Camp Balaton is a 180,000 square meter complex with its own 400-meter-long waterfront on the southern shore of the “Hungarian Sea”.

Camp Balaton is a 180,000 square meter complex with its own 400-meter-long waterfront on the southern shore of the “Hungarian Sea”. 

With the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, the area became a refugee village, which was and still is a refuge for Ukrainian Jews who were forced to flee their homeland.

The EMIH-Hungarian Jewish Federation and the Union of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Hungarian government, established a village of refuge that complies with the strictest kosher rules and has since been home to Ukrainian refugees who still need help.

Since the camp opened, marriages have taken place, children have been born, circumcisions have taken place, and the facility has become a real home, albeit a temporary one, for those who have been forced to flee their homeland, leaving everything behind.

However, Lake Balaton is one of the most popular destinations for people seeking relaxation, and what Camp Balaton offers them goes far beyond a simple holiday. The vastness of the camp not only allows those who want to relax and those who live there in the short and medium term to spend undisturbed time in the same area, but also offers the possibility of a higher level of “active presence” based on humanity and empathy. 

Encounters, togetherness, community building, human connections, knowledge, understanding, humanity – these are the words that come to life in the resort, whatever the programme we organise.