By air
Budapest (BUD), ~1.5 h
Europe · Hungary
Lake Balaton, Hungary
Central Europe's great summer lake
Getting there
Best time to visit
June to August — summer
Don't miss
Tihany Abbey
Keszthely's Festetics Palace
Badacsony
Siófok
Things to do
Swimming
Sailing
Wine in the Badacsony hills
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Christo · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Swimwear
A quieter corner
The lavender of the Tihany peninsula
Questions travellers ask
When is Lake Balaton at its best?
June to August, in the summer — it is Central Europe's great summer lake.
How far is Lake Balaton from Budapest?
About 1.5 h from Budapest's airport (BUD).
What should I see around Lake Balaton?
Tihany Abbey, Keszthely's Festetics Palace, Badacsony and Siófok. Look for the lavender on the Tihany peninsula, too.
What is there to do at Lake Balaton?
Swim, sail and taste wine in the Badacsony hills. Pack swimwear, and snack on fried fish and lángos.
About Lake Balaton
- Lakeside
Where it is
Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe, a long, shallow freshwater lake about 78 km long in western Hungary, south-west of Budapest, with volcanic hills and vineyards along its northern shore.
History
Wine has been made around the lake since Roman times, and in the 11th century King Andrew I founded the Benedictine abbey on the Tihany peninsula. In the 16th and 17th centuries the lake lay on the front line between Ottoman and Habsburg Hungary, and railways built from 1861 onwards turned it into a major summer resort.
People
Villages around the lake speak Hungarian and live from wine, fishing and summer tourism, and many Budapest families keep holiday homes here. The lake's pike-perch, known as fogas, and lángos from beach stalls are summer favourites.
Known for
- Swimming and sailing in summer
- Tihany Abbey and its peninsula
- Badacsony's volcanic vineyards
- The Festetics Palace at Keszthely
- The thermal lake at nearby Hévíz
Did you know?
Lake Balaton is on average only about 3 m deep, so its water warms quickly in summer, and in winter it usually freezes over.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.