Festetics Palace

Festetics Palace was the home of the Festetics family for some 200 years, starting in the mid-18th century. Unlike most Hungarian palaces, its buildings, interiors and furnishings partly survived the Second World War. The complex consists of five buildings with six permanent exhibitions and has been called the Helikon Palace Museum since 2012. Its heart is the library, regarded as Hungary's only fully preserved private noble library, with more than 80,000 volumes.

The park was laid out in the 1880s by the English landscape architect Henry Ernest Milner; it includes a restored lake, fountains and several garden areas. You will also see state rooms, carriages, hunting trophies, a model railway exhibition and a palm house. It is best to come on a weekday morning, when it is quieter, and afterwards walk to Keszthely's lakeside promenade at the western end of Lake Balaton.