If you’re afraid of heights, there’s no better way to conquer it than by climbing all the way to the top of an adventure park and facing the deep attached to several safety cables. Zamárdi Adventure Park by motorway M7 is the perfect place for such a thrilling experience.
In addition to being in an attractive location, the adventure park is also special because it was the first such establishment to open in the Balaton region. Thanks to its unique past, the facility enjoys considerably popularity; during our visit we bumped into a music video shoot, which we were told is not a rare occurrence at all around here.
The lovely setting mentioned above means that the park is situated at the foot of a natural wall, beneath lots of shady trees. The facility also boasts a natural lake, which is replenished from the water of Lake Balaton (essentially groundwater), making the park’s climate relatively cool even on the hottest days.
Visitors can try making their way through a bunch of adventure courses, rope courses, and team-building courses featuring more than 240 obstacles and two kilometers of wire rope. There are courses specifically tailored for children, teenagers, and adults, with each category comprising five different levels of difficulty. One of the two famously difficult obstacles is where you have to walk on a series of suspended stirrups, and the other one is made up of small, vertical logs, which swing out from underneath you when you try to step on them.
There are lots of new elements as well, such as the tower at the entrance, which is the starting point of a zip line course running all the way above the park, and the new course built on colorful pillars, suitable for both children and adults. We tested the latter, and we managed to get to the end, but it was no cakewalk. We had an especially hard time climbing on a pair of parallelly suspended wires and the previously mentioned stirrups.
One of the coolest attractions is the narrow-gauge railway in the garden, which is a lot like the one you can find at the Hungarian Railway Museum in Budapest. The railway has both a gas and a steam powered locomotive (the latter was out of service due to repair when we visited), and the tracks run through a bridge, a tunnel, and even a small railway station.
The railway is not the only things the kids will love here: they can also pet bunnies, pan for treasure, and venture into the labyrinth.
The little lake serves as a base for varied adrenaline-boosting rides, including water bumper cars and zorbing, both with an inflatable ball and a blow-up cylinder. If you want to take in the view of the lake from above, try the conventional zip lines or the powerfun jumping tower, which is kind of like bungee jumping, but instead of being hoisted back up into the air, you’re gradually lowered to the ground after the free-falling stage.
The park has its own bistro where you can feast on delicious grill dishes, or order a pizza served straight from the wood-fired oven.
One of the key aims of the park is to attract visitors to the Balaton region outside the summer season as well. The cozy atmosphere is something they are eager to preserve; that’s why they have a team of guides who can help the little ones test the easier obstacle courses, and show them the railway, the labyrinth, or the pet rabbits. Parents can enjoy the adventure-packed experience stress free while the kids are challenged on a lower level course.
