BALATON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA

Lake Balaton was once a very popular tourist destination for Czech tourists. It has lost ground in recent years, and yet it still has so much to offer. The lake will surprise you with its neat and clean coastline and the city will impress you with its ornate streets and rich floral arrangements embellishing every house and city column.

Balaton is not just about swimming and cycling – you can make some nice discoveries in its surroundings – such as Tihany surrounded with lavender fields, which ranks among the nicest small towns I visited last years.

The enterprising Hungarians thought they could improve their possibilities for tourism even further by growing lavender – and the result is just perfect. They organise a lavender festival in June (but also at other times of the year), where you can buy traditional and unconventional lavender products such as soap, shampoo, liqueur, and delicious lavender ice cream. Moreover, it’s a beautiful old town with interesting monuments and folk architecture. In the vicinity of Europe’s largest lake, there are many more places of interest, such as the city of Keszthely with the Festetics Castle, the spa of Hévíz with the deepest thermal lake in Europe as well as the UNESCO-listed Pannonhalma Archabbey.