A Bishop on holiday, a whimsical count, world-renowned painters and Scotland at Lake Balaton. Palaces Around the Lake Pt. 1 discusses the palaces to see, while Pt. 2 is dedicated to castels and palaces where you can spend the night.

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1. Keszthely- Festetics Palace

8360 Keszthely, Kastély utca 1.
Több infó

Every Hungarian kid visits the Festetics Palace in Keszthely once—at least on a school field trip. If you haven’t been there or only remember the felt slippers, it's a must-see. Besides the exhibition in the main building and the House of Balaton's Wines in the cellar, the Helikon Palace Museum is constantly renewing the palace gardens and its buildings as well. The peculiarities on display include an enormous scale-model, hunting- and carriage-exhibition and a plant collection as well. If you are adventurous at heart, you can also visit the “Kiskastély” (Small Palace) that stands on the edge of Keszthely, at Fenékpuszta. This complex, which also used to be a Festetics estate, is quite dilapidated, but you can also find Roman fortress ruins and a bird ringing station nearby.

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2. Kehidakustány – Deák Mansion

8784 Kehidakustány, Kossuth utca 62.
Több infó

One of the most important scenes of Hungarian history, the one-time mansion of the 19th century Hungarian statesman Ferenc Deák is found about 15 kms from the Blaton, Keszthely and Hévíz. The importance of the place is duly uncovered to those who visit. The recently renovated mansion houses an exhibition about the life and role of the statesman. We recommend you to follow-up the exhibition with a walk in the park of the mansion and bath in the Kehida Termál Spa nearby.

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3. Csopak – Ranolder-villa

The patron saint of the Welschriesling of Csopak, Bishop János Ranolder took holidays seriously. To have a proper place for enjoying good wine, he had a huge neo-Gothic summer home built in a hillside vineyard of Csopak. Unfortunately, it is not allowed to drink wine on the terrace of the Villa anymore as today it is a pest control station. However, if you happen to satisfy your thirst in one of the neighbourhood wineries (Jásdy or Tamás), it is worth to cast a glance at it. Let’s do some justice: without Bishop Ranolder we would have significantly smaller chances of drinking good wine in Csopak.

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4. Nádasdladány – Nádasdy Mansion

A Scottish castle near Lake Balaton. This is not one of those misshapen, plaster-ornamented freaks, but a top hit among Hungarian historical castles. The castle of the Nádasdy family was built at the end of the 1800s, in Tudor-romantic style. This exciting building is a museum and a cultural centre today, so it is open to the dbo—and the entry is free to its park.

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5. Nyírlakpuszta – Tarányi Castle

The neighbourhood of Sümeg belongs to Sümeg, to the Sümeg Castle to be exact, still there are more sights to see here. For example the Tarányi Castle in Nyírlakpuszta. Originally romantic in style, the castle was transformed to baroque and has a peculiar shape. Today it functions as a social institution.  If you drive on, taking main road 84 towards the Balaton, just stop before you reach the Lake: for in the centre of Lesencetomaj, you’ll find another castle. The Nedeczky Castle also functions as a social institution, but it is still better off than the one-time, romantic Hertelendy Castle that used to stand hereabout, but was 1945.

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6. Szigliget – Esterházy Castle

You are not hallucinating if you happen to meet jogging poets or hungover writers  in Szigliget. Most people know the place for its fort, but the Esterházy Castle (standing below it) is an important scene of Hungarian literature. The building has been serving the relaxation of artists as a Literature Retreat since the 1950ies, but its park that boasts of rare plant species is open to anyone.

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7. Balatonboglár-Szőlőskislak – Gaál-kastély

Should you need a bit of fresh air in the middle of tasting the wines of Géza Légli, walk a corner from the Kislaki Bormanufaktúra to the pottery workshop of Attila Légli, then another one to the Gaál Castle. The building functioned as a wine museum earlier, but today it is closed to the dbo. You can still catch a glimpse of the gardens through the somewhat out-of-picture “Székely-gate.”

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8. Zala – Zichy Mansion

Zala is not only the name of a county in Hungary, but also of a tiny village south of Balatonföldvár. It is the birthplace of one of the greatest Hungarian painters, Mihály Zichy—consequently the former mansion of his family is today a museum that commemorates the artist with his monumental-romantic paintings and sketches. Somogy county is an ideal place for the fans of world-renown Hungarian painters and mansions, anyway. Be sure to visit Várda (near Kaposvár) as well: the former Somssich Castle used to be home to another genial and celebrated painter Endre Szász. His one-time abode is also a museum today.