Kali Basin

The Kali basin lies a few kilometres back from the northern shore of Balaton, a shallow bowl ringed by basalt hills and filled with small villages of stone houses, vineyards, reed beds and old orchards, and it has become the place city people buy second houses, which has restored the buildings and raised the prices. Its geological curiosity is the stone seas, kotenger: fields scattered with large rounded quartzite blocks left from an ancient shoreline, standing in the grass with nothing else around them, at Szentbekkalla and Salfold. Villages like Kovagoors, Koveskal and Salfold keep churches, a Romanesque ruin, small wineries and restaurants that have earned reputations well beyond the region.

What you actually see

• The stone seas - fields of rounded quartzite blocks in open grass.
• Stone villages - Kovagoors, Koveskal and Salfold restored house by house.
• Basalt hills around the rim - the volcanic ring of the basin.
• Small wineries and restaurants - the food the area is now known for.

When to go

May to October; September and October are quieter and better for walking. A day. A car is effectively necessary. Book restaurants ahead in summer.

Honest expectations

It has gentrified sharply and prices in the good restaurants are Budapest level. Public transport is minimal. Summer weekends bring heavy car traffic through small villages. There is little to do if the weather turns.

Nearby

Hegyestu is south; Balatonfured lies east.