In our newly renovated hostel we have large common areas, a big garden, outdoor bar area, a grocery store and vegetable/fruit vendor. Our hostel's enchanting ancient garden is ideal for parties,cookouts and for general relaxation. Reception and bar are open 24 hours a day. Internet, loundry, rent a bike, table tennis, table football and various other games are at your service. Cooking together on open fire is quite common, too. Nearby is the lake shore and all the facilities you could wish for, food drink, bathing, cycling, national wild life park and pleasure boats to take you all over the lake and to the many historical sites. All at exceedingly modest prices! A place for all ages and interests highly recommended. A good base to visit Budapest 2 ½ hrs away by train.

The hostel is 200 meters from the train and bus station in Revfulop. From Budapest by train: The easiest if you take a train from 'Deli pu.' train station direct to Revfulop. There are 6-7 trains every day and 2 of them are Intercity (IC), I recommend these.Usually one starts early in the morning, the other one about 5 p.m. You can check out the current timetable here : trains to and from the hostel. From Sarmellek Balaton Airport by Flybalaton: After you arrive at the airport search the. Fly Car Airport Transfer Company. Ask them whether they take you at that moment with other passengers to the direction of the north shore of Balaton and if you are lucky then they will transfer you to the hostel for about 20-25 EUR. It takes about an hour by the shuttle to arrive to the hostel. If there wont be enough number of passengers travelling to the same direction as you, then ask the company to take you to Heviz or Keszthely which is 15 minutes away from the airport and this short trip takes 5 EUR and a return ticket costs 8 EUR. Heviz is one of the most popular and interesting town in Hungary as it is world famous about its big thermal lake. Most of our backpackers visit Heviz so I reccomend you to spend some hours there. But you also can spend some time in Keszthely, it is next to Heviz and it is a bigger town than Heviz with a nice pier and inner town part. Both from Keszthely and Heviz you can reach the hostel by public bus service. The buses start from the local bus stations. From anywhere by car: Hullam Hostel is easily accessible by car via M-71.

If you are keen on discovering the Kali Basin and the surrounding nature than probably the best choice is to do so by bike. You can carry your bicycle on the train and store it in the hostel for the night. If you can not bring your bicycle from home than you can get one in the hostel. We can offer you mountain bikes and road cycles, male, female or kinder type. A wide range of bike tours from easy rides to real challenges are on offer all created by last decades; experiences. We give you a cycle map with forest-paths and bicycle roads and help to plan the best trip for you. Here are some routes to foretaste. All cross some breathtaking landscapes and include at least one rest stop where you can have a drink or a light food from the local;s unique menu. Have a look at the rental prices for various periods. 10% discount is available for groups above 15 persons. To rent a bike right now please fill in this form. E-mail address for the confirmation : Phone (including country code) : Expected time of start: Date of coming back: Expected time of coming back : Comments and requests:

The History and Geography of the Lake. 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. As the lava cooled (approx. 14 million years ago), it turned into basalt which protected the earlier layers of pannon sediment from the ravages of the elements. As the basalt mountains around the lake (Badacsony, Szent-Gyorgy-hegy, Gulacs, etc) still indicate the level of the former pannon layer, they are referred to by geologists as witness-mountains. The lake bed was formed, at the end of the latest ice-age by the continuous movement of the earth's crust along the fault at the feet of neighbouring hills, where volcanic activity was persistent. This is estimated to have taken place, about 18,000 million years ago. The latitudinal depression (basin) extending from the River Mura to the Buda hills filled with water here and there, again and again, until the smaller expanses of water joined together to form an area of stagnant water which was the antecedent of Lake Balaton as we know it today. 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. Our hostel is located in Revfulop which is situated on the picturesque north shore of Lake Balaton at the foot of the Fulop Hill. The first thing we suggest to our guests is to walk up to the look-out tower of Revfulop on the Fulop Hill. The fascinating panorama over the lake and the Kali basin allows you to have a glance into the surrounding villages, hills, valleys and see the lake nearly in its total length. There are two beaches in Revfulop, they are approximetaly 5 minutes walk from the hostel in opposite directions. We prefer 'Szigeti strand', because it is more familier friendly and less croweded than 'Csasztai strand'. However, in 'Csasztai strand' you can play beach volleyball or try the water slide. The region provides a lot of opportunities for trips: in the landscape-protection area of the Kali Basin natural curiosities - the 'Kotenger' (stone-sea) of Kovagoors, the crater-lakes of the Fekete Hill, famous springs - rich flora and fauna, and in the villages ethnographical and historical curiosities and cultural programmes attract visitors. Public service is available to nearby villages and towns. Passenger boats operate from Revfulop to the south shore in every 3 hours. In the following you find short descriptions of the most beautiful towns and villages that are easily accessable from Hullam Hostel and worth visiting. The village of Salfold is in the Kali basin behind Abraham hill, about half an hour from the hostel by bicycle. Salfold is a must see village because it is not only famous for its stone sea and unsual plant-life but also for its traditional bulidings, its lake and its manor. The manor presents the various types of native Hungarian domastic animals. Here visitors are welcome with sights which are an important part of the history of culture, but which do not have economic importance any more. For example Hungarian sheep, sheperd dogs, grey cattle or buffaloes can be seen in the tradition-preserving building complex of the manor. Besides these, there are opportunities to visit horse shows, ride ponies, horses and coach. Badacsony is only a few minutes by train from Revfulop, where we are. You can get here on bicycle route as well. The broken cone of Badacsony leaves the Lake on the one side at a walkable gradient, whereas the other climbs steeply to a height of 438 metres. The stangely shaped mountain is not a caved in volcan as many think, but the result of layer upon layer of eruptions and the settling of the sea-bed. From the plateau the view over the whole of lake Balaton, the Tapolca basin and out towards the Balaton highlands is beyond comparison. In the villages around the mountain there are several industries; argiculture, live-stock breeding, market gardening, shops and businness, but the main industry is grape-growing. Even in Roman times the sunny hillsides were planted with vineyards. Badacsony wines are famous throughout the world. They press the honey-sweet must which is used to make red wine, from beautiful bunches of grapes, such as these. The Badacsony name indicates not only the mountain but the villages built on its side and base as well. In Badacsonytomaj is the mountain's most beautiful building,, the Rozy Szegedy Literature Memorial Museum. On the ground floor grape growing implements recall the 19th century way of life; and in the rooms on the first floor affects of Sandor Kisfaludy and Roza Szegedy can be perused. -From the open porch of this two-storey building, once press-house and residental dwelling, a beautiful view is offered over Lake Balaton and its southern shore.