Hotel Azúr****

The venue of the Symposium, exhibition, social programs: Hotel Azúr****, wellness and conference center, situated on the lakeside, address:

Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe. Since Hungary is landlocked, Balaton is sometimes called the “Hungarian Sea.” The Zala river provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalized Sió is the only outflow.

Balaton has a surface area of 592 km² and a length of 77 km, a width ranging from 4 to 14 km. The lake’s surface is 104 m above sea level, and its depth varies up to 12.2 m (mean depth is 3.2 m).

The Romans called the lake Lacus Pelso, that is to say shallow lake in Latin language. Germanic peoples that have been living in the area through the centuries called it Plattensee, with the same meaning as in Latin. The Hungarian name Balaton might derive from these words, but it has no concrete meaning today like in other languages. Slavic peoples living in the area in the early Middle Ages called Balaton “muddy lake” (‘blato’ means ‘mud’).

High tourist season extends from June until the end of August. The average water temperature during the summer is 25° C, which makes bathing and swimming very enjoyable. Other tourist attractions include sailing, fishing and other water sports as well as visiting the countryside and hills; wineries on the north coast and night life on the south. The Tihany Peninsula is a historical district.

Although the peak season at the lake is summer, the lovers of Balaton think that it is also worth visiting the huge lake in winter, when you can go fishing in the ice-holes, or if the ice is thick enough, brave visitors can even skate, sledge or ice-sail on the lake.