5 Best Sights in Balatonfüred, Hungary

Take a short detour off the road from Veszprém to Balatonfüred to find this impressive archaeological site, once a large Roman farmstead covering a sprawling 55 hectares. The site today barely covers two, but this includes a partially reconstructed central residential building, as well as the ruins of baths and burial sites and a host of carved stone monuments. Head down into the cellar of the main building to see four well-preserved mosaic floors, and keep an eye out for an almost-complete peacock frieze. The whole site is brought to life through models and interactive exhibits. Baláca is set a little way back from the road, so look for a small concrete car park; it's a five-minute walk from here to the entrance.

The village of Csopak, just to the northeast of Balatonfüred, is at the heart of the region's wine-growing industry, and a number of local producers—from Jásdi to Szent Donát—now offer wine tastings on their properties. The best of the bunch is Petrányi, thanks to its large hillside terrace with sweeping views of the lake, its great selection of wines for tasting (mostly from their own vineyards, which spread out below), and its menu of delicious Hungarian and international dishes. Ask nicely and you might get a tour of the chapel-like cellar, complete with a hidden room once used to hide bottles from the taxman.

The center of town is this small square, where the bubbling waters from five volcanic springs rise beneath a slim, colonnaded pavilion. The square’s centerpiece is the neoclassical Well House of the Kossuth Spring; from here you can sample the water, which has a pleasant, surprisingly refreshing taste, despite the sulfurous aroma. Note that there's a strict, 30-liters-per-person limit (good luck trying to break that rule). All the buildings on the square are pillared like Greek temples. At No. 3 is Horváth Ház, a former sanatorium that hosted the first of what was to become the Anna Ball in 1825. The ball now takes place every July in another colonnaded building on the square, and also a former sanatorium, the Anna Grand Hotel. On the north side of the square is the Füredi Panteon with aesthetically interesting tablets and reliefs honoring Hungarian and foreign notables who took the waters here. From Gyógy tér, you can stroll east along Blaha Lujza utca to see several landmarks, such as the Blaha Lujza Ház, a neoclassical villa built in 1867 (and, later, the summer home of the eponymous actress), and the sweet little 19th-century Kerek templom (Round Church).

Trees, restaurants, and shops line this busy waterfront promenade, which is named after the Nobel Prize–winning Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore: he came to one Balatonfüred's sanitoriums in 1926 to get treatment for a heart condition. You will find a bust of Tagore in front of a lime tree along the promenade; the poet planted it himself following his recovery. The promenade begins near the boat landing and runs for nearly a kilometer (½ mile) to the east.

With connections to both Kolos Ferenc Vaszary (1832–1915), the former Archbishop of Esztergom and Prince-Primate of Hungary who summered in Balatonfüred, and his renowned painter nephew János Vaszary, this eye-catching 19th-century building houses the town's best art gallery. Come to see everything from paintings by Old Masters to works by contemporary artists. There's also a lovely art-filled garden terrace with a good café.