|
After the crowded Badacsony, the Szigliget peninsula is a marked contrast. Both the main road and the train line go inland of the picturesque village of SZIGLIGET , 5km west of Badacsony, giving it a pleasant secluded feel - indeed, locals are proud that there is no disco here. Though the peninsula has been built up with holiday homes, these are mainly privately owned, and accommodation is almost entirely in private houses. Earlier inhabitants of the region included a people known as the Lads, who occupied this area when the Magyars entered the region in the tenth century. Access is by bus running between Tapolca and the train station at Badacsonytordemic (10 daily), serving all points around the peninsula. The centre of the village lies on the west of the peninsula at the top of Kossuth utca, with the castle ruins above. Here you'll find the tourist information office, Familia Turist, at no. 51 (June to mid-Sept daily 9am-6pm; tel 87/461-207). They can help with accommodation , as can Tourinform in Badacsony, or you can try one of the many places advertising Zimmer frei . The centre of the village is dominated by a former Esterhazy mansion (closed to the public), now a holiday resort for the Writers' Union, and the ruins of Szigliget Castle , a twenty-minute signposted walk uphill. Originally commissioned in 1260 by Pannonhalma Monastery in the wake of the Mongol invasion, the present remains date from the sixteenth century. During the Turkish occupation, the Hungarian fleet moored at Szigliget under the protection of the castle, but in the seventeenth century lightning struck the castle and burnt it down. Just below the ruins, at Kisfaludy utca 30, is the Var Vendeglo , a restaurant that caters mainly for big tourist groups but has well-appointed outdoor seating. The Esterhazy Wine Museum , currently at Kossuth utca 3 but with plans to move (June-Oct daily 11am-11pm; tel 87/461-044), offers tours round its beautifully decorated eighteenth-century cellars - reservations are recommended. Heading down Kossuth utca for 2km you come to the strand , which is slightly quieter than your average Balaton beach (May-Sept daily 9am-7pm; 250Ft); boats from Keszthely and Badacsony arrive at the port 500m further on. Just before the turning for Badacsonytordemic, another couple of kilometres on, are the remains of a twelfth-century church with a restored octagonal tower.
Your Tip for Szigliget
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Szigliget - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Szigliget - visit the main Szigliget forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Szigliget webguide section below! Thanks.
|
