Lake Balaton, Hungary.

you may enquire. Well look at a map of Hungary and the lake sticks out like a racing dog's ……well let's be polite - its very obvious on the map, It is the largest fresh water lake in Central Europe and is about 48 miles long east to west and between 3-9miles north to south.

I decided to read previous Ciao reviews, the last I could find was 4 yrs ago, and definitely families enjoyed it - in summer it is hot, apart from the odd cyclonic storm to clear the air of bratworst. The lake is clean, tide-less and apparently according to one review, it is good and warm for swimming from May 'til September. Also, the beaches do not shelve steeply allowing a less confident swimmer to easily stand waist deep. The lake is surrounded by safe promenades and is almost traffic free near the lake, with wide pedestrian boulevards.

There, that's better now. I've said it.

Talking to locals who know, there are rumours that trade is well down in recent years. In the boom years of the early 90s, there wasn't much competition at the prices they were offering at that time - now there are accessible and unusual lakes all over Europe. They are in Estonia, Latvia, Croatia, Turkey, Bulgaria , the list could go on for ages. So, the competition is getting tough. Lake Balaton isn't so crowded as it used to be in the summer months apparently, which I consider a bonus.

Having said that, and I must be fair, the place has so much natural beauty that has been well preserved, including the gorgeous reed beds that surround the lake in most places, that even Ryan Air have recently decided to fly there -yes directly to Lake Balaton, and from two locations in Germany too. The airport is on the north side of the lake and the buses and trains to the south side cost about 12 euros per person.

I have said already that this place is not for me but then I thought of something - riding a bicycle round the lake - heaven - beautiful - no hills to climb, a cycle path and loads of places to stay and good German beer to quench a mega-thirst after all that pedal power. Yes and there are many websites with all the cycling info - if Lake Balaton has to be on your list of places to go before you croak, then check them out.

Anything else to do - I doubt it; the surrounding area is extremely rural and heavily agriculturalised over rolling moderately forested hills. If you have wheels the nearest big town is Kaposvar, about 45 miles to the east. It is an old town but has no mind boggling events of interest. It expanded and became industrialised in the 19c being on the main railway line between Budapest and Zagreb and on down to the Mediterranean Sea. Kaposvar also sports a very large Tescos and a smaller but better quality Spar.

I hope you're not getting as bored with this as I am - frankly - yes I'll sum up - if you want something with a bit of a German flavour for a change by a warm lake and which is safe for the kids then what better that to give it a try for a week especially with Ryan Air on the case.