Cheap Flights to Lake Balaton
Budget Airline Deals to Hungary with Ryanair, Helvetic, Germanwings
Jul 14, 2007
Lake Balaton in Hungary has long been a tourist attraction for German, Austrian and Hungarian tourists, but it’s only recently that the rest of Europe has started to wake up and see the attraction. Often called ‘The Hungarian Sea’, the lake is the biggest in Europe outside of Scandinavia, and is great for swimming in, sailing on or lounging in the sun beside.
One of the best things about the lake is that it is surrounded by lots of little towns, each of which appeals to a different sector of the market. Some visitors will prefer Keszthely, some Tihany, some Balatonfured and so on.
There is a wide range of accommodation options, and there are some absolute bargains to be had with them – even in peak season.
The former military airport at Sármellék (at the bottom end of the lake, near Keszthely) has now been opened up to international flights, and Europe’s budget airlines are beginning to take note and offer a selection of flights from the continent’s major cities. The airport, rebranded as FlyBalaton, isn’t all that big, but it’s close to the lake and certainly closer than the international airport in Budapest, which is a couple of hours away.
Cheap flights with budget airlines to Lake Balaton, Hungary from England
Currently the only low cost carrier offering cheap flights to Sármellék’s airport is Ryanair. The Irish budget airline flies there from London Stansted.
Cheap flights with budget airlines to Lake Balaton, Hungary from Switzerland
Swiss airline Helvetic offers reasonably good value if flying to Balaton from Zurich in Switzerland.
Cheap flights with budget airlines to Lake Balaton, Hungary from Germany
Germany has traditionally been Lake Balaton’s major international tourist market, so it’s no surprise to learn that many of the cheap flights available to FlyBalaton airport at the southern tip of the lake depart from Germany. Hamburg International flies from Dresden and Leipzig, while Lufthansa operates on a direct route from Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt.
Low cost carrier Germanwings has good value prices on flights from Cologne and Berlin, while OLT has direct flights from Leipzig, Bremen, Erfurt and Lubeck.
Meanwhile, Ryanair flies to FlyBalaton from Frankfurt and Malev operates a direct route to and from Stuttgart.
As for travelling from elsewhere in Europe, Frankfurt and London are major hubs for budget airlines, so they are good for connecting flights. If coming from Vienna (Austria), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Zagreb (Croatia) or Bratislava (Slovakia), the Lake is easily accessible by train within a few hours – it’s best to go by rail rather than hunt around for connecting flights.
