Balatonfüred n is famous for many other things: renowned writers, poets, and actresses came here for the Anne-ball, and if it wasn’t for its great heart hospital, the Nobel laureate Hindu poet, Rabindranáth Tagore might not have written his most beautiful late poems, and then the promenade wouldn’t be named after him either. We collected all the things to do in Balaton’s oldest resort town, where there’s always something new to see.

The basics

Keszthely, Siófok, and Balatonfüred are the largest towns of Lake Balaton. No wonder that each one of them tends to call themselves the capital of Balaton, each of them for a different reason: Keszthely emphasizes its cultural life, while Siófok shines light on its vivid nightlife, and Balatonfüred bases its reputation on its traditions and history.

  • The first sailing association of the country was founded in the town, and if you’re interested in nautics, then Balatonfüred will satisfy your curiosity.
  • If, instead of masterfully tied knots, arts are your vice, you don’t have to worry, as the town has a decent gallery.
  • You have a knack for biology, or you just want to know what touches your feet at the bottom of the lake, then visit Bodorka, an ecotourism visitor center named after a fish species, where you can even learn what an ablet is.
  • Renowned Hungarian novelist Mór Jókai has strong ties to Balatonfüred and he liked to spend time in the town. He wrote his famous piece, The Man with the Golden Touch (Az arany ember in Hungarian) here, and you can even visit the spot he probably sat when he worked on the novel. If you had enough of the town, visit the lookout tower that was named after him; you can even explore a cave on your way there.

The high tide of the new wave 

Based on the things we mentioned so far, one might think that Balatonfüred is a museum, but that, fortunately, isn’t the case. The town is an important location in the Hungarian gastronomy’s search for itself; it’s enough to just walk through Blaha Lujza Street and its area to witness this.

  • It’s worth stopping by for a lunch menu if you’re just passing through, but we can also observe the peak of the gastronomic new wave that started around Lake Balaton if we visit such restaurants as Bistro Sparhelt, a place that combines exciting flavors; or the new project of this same team, Nem Kacsa – these restaurants even became independent destinations by now.
  • Those who are more into the inn-vibes can visit Baricska where they add a big twist to the traditional Hungarian cuisine.

  • You still don’t have to go far from the center if you’d like to pair your meal with a great wine or beer, or just want to taste some beer. The same is true if you’d like to spice up your drinks, or your three course lunch with a view of sailboats drifting away.
  • Budapest has been popping up in Balatonfüred lately, as the capital's popular BRKLYN opened a huge terrace together with Malackrumpli, and there’s even a street food bar that would fit more smoothly in Budapest’s District VII more than it does here in the cobbled Reform-era downtown. However, there’s a difference: instead of the stories of freelancer graphic designers, here we can listen to the stories of sailors during the peaceful evenings.
  • What’s more, after the capital, Balatonfüred now also has its very own Pazar Coffee with cold brews, chai, and matcha lattes.

This town is very sweet

It’s time for dessert after lunch, and there’s quite a selection here; it’s hard to choose between the famous mille-feuille of Bergmann Confectionery, the giant homemade desserts of Karolina, and the friendly pies of Kedves.

It’s definitely alive

Other noteworthy things are also happening here besides the World Aquatics Championships and the Anne-ball:

  • The Balatonfüred Wine Weeks is the wine festival with the highest standards in the region, with the wines of the Balaton Uplands available for three weeks, while there’re concerts after concerts in town.
  • Europe’s largest round-the-lake sailing race, Kékszalag starts from here every year with more than three hundred sailboats competing.

Extraordinary places

Last, but not least, we rounded up a few places that the usual visitor rarely bumps into, yet they are part of Balatonfüred’s real face just as much as Tagore Promenade or Vaszary Villa.

  • Sometimes it’s good to leave the beaten path behind to find hidden treasures while visiting places far from the buzzing of the town, and visiting places where it feels like time has stopped.
  • We can discover a villa where renowned Hungarian writers used to sip wine together, and that was the location of a Balaton spy-story for twenty years.
  • If we get tired by all of this we can lay down on a deck chair at a real hippie-camp on the edge of town where we can observe Kerekedi-öböl (Kerekedi Bay) with a lemonade in hand until the night falls.