When the reddish sun sets and the historic Abbey of Tihany across the road slowly fades into darkness, we can say with satisfaction that we have spent some unexpectedly rich days in Balatonfüred, a town that has preserved its traditions and given itself a modern image. Today, the charming streets of the reformed town centre and Lake Balaton offer far more than just a variety of experiences.
Let this weekend be more than just wellness – the family decided. In search of a place where, in addition to the pool, there were a variety of meaningful experiences to be had in Hungary. So they chose Balatonfüred, the capital of the northern shore of Lake Balaton, which is also wonderful in spring. Here, the harbour and the exciting interactive sailing history exhibition of the Vitorlazeum, which is reminiscent of the peace years of the last century, link Füred’s past with the present. From here, the Tagore Promenade, home to the Füred Spring Festival, with its huge shade trees and the trees planted by scientists and Nobel Prize winners, could tell you a lot about the history of the Balaton in the past.
On the way back, we’ll set off from the Anna Grand Hotel, home of the legendary Anna Ball, along the street named after the wonderfully talented Blaha Luyza. It is not named after her for nothing: the actress, also known as the “lure of the nation”, whose former villa is located here, considered Balatonfüred her beloved home. Just a few steps from here is the villa built in 1870 by Mór Jókai, also known as the “great Hungarian storyteller”, from whose terrace the prince of writers often admired the view of Lake Balaton and Tihany. Today, the building serves as a memorial house to Jókai’s everyday life in Fír.
From the reform era to the 21st century
The Vaszary Gallery, the crown jewel of Balatonfüred’s cultural quarter, stands in a well-kept and spacious garden right next to the Jókai Villa. Built in 1892 and beautifully renovated in 2010, the former summer house of Prince Primate Kolos Vaszary offers visitors a constantly renewing, first-class fine art experience. The exhibition space has been home to works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Robert Capa and Amrita Sérgil. A stroll through the garden of the villa, with its panoramic view of Lake Balaton, is enriched by a group of sculptures in Carrara marble entitled Mermaids of Lake Balaton, which has found a new home here. The main figure of Éva Vastagh’s sculptural group, made in 1941 and functioning as a fountain, is said to evoke the features of the actress Ingrid Bergmann.
From the masterpiece of eclectic villa architecture to the Zákonyi promenade, the white minimalist buildings, which reflect the design elements of the present day and house restaurants, cafés and modern exhibition spaces, show that Füred has arrived in the 21st century in terms of architecture and cultural messages.
The Zsdrál Art Gallery is an iconic example of this, where entering the gallery you are magnetically attracted by the works on display, where you are guaranteed to linger in wonder at the shapes, colours and unique artistic solutions, even if you are not an art connoisseur but just love beauty and interest. The owner of this first contemporary commercial gallery in Füred and the Lake Balaton region is Márkó Zsdrál, who opened the first modern and contemporary art gallery in the countryside a few years ago in Pécs. In 2021, as a sister institution of this gallery, the gallery in Főred was established, whose two-storeyed, huge, clean interior space is filled with captivatingly spectacular paintings, sculptures and ceramics by internationally renowned Hungarian modern and contemporary artists, which are available for purchase.
Waterfront wellness with sauna
Opposite Zsdrál Art is the complex of buildings that pioneered the transformation of Füred’s image today, the flagship of which is, to put it stylistically, the Hotel Golden Lake Resort. Embedded in its building block, a circular promenade creates a Mediterranean atmosphere with colourful shops, cosy terraces of restaurants, cafés and of course the white sailing boats of the Silver Yacht harbour.
The interior of the centrally located, completely renovated four-star superior hotel is perfectly in tune with the new Füred’s sense of life: beauty, quality and the Balaton atmosphere. What comes to life on the hotel’s interiors and on the walls of the rooms are the stylistically striking black and white prints reminiscent of lakeside photographs. It’s no coincidence that Hotel Golden Lake Resort was chosen as a place to stay, with a relaxing spa planned after sightseeing. From its rooms overlooking Lake Balaton, the sailing boats of the yacht harbour in front of the hotel and the view of Tihany Abbey in the distance create a true Balaton feeling.
We arrived at the hotel’s trendy and elegant lobby just in time for the usual afternoon tea, when guests can enjoy the house’s complimentary selection of champagne, coffee, tea and pastries. After check-in, it’s off to the spa, where the biggest attraction, besides the indoor and outdoor pools, the tepidarium and the salt chamber, is the sauna session led by the spa master in the panoramic Finnish sauna on the lakeside. Then it’s time for dinner, which uses seasonal ingredients from local farmers at the Golden Lake Resort to create a menu that is not only delicious, but healthy. And after the gastronomic experience, an unmissable evening stroll along the Zákonyi Promenade, the main street of Füred, where from the first spring sunshine a bustling crowd creates a Mediterranean seaside atmosphere until late into the evening. Of course, on such a beautiful evening, it would be a shame to go to bed early: you must try the Golden Lake Resort’s unique attraction, the waterfront reedbed, which is open all year round and offers an unforgettable evening panorama of the crystal clear, starry Balaton sky from its warm waters.
Setting sail, tasting top wines in the footsteps of Petőfi
As Balaton and Füred are the capital of the legendary Kékszalag sailing race, the next morning is of course the day for sailing. It is easy to organise because, as a novelty on the Hungarian sea, you can book ProYacht Balaton’s sailing or electric boats in advance at the Golden Lake Resort’s reception for a few hours or even a whole day of sailing. While the professionals can take to the water themselves in a charter yacht, the amateurs can experience the thrill of sailing on Lake Balaton with the help of a qualified skipper. Because each of the eight boats, each with a capacity of ten people, can be chartered with a skipper who will give you a short lesson in the secrets of sailing.
Then it’s time to sail out to the Hungarian sea and, as you slowly leave the shore behind, you will be more and more immersed in the wonderful water experience that has been part of the lake’s history for a century and a half. Pleasure boating is not about speed, of course, but about the spectacle and the feeling of being alive. All enhanced by the unique experience of sunbathing and swimming in the crystal clear waters of the lake’s interior.
And after the cruise, what could top off the day better than a premium wine tasting on the hillside of Fured, at the winery of Mihály Figula, chosen by the Hungarian Wine Academy (MBA) as the Wine Producer of the Year 2022. What makes it one of the 12 months of Balaton experiences is that if guests book in advance, there is always the opportunity to enjoy an intimate wine tasting and a quality bite to match. And speaking of the fusion of the reform era and modernity in Fured, the example of the Figula winery is a case in point. Because even a few decades ago, Balatonfüred was still characterised by the world below the railway being for tourists and the hillside being inhabited by locals. Since then, however, the growing reputation of the Figula Winery, handed down from great-grandfather through several generations, and the renovation of the historic buildings of the extensive estate have contributed to the fact that the upper part of Füred is now increasingly frequented by wine lovers from far and wide.
Walking through the 300-year-old oak trees on Meleghegy, they can discover the cellar built in 1773, where legend has it that Petőfi himself used to drink wine, and the Tölgyfa tavern, now fully renovated and with a cosy terrace. In the large community space, which is also a space for exhibitions, even children can enjoy themselves while their parents taste the finest premium wines. Wines that come alive with the flavours of the grapes grown in the vineyards of the winery’s 6-kilometre radius – in Balatonfüred, Balatonszőlős, Pécsely, Csopak and Tihany. The words of the Winemaker of the Year are confirmed by the way in which the terroir of this paradisiacal landscape, with its local soil and rock nutrients and minerals, is embodied in the grapes and wine.
Watching the unparalleled panorama from the terrace of the Figula Winery’s Oak Tree Tavern, which stretches from Kenese to Tihany, it is a pleasant feeling to know that Balatonfüred is far more than just swimming and scones, which is a natural part of the Balaton experience on a bright summer day.
M. Zoltán Érsek
