Zala megye

Unspoilt countryside, endless forests, the romantic Göcsej landscape, living folk art, friendly village hospitality, Lake Balaton, medicinal baths (among them the world-famous Thermal Lake Hévíz) all combine to offer an abundance of opportunities for outings, rest and recreation in Zala County.

Various landscapes meet in Zala but the neighbouring areas have no clearly marked borders. The greater part of Zala County belongs to the Zala Hills, and the higher lying area around Keszthely forms part of the Bakony Hills. With the redefinition of county borders in 1979, the Keszthely region once again became part of the county and with it a 30-kilometre long stretch along the shore of Lake Balaton and the world famous thermal Lake Hévíz. Zala thus became a significant tourist region.

Following the change of political system in 1989, the county has undergone palpable change since the proximity of Western Europe has brought a considerable capital inflow.

Zala County covers 3,784 square kilometres and borders the counties of Vas, Somogy and Veszprém. Its southern neighbours are Croatia and Slovenia and Austria lies only 50 kilometres from the county seat. Its busiest border crossing with Slovenia is at Rédics, and with Croatia at Letenye. 

Zalaegerszeg is Zala's county seat and has 63,000 inhabitants from a total 301,000 in an area that characteristically consists of small villages. Other towns in the county are: Nagykanizsa, Hévíz, Keszthely, Lenti, Letenye, Zalakaros, Zalalövő, and  Zalaszentgrót.

Medicinal tourism in the county owes much to the oil prospecting that began in the area in the 1930's. The majority of several hundred prospecting wells, if not bringing forward oil, were suited to the exploitation of thermal waters. Thus the spas in Zalakaros, Lenti and Kehidakustány owe their existence to the oil industry.

Among the area's natural assets Lake Hévíz, at 4.4 hectares the world's largest thermal lake, definitely ranks first. 'Azalea Vale' (Azáleás-völgy) in Zalaegerszeg is another rarity with its special microclimate providing an alpine atmosphere, as well as the Budapapuszta Arboretum which primarily consists of trees of the pine family (pinaceae). The buffalo reserve at Zalakomárom is a unique spectacle, encompassing a 30-hectare area of boggy and swampy scrubland interspersed with little islands.

The Festetics Palace (Festetics-kastély) in Keszthely is the most well known of Zala County's heritage sights and is often visited by renowned statesmen. This is Hungary's fourth largest mansion with 101 rooms that have been refurbished and furnished with great attention to detail. Among the exhibits in the museum that operates in this heritage building, the sections illustrating the life of the aristocracy and the history of the Festetics family deserve particular emphasis, as do the library, the exhibition of the Windischgrätz trophies and an ornamental arms display.

The oldest Hungarian regional open-air museum is connected to Zalaegerszeg, namely the Göcsej Village Museum (Falumúzeum). The buildings representing the heritage of the region's vernacular architecture are erected around the still branch of the River Zala and an old water mill. Zala is a densely forested region. There is an excellent gene pool in the game here and a significant number of roe deer and wild boar, as well as a world-famous stock of red deer. This is the area with the most world record hind-antlers, among them some trophies of around 15 kilograms.