A week in Hungary – Budapest and Lake Balaton – podcast 15

In this podcast, you’ll hear about my week’s holiday in Hungary starting and ending in Budapest. We also spent a few days at Lake Balaton, a large freshwater lake that’s a popular Hungarian holiday destination.

We spent four days at Lake Balaton, visiting the castles and palaces along the lake shore, took the ferry across the lake and floated around among the water lilies in the thermal spa at Hévíz.

In Budapest we also enjoyed the Palatine Baths on Margaret Island, admired  the statues of the communist era at Memento park and spent our last day exploring the castle district and the Hungarian festival of folk arts that was being held over St Stephen’s day.

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Margaret Island in Budapest

On our first morning in Budapest we walked around Margaret Island, a large public park set on an island in the middle of the Danube and visited the Palatine Strand Baths there.

The park is named after the daughter of one of the kings of Budapest who vowed that if the Mongol invaders would cease their attacks, his daughter would devote her life to God, and so she spent her life here in a convent.

The Palatine Baths on Margaret Island

The Palatine Baths is ideal for families with a large number of different outdoor pools. Some have fountains and jets, some are for swimming, others with warm thermal water and waterslides and a wave machine. We had lunch at the snack bar beside the baths and managed to over-order six plates of chicken livers!

After returning to the Margaret bridge at the end of the island, we took a ride on the No 2 public tram. It’s well known as a good sightseeing route, running along the Danube past many of the major tourist sights such as the Hungarian Parliament building.

We were pleased that we’d bought a 24 hour transport ticket which was valid for the metro, buses and trams and meant that we could hop on and off as many trams as we liked.

The Central Market in Budapest

In the afternoon, we visited the Central Market, admiring the beautifully presented stall selling vegetables and paprika products. We bought a few souvenirs on the upper floor, such as painted eggs which we planned to use as Christmas decorations.

On the upper floor of the market are some food stalls where we had lunch. An especially enjoyable snack is Lángos, a cross between a pancake and a doughnut, with sweet and savoury toppings. My husband also enjoyed his dark malt Hungarian beer that was a little like Guinness.

Vsiting Lake Balaton

The next day we drove down to Lake Balaton, stopping on the way at Memento park. Here the statues of communist leaders and other sculptures from the Communist era are now on display.

The only leader who’s statue was destroyed was that of Stalin who was so hated after his death that his enormous statue was pulled down. Now only his boots that are on a podium at the entrance to the park.

Lake Balaton is a major holiday area, popular with Hungarians and Germans. There are numerous campsites, guest houses and holiday apartments around the lake.

The lake is used for swimming, fishing and sailing and is very green and fringed with reeds. Sections of the shore have been made into swimming areas with platforms and steps into the lake.

Traditional Hungarian goulash

At our accommodation we enjoyed the Hungarian goulash and other local specialities that they served up each night. Each was cooked in a cauldron over an open fire, served with bread on an all you can eat system.

During our stay a jazz evening was held in the hostel to celebrate the Hungarian national holiday of St Stephen’s day. You’ll hear some of the music from the evening throughout the podcast.

We visited the nearby castle at Szigliget that was built in the 13th century, set on the top of a volcanic plug. Cambering over the battlements, we got amazing views over the lake and surrounding area.

On the way back we drove through the wine growing area on the slopes of the volcanic plugs. We stopped for lunch at Salföld, a picturesque traditional Hungarian Village.

Salföld Manor is a restored show farm, and we tried the sour cherry soup in the garden of the Pajta Galeria restaurant on the edge of the village.

Festetics Palace at Keszthely

On another day we visited the Festetics Palace at Keszthely, built in baroque style in the 18th century. It has the air of a French Chateau, surrounded by formal gardens.

We didn’t go into the palace as the queue was rather long. But the formal gardens were free to enter, with fountains and colourful floral displays.

On coming out of the palace, we followed signs to the Marzipan Museum, which was more of a patisserie and tea shop. A room at the back displayed examples of cake decoration and marzipan models, including one of the Keszthely Palace.

We enjoyed our cake and coffee at the end of the visit in the small courtyard at the back. I thought it was stretching the point to call the display room a museum.

The Thermal Lake at Hévíz

In the afternoon we visited the thermal lake at Hévíz which is naturally heated. The mineral properties of the water is thought to be very healthy.

The spa is like a modern leisure centre, built on the lake where swimmers float around in the warm lake with rubber or foam rings. It was a great example of the Eastern European enthusiasm for wellness, but a somewhat bizarre experience for us Brits.

On our third day in the Lake Balaton area, we crossed the lake on the ferry over to Balatonboglar to the southern shore. We found a busy holiday scene with a funfair in full swing to celebrate the St Stephen’s day holiday.

After a couple of hours wandering around the packed resort, we returned to the more tranquil northern shore. We decided that we definitely preferred the area we were staying.

We dove back to Budapest where we stayed for our final night of the holiday, with a great view of the Danube. We stayed on the Buda side of the river, climbing up through the cobbled streets to see some of the well known Budapest sights.

Mátyás Church

On our final day in Budapest we walked up to the Mátyás church which is notable for the decorative painted walls and colourful tiles. We also saw the Fisherman’s Bastion, an ornate colonnade where you can get a great view over the Danube.

You will often find gypsy bands there playing traditional folk music. There are also a couple of cafes on the ramparts with a great view, and no doubt prices that include a premium for the view.

The Hungarian Royal Palace

From there we walked along towards the Hungarian Royal Palace and found the Festival of Folk arts in full swing. There were many stalls with beautiful embroidery, painted eggs,  pottery and wood carvings. We enjoyed watching the Hungarian folk dancing and listening to the traditional music.

We took the Castle funicular down from the area of the Hungarian Royal Palace to the river level. This was only a 5 minute ride and rather expensive considering the short distance. If you’re on a budget it’s perfectly easy to walk the short distance.

We concluded that although we loved the Lake Balaton area for a family summer holiday, there was plenty more to explore in Budapest. We’d really need a return trip to do it justice.

Visitor information for Budapest and Lake Balaton

For more information on the other places we visited, please follow the links in this article to my other blog posts.

The jazz music used in the podcast was recorded on St Stephen’s day at our accommodation. Gypsy violin music was recorded around the Fisherman’s Bastion. Other folk music was recorded at the Festival of Folk Arts. The opening music was Venus as a Girl by Andy McGee on Musicalley.com.

Read Next

Visiting Keszthely in Hungary – the Festetics Palace and marzipan museum

More articles from this trip to Hungary

• Boot slapping, skirt twirling, Hungarian Folk Dancing – video
• Memento Park – icons of Budapest’s Communist past
• My Top 10 sights in Budapest
• Thermal springs and rubber rings at Heviz in Hungary

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com 

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