at the Kisfaludy House restaurant where a large map of the marked trails is posted by the car park. Or you might arm yourself in advance with a copy of Cartographia's A Balaton 1:40,000 topographical map (No 41).
Several Walking paths lead to lookouts - at 437m, Kisfaludy Lookout (Kisfaludy kilátó) is the highest - and to neighbouring hills like Gulács-hegy (393m) and Szentgyörgy-hegy (415m) to the north. The landscape includes abandoned …
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Hiking
Hiking is one of Tihany's main attractions; there's a good map outlining the trails near the front of the Abbey Church. Following the Green Trail northeast of the church for an hour will bring you to the Russian Well (Oroszkút) and the ruins of the Old Castle (Óvár) at 219m, where Russian Orthodox monks, brought to Tihany by Andrew I, hollowed out cells in the soft basalt walls.
The 232m-high Csúcs-hegy (Csúcs Hill), with panoramic views of Lake Balaton, is about two hours west of the church via the Red Trail. From here you can join up with the Yellow Trail originating in Tihanyi-rév, which will lead you north to the ruins of the 13th-century Apáti Church (Ápáti templo…
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Festetics Palace
The Festetics Palace, built in 1745 and extended 150 years later, contains 100 rooms in two sprawling wings. The 19th-century northern wing houses a music school, city library and conference centre; the Helikon Palace Museum (Helikon Kastélymúzeum) and the palace's greatest treasure, the renowned Helikon Library (Helikon Könyvtar) are in the baroque south wing.
The museum's rooms (about a dozen in all, each in a different colour scheme) are full of portraits, bric-a-brac and furniture, much of it brought from England by Mary Hamilton, a duchess who married one of the Festetics men in the 1860s. The library is renowned for its 90,000-volume collection, but just as impre…
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Mill Lake
A small footbridge divides Mill Lake in two: to the north is the Big Lake (Nagy-tó), which is about the size of a large pond, and to the south the Little Lake (Kis-tó). Created in the 18th century to power a water mill, the lake has been artificially fed since the nearby bauxite mine lowered the level of the karst water. But it remains a picturesque area, with pastel-coloured houses reflected in the water of the Big Lake, a church and a museum near the Little Lake choked with waterlilies.
In the centre are the slowly turning blades of the mill house, which is now the Gabriella hotel. The lake is just south of Fő tér is reached through the gateway at No 8 or by walking s…
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Porcelánium
If you have the time, take a side-trip to Herend (population 3375), 13km west of Veszprém, where a porcelain factory has been producing Hungary’s finest hand-painted chinaware for 170 years. The Porcelánium is a museum displaying the most prized pieces of the rich Herend collection as well as a minifactory where you can witness first-hand how lumps of clay become exquisite porcelain. Guided tours in four languages, including English, leave every 15 minutes. There’s a short film tracing the history of Herend porcelain and a shop selling both antique and new Herend pieces.
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Ferenc Pince
Ferenc is both a wine- and food-lover's dream; not only does its chef cook up a Hungarian storm in the kitchen with a mixture of local and national meat and fish dishes, but some of the best wine available is served by the very people who produce the stuff. During the day, its open terrace offers expansive views of the lake, while at night the hypnotic twinkling lights of the southern shore are in full view from its cosy thatched-roof house. Ferenc Pince is around 2km south of the abbey church.
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Beaches
As the lake bottom drops away quicker here than in other parts of the lake, Tihany's Beaches are an inviting option. The stretches on the eastern side are the most accessible, which also mean they're the most popular, but if you're looking to escape the crowds head to Sajkod at the peninsula's northwestern point. A small track leads south from this small settlement to a secluded beach; with Tihany's hills as a backdrop, it's one of the most peaceful spots to while away an afternoon, or a week.
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Kisfaludy House
Perched high on the hill overlooking the vineyards and the lake is Kisfaludy House, a charming stone cottage built in 1798 that was once a press house of the Kisfaludy family. The view from its alfresco terrace easily ranks among the top five on the entire lake, and is the best place in Badacsony for a meal or a drink. To the west is lovely Szigliget Bay, and directly across to the south lie what Hungarians call the two 'breasts' of Fonyód: the Sípos and Sándor Hills.
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Georgikon Farm Museum
The Georgikon Farm Museum is housed in several early-19th-century buildings of what was the Georgikon's experimental farm. It contains exhibits on the history of the college and the later Pannon Agricultural University (now a few blocks to the southeast on the corner of Széchenyi utca and Deák Ferenc utca), viniculture in the Balaton region and traditional farm trades such as those performed by wagon builders, wheelwrights, coopers and blacksmiths.
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Visszhang-hegy
You'll find Visszhang-hegy at the end of Pisky sétány. At one time, up to 15 syllables of anything shouted in the direction of the Abbey Church would bounce back but, alas, because of building in the area (and perhaps climatic changes) you'll be lucky to get three nowadays. From Visszhang-hegy you can descend Garay utca and Váralja utca to the Inner Harbour and a small beach, or continue on to the hiking trails that pass this way.
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Franciscan Church
The church was originally built in the Gothic style in the late 14th century for Franciscan monks, but many alterations were made in subsequent centuries, including the addition of the steeple in 1898. The Gothic rose window above the porch remains, though, as do some faded 15th-century frescoes in the sanctuary and on the southern wall. Count György and other Festetics family members are buried in the crypt below.
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Bird-Ringing Camp
A bird-ringing camp run by the Hungarian Ornithological & Nature Conservation Society in Fenékpuszta near the delta of the Zala River has very knowledgeable staff and can fill you in on bird species on and around the lake. The camp is just one stop on the train heading for Balatonszentgyörgy; if you're driving from Keszthely, the exit is at the 111km stone on Rte 71.
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Buffalo Reserve
At the southern end of Kis-Balaton is a Buffalo Reserve, which is home to some 200 water buffalo; the best time to visit is late afternoon, when the buffalo gather near the reserve headquarters. It's more than a trek to get there by public transport, so the only real option is under your own steam; the reserve is near the tiny village of Kápolnapuszta.
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Kossuth Pump House (1853)
Along Blaha Lujza utca is Gyógy tér, the heart of the spa. In the centre of this leafy square, Kossuth Pump House dispenses slightly sulphuric, but drinkable, thermal water. This is as close as you'll get to the hot spring. Although Balatonfüred is a major spa, the mineral baths are reserved for patients of the State Hospital of Cardiology.
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Lóczy Cave
Consider walking or cycling to Lóczy Cave, north of the old town centre. It is the largest cave in the Lake Balaton region and accessible from Szent István tér. Just walk east a couple of minutes on Arácsi utca past the excellent market (which sells everything from food to shoes) and then north on Öreghegyi utca.
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Balaton Pantheon
The Balaton Pantheon has memorial plaques from those who took the cure at the hospital. The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore was one of them. A bust of this Nobel Prize-winning man of letters stands on Tagore sétány before a lime tree that he planted in 1926 to mark his recovery from illness after treatment here.
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Róza Szegedi House
The dramatic slopes and vineyards above the town centre are sprinkled with little wine-press houses and 'folk baroque' cottages. One of these is the Róza Szegedi House, which belonged to the actress wife of the poet Sándor Kisfaludy from Sümeg. Established in 1790, it contains a literature museum.
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Balaton Museum
The Balaton Museum was purpose-built in 1928 and contains much on the Roman fort at Valcum (Fenékpuszta) and traditional life around Lake Balaton. Also of interest are exhibits depicting the history of navigation on the lake and the photographs of summer frolickers at the start of the 20th century.
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Lakoma
With a good vegetarian selection (for Hungarian-restaurant standards), grill/roast specialities and a back garden which transforms itself into a leafy dining area in the summer months, it's hard to go wrong with Lakoma. Surprisingly, there is only a small selection of fish dishes.
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Jókai Memorial Museum
The Jókai Memorial Museum is housed in the summer villa of the prolific writer Mór Jókai, just north of Vitorlás tér. In his study here, Jókai churned out many of his 200 novels under the stern gaze of his wife, the actress Róza Laborfalvi.
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Fő tér
Fő tér is a colourful square with some lovely buildings, including the late-baroque Town Hall (northern side of Fő tér) on the northern side, the Trinity Column in the centre and the former Franciscan Church (Ferences templom) in the park to the south.
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Benedictine Abbey Museum
The Benedictine Abbey Museum, next door to the Abbey Church in the former Benedictine monastery, is entered from the crypt. It contains exhibits about Lake Balaton, liturgical vestments, religious artefacts, a handful of manuscripts, and a history of King Andrew.
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