Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Balaton (Hungary)

Badacsony from the other side (from Balatonboglár)
When I was a kid I spent a couple of weeks at Lake Balaton every summer. I was very happy to show my children this beautiful lake which is the biggest body of water in our small country and Central Europe as well.


Some details about Balaton. Catchment area is 5,174 km2 (1,998 sq mi). The Northern shore is mountainous and known as a wine region (Badacsony), the Southern shore is more flat. You can swim in the lake on both shores. The water quality is very good and the color of Balaton is green and not murky.

Sophie is teaching her sister how to swim
We were very lucky this summer because we visited Balaton a couple of times and we always went to different places (Balatonboglár, Alsóörs, Csopak).

Shore at Balatonboglár
Beach at Csopak (North Shore)

Csopak
People in Hungary commonly have a second home and many on Lake Balaton. We are also lucky to have friends who have houses there. This year the weather was very hot in July. The daytime highs were around 100 ℉ and Lake Balaton's water temperature was 82 ℉. My kids love water so they spent a lot of time in it or used the small pool slide at the beach.

Sophie loved to slide at Alsóörs

Lili jumping into the pool
We didn't go to the Tihany Peninsula this year but I can really recommend visiting this beautiful place on Balaton. The Tihany Abbey is very nice and the view from the hill to the lake is fascinating.

The Tihany Peninsula from Alsóörs

There are a lot of festival around the lake in the summer time. You can enjoy a many classical concerts, theater at the park of Palace Festetics in Keszthely and you can go to pop music concerts many places. 

Valley of Arts is a very unique festival in five very small villages (Kapolcs, Vígándpetend, Taliándörögd, Monostorapáti, Öcs). A couple years ago I spent a few days there. You can stay in private houses, sleeping in a tent or in the garden. You can meet artists, musicians, go to theatrical plays, recitals and pubs.


View Larger Map

The kids enjoyed playing in the garden of my brother-in-law and we picked up delicious blackberries.


Cousins in the sand box

It was great to be there this summer so I promised my daughters that we'll go to Balaton again next year.

(3 days in 2 times- 2013. Summer)

1 comment:

  1. Balcsit mi sem hagyjuk ki soha, pár nap múlva megyünk is Zánkára, a gyerekek legnagyobb örömére.
    Látom nálatok is imádják a vizet :-)

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