When we catch a glimpse of the surface of the Lake in the bright sunshine, surrounded by blue-grey mountains and covered by the blue sky, a strange, joyful excitement wells up within us. We are enchanted by the colours and lights before our eyes, the mingling of earth, sea and sky, thae dashing to and from of the windsurfers and the distant flash of white-sailed yachts. However, the excitement and intensity of the meeting soon dissolves on the shores of the Lake, and an indescribable calm fills our souls.

As everyone knows, the Balaton region provides an almost irreplaceable haven to which we can flee from the trials and tribulations of our everyday lives, and where body and soul can be both refreshed and renewed. "How big is the Lake?" is a question often asked by visitors. It is said to be too small for a sea, and too big for a lake. Besides the 595 square kilometre area of the actual lake, the Balaton Highlands to the north, the Little Balaton to the west, Mezofold to the east and the outer Somogy county hilly areas also counted as part of the Balaton region, and the sky with its everchanging colours, gives an added dimension of height which finally completes the Balaton countryside.

How and when did Lake Balaton come into existence? The Balaton landscape acquired its present form over the course of millions of years, but the lake itself is, however, realtively young. At the end of the Pliocene era, a large part of the present day area of Transdanubia was covered by the Pontosi Sea. From this water filled with soil deposits slowly flowed to form the Pannon lake, and from this so-called pannon sediment was later formed the boundary which sealed the Balaton basin. At the end of the Pliocene era, still prior to the arrival of Man, the earth's crust moved and the resulting fissures released lava from inside the Earth.

Excluding rainfall, the lake is fed by inflowing brooks, springs, watercourses and, to a lesser extent, by underwater sources. The earliest water-level of the lake could have been some seven or eight metres higher than it is today and at that time Tihany, Szigliget, Badacsony, and Szent Gyorgy mountain on the northern shore, and Fonyod, Boglar, and Fokszabadi on the southern shore would have stood out as islands from the vast surface of the lake.