My home town - Hévíz

Hévíz is one of the biggest and best known spa resorts of Hungary. It lies 6 kilometres from Keszthely at the western corner of Lake Balaton. Here we find the biggest hot water lake in the world.
The town of Hévíz has got 4800 inhabitants but thousands of tourists come here for the sake of rehabilitation all the year round. The temperature of the water reaches 30-35 degrees in the summer and it does not go below 22 degrees even in winter. One of the specialities of the lake is the highly curative mud, which is used for mudpackings, but the water itself and the treatments also cure rheumatical diseases of the joints and the bones, locomoter disorders, neuritis and lumbago, too.
The lake has some special species of animals and plants, for example the symbol of Hévíz: the waterlilly.
The "miraculous" effect of the lake was already recognised by the Romans, but the town was turned into a spa only in 1795 by György Festetics. He started the building of the first bath houses on the lake. Since then millions of foreign and Hungarian people have visited the town. The State Spa Hospital, which can be found near the lake, provides a wide choice of therapies, for example complete balneo-, hydro-, and electrotherapy, healing massage and exercises and stand-by services, as well.
Besides this about 23 hotels provides accomodations and means of entertainment for people visiting the town. In the summer brass bands, majorettes, operetta performances and concerts entertain visitors. And, of course, from the town you can go on short excursions to the towns and villages in the neighbourhood. You can visit the ruins of Rezi or Tátika castles, Badacsony, Tapolca, Sümeg and Keszthely, too.

 

My home town - Keszthely

Keszthely is an ancient town by the west shore of Lake Balaton. It is one of the oldest settlements around the lake. The town has got 24 000 inhabitants but in summer thousands of tourists come to spend some nice days here. Lake Balaton is the number one tourist attraction of Hungary after our capital, Budapest.
The town is full of beautiful sights and buildings, which all tourists should visit. The most famous one is the Festetics stately home. In the building you can find the famous
Helikon Library and you can see exhibitions, too. In the park around the building some very old and rare trees and plants can be seen. In 1745 Kristóf Festetics started the building of the stately home, and his son, György Festetics established the Georgikon in 1797. It was the first permanent agricultural college in Europe.
From the stately home you can walk along Kossuth Lajos Street and you can see nice buildings built in romantic style. On the Main Square you can find the famous Gothic parish church with beautiful frescos from the Middle Ages.
If you go on along Kossuth Lajos Street you reach the Balaton Museum. Its exhibitions show the flora and fauna of Lake Balaton and the history of this region.
From the museum you can take a short walk to the coast of the lake. The formation of the lake started 22 000 years ago. It is 78 kilometres long and it is 3 metres deep in average. Its water warms up easily to 25-27 degrees celsius in the summer. Visitors can spend nice days here swimming, yachting, surfing, or playing waterpolo. In winter the lake often freezes over and people can skate or play ice-hockey on it. There are 42 species of fish in the lake so many people like fishing here.
The northern coast of the lake is hilly. You can find some beautiful towns here, like Balatonfüred or Tihany. The southern coast is sandy just like the seaside and it offers cultural programmes, mainly in Siófok.
The wind almost always blows by the lake and storms are not rare, but visitors can take nice walks along the coast in cooler weather, too. There are many restaurants, bars and hotels in the town, which provide means of entertainment for visitors. And, of course, from the town you can go on excursions to the towns and villages in the neighbourhood. You can visit the ruins of Rezi and Tátika castles, Badacsony, Tapolca, Sümeg and Hévíz, too.