Balaton is an ocean ☺
From Budapest to Hévíz and back
My four friends and me rented a car and went to Balaton. I was visiting English classes in Budapest and my Hungarian classmates presented Balaton as such a huge lake, “almost like an ocean”, saying, there are even ferries and ships chasing over the lake all year round. They were right, the ferris are there and the lake is nothing but huge. It is bigger than Bodensee (Swizz, German, Austrian) which many people consider as the biggest in Europe. But still, the biggest lake in Europe is in Sweden — Vänern.
There are many small towns and villages on both sides of Balaton. The most famous among young people is Siófok (it is also the closest to Budapest).
Although our target place was a different town. We went down the lake then navigated a bit up and ended up in a small town calls Hévíz. It is named after the biggest hot spring in Europe, which is located seven kilometres away from the Balaton lake.
It was such a pleasant four hours drive to Hévíz, mostly in nature, on small roads that go through cute Hungarian villages.
Romans called Balaton a “flat lake” but its name derives from slavic language “boloto / blato / błoto” for “swamp”. Until the X century the area of the modern Hungary and Balaton lake in particular, was inhabited by slavs that were assimilated or killed by the Hungarian tribes that came to Europe in the IX — X centuries from Ural region of modern Russia.
Although we planned to arrive to our destination for lunch, we reached it when it was already dark. Our planes were ruined two minutes after we set in the car by an accident: a car behind bumped into us on a low speed. It was not a big deal, there were no scratches but still we had to wait for the police and insurance.
Heviz (lake and town)
One of our friends from Moscow has an apartment in Heviz. Not only every Hungarian family has a summer house on Balaton and Heviz, but also thousands of Germans and hundreds of Russians do. There is even a small seasonal Hévíz-Balaton airport that is connected to seven the biggest German cities (Hamburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden and so on), Moscow and Riga. The airport works from April to October but every year you need to check the schedule as there are sometimes extra flights from Lufthansa in November and December as well as certain destinations got cut off or the new added.
If you would buy a house here, no need to worry about it during the off-season. There are plenty of companies providing services for the expat summer house owners. For example, our friend is very happy with the quality of such service. Indeed, when we arrived the apartment was clean and fresh, the windows were open and they even brought us some fresh local flowers.
Hévíz is a crater lake. In summer the water temperature is around 34°C in winter it doesn’t go beyond 26°C. The lake is famous for its hilling properties (for bones and joints). However it is not healthy in general, the water contains radioactive elements like radon and others. Thus you are not allowed to be inside for longer than 15 mins.
Hévíz is of those civilized lakes where you need to pay for the entrance. For that you will get a locker and a band that reminds you to leave the water after 15 mins. Paying some extra will give you towels and flip-flops, otherwise a shower and fen are included into the entrance fee.
It is very pleasant to be inside of the Heviz water. It is heavy, it smells and looks metallic and it is very relaxing. I have been to hot springs before but usually they are quite small and toughly packed with people which makes you wonder if the water is so warm and stinky because of it is qualities or all these people are doing something there simultaneously and you are not aware about purposes of this party. Anyway, I just want to highlight that the lake is huge and the closest people were 500–800 meters away from us.
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Hévíz town is a cute small quiet place. There is a market square in the center where you can buy local specialities. I bought some special blue cotton kitchen towels with nice prints. The way they produce and color this material reminds the same for centuries.
There are plenty of restaurants that serve delicious and cheap food (even cheaper than in Budapest). We actually did not explore much of the restaurants scene as we fell in love with the first restaurant we visited on the outskirts of Hévíz and kept visiting it during our whole stay. The boys tried bear’ and deer’s meat, we tested local fish— everything was delicious☺
Castle of Sümeg
There is a very important medieval castle in one hour drive from Hévíz. Built in the XI century, it was a very important place during the wars. Mongols and Ottomans were failing to take it for centuries. In Hungary they used to say:
“While Sümeg is ours, it is not a time to pray to Mecca” (Hungarians were baptised in the XI century).
There are a bakery inside the castle, museum and lots of animals. One can even take horse riding classes here.
The exhibition narrates about many battles that happened here, kings, and brave warriors. Hungary overall is famous for its military culture and various military successes in Europe.
But anyway, the coolest thing was just to walk and climb around the castle☺
The National Park, volcanos and craters
There is a national park on a way from the Castle of Sümeg to Balaton. It worth visiting. The whole park is a bunch of extinct volcanos and half destroyed craters.
It was the first time I saw a crater. It is stunning. I was impressed how big it is. Besides, I was surprised that clefts have such geometrical shapes.
Just check how straight are the lines of the clefts on the pictures below.
Our trip finished with a short “Dream Team” photo session in haystacks☺
