Lake Balaton, located in Hungary, is the largest lake in Central Europe. Since Hungary is landlocked, Lake Balaton is sometimes called the "Hungarian Sea". The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalized Sió is the only outflow. It has also been referred to as "Europe's biggest puddle". This harsh, but accurate description of the body of water is based on the shallowness of its waters.
With a surface area of 592 km², Lake Balaton lies approximately on the coordinates 46°50′N, 17°44′E, and has a length of 77 km and a width ranging from 4 to 14 km. The lake's surface is 104 m above sea level, and its depth varies up to 12.2 m (mean depth is 3.2 m).

The major resorts around the lake are Siófok, Keszthely and Balatonfüred. Siófok is known often as the "Party Capital of Hungary", which attracts many young party goers in summer due to its numerous large discos. Keszthely is the site of the famous Festetics Palace and Balatonfüred is a historical bathing town home to the annual Anna Ball.
The high tourist season extends from June until the end of August. The average water temperature during the summer is 25° C, which makes bathing and swimming possible. Most of the beaches consist of either grass, rocks or the silty sand that also makes up most of the bottom of the lake. Many resorts have artifical sandy beaches and all beaches have step access to the water. Other tourist attractions include sailing, fishing and other water sports, as well as visiting the countryside and hills; wineries on the north coast and night life on the south shore. The Tihany Peninsula is an historical district. Badacsony is a famous volcanic mountain and wine growing region as well as a lakeside resort.
Although the peak season at the lake is the summer, lovers of Balaton think that it is also worth visiting the lake in winter, when you can go fishing through ice-holes, or, if the ice is thick enough, brave visitors can even skate, sledge or ice-sail on the lake.
Balaton is served by Sármellék International Airport . There are scheduled flights from Berlin, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, Zürich and London Stansted. The lake is also accessible via charter flights from Frankfurt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Billund and Moscow.
Chief resorts include:Badacsony - Balatonalmádi - Balatonboglár - Balatonfüred - Balatonlelle - Fonyód - Keszthely - Siófok - Tihany - Vonyarcvashegy