Day 5, 6 & 7 th on Lake Balaton 60 km

As the forecast suggested 2 days more of 30 degree+ weather, we decided to enjoy this lovely lake and its surroundings with minimal cycling.

We planned to follow the north side of the lake heading south west.

The cycle track around the lake turned out to be very busy, as most Hungarians seem to have had the same idea as us. The temperature in this shallow water is still very warm, and there are plenty of grassy areas to lie on, with steps into the lake to avoid the rocks. When you’re in the water, it has a sandy bottom and only 4ft deep for at least 50 metres out.

Perfect for swimming. Calm, sandy bottom and no salt!

After a swim stop, we set off to Figula vineyard in the hills overlooking Balaton. The previous night we’d enjoyed a really good bottle of their wine and so upon investigation we were excited to see that they did wine tasting AND accommodation. 🍷👍🏼

Very good wine tasting session, and we ended up buying 3 bottles🥴

We stayed in the chalet behind the blue spruces

In the morning I decided to take Sue for a gentle sunny Sunday morning ride through the countryside away from civilisation en route to the beach.

The map didn’t show the route was on gravelly, sometimes rocky tracks; not her favourite.
Especially lugging 25 kgs of our gear, and three bottles of wine!

The track descended into a forest trail, thankfully with less gravel

Before long we were on tarmac again. Thankfully no spills and the 3 bottles of wine survived, although a little shaken!

We found a small private grassy beach, hired a couple of sun beds next to which we could park the bikes.
We then proceeded to settle down and relax. The afternoon consisted of drinking our shaken wine, whilst people watching and swimming to cool off. Of course, the inevitable snooze came next. 🥴

To start with, the water was so calm it was really hard to see where the horizon was.

A couple of hours later the wind picked up and a very different scene.

The cycle route through the vineyards to our lodgings.

We’d booked accommodation on the peninsular of Tihany, famous for lavender, its old monastery and the vineyards.

3 ft high bed, due to the bread oven protruding through the floor! I almost had to lift Sue onto it!

We had dinner on top of the hill, so we were glad we had e-bikes!

The Echo restaurant with very fancy G&T’s

The south coast in the distance behind the monastery: a memorable balmy night in Hungary.
Well worth a visit, and very good value.

Day 7

Our location on the peninsular. Red and purple lines are the bike routes we endeavour to follow.

The forecast for Monday was very poor, so we decided to stay another night in our thatched lodgings and not try to cycle in heavy rain.

We had a fabulous breakfast made more fun when a cat chased a rat into the dining room!!

I was the only one to spot it and I notified the gorgeous red headed receptionist, as it had run under her desk! The funniest thing was that her male colleague was the most scared , and the red head took control and evicted the rodent!

Rat chasing

As it was cloudy but not yet raining we went for a walk around a small lake, then cycled around to explore some more