Szigliget Castle

Szigliget castle was begun after the Mongol invasion of 1241 on a volcanic hill that then stood as an island in marshland, and its position made it effectively unassailable: the Ottomans besieged the Balaton shore repeatedly for a century and a half and never took it. What ended it was Habsburg policy, which had inland castles blown up in 1702 to deny them to Hungarian insurgents. The ruin has been consolidated with walkways and viewing platforms, and the climb from the village takes about twenty minutes on a stepped path through vineyards. From the walls the lake spreads to the south, with Badacsony and the witness hills of the Tapolca basin to the north and the Keszthely bay to the west.

What you actually see

• A castle never taken by siege - held through the Ottoman century.
• Consolidated walls and platforms - the routes added over the ruin.
• The Balaton view south - the lake from the walls.
• Witness hills to the north - the Tapolca basin volcanic cones.

When to go

April to October; the site closes in bad weather and the path is slippery in ice. Two hours including the climb. Summer weekends are busy and parking in the village fills early.

Honest expectations

The climb is stepped but steady and hot in summer with no shade. The ruin itself is small. Parking is limited and the village is packed in July and August. Modern railings dominate photographs.

Nearby

Badacsony is east; Keszthely lies west.