Tihany doesn’t do off-season. The tiny Balaton peninsula keeps the lights on all year with a rolling calendar of concerts, exhibitions, church music, talks, street markets, and outdoor adventures. Lavender gets its own festival, fish get a three-day celebration, and the cobbled streets pull double duty as a puzzle-solving playground. Whether you come for the lake’s hush, the belfry’s echo, or a steaming plate of lakeside catch, Tihany serves culture with a view—and invites you to explore beyond the village edge on hikes across the volcanic hills and protected wetlands.
Science in the Attic
November 14, 2025, brings Tetőtéri esték (Attic Evenings) with Tullner Jób OSB tackling Meteorology: Science or Fortune-Telling? A monk with a mind for weather takes on the eternal question: precision or prophecy? It’s a cozy, thought-stirring night in Tihany, with the lake’s shifting winds as a silent co-speaker.
Gardália: Autumn’s Big Lake Party
November 14–16, 2025, is Gardália, Lake Balaton’s autumn festival and Tihany’s proudest tradition, where the lake, fishing, and community past meet the present. For three days it’s all about Balaton fish: fresh-off-the-grill specialties, ice-bed delicacies, wines from nearby slopes, live music, craft stalls, and that easy Tihany warmth spilling through the main street.
The HUN-REN Balaton Limnological Research Institute levels up its popular-science presence this year—expect demos, clear explanations of what’s happening in the lake right now, and yes, answers to where the fabled garda have gone. Saturday packs the main street with artisan vendors; Sunday hands the square to cooking teams, answering hunger with smoke, spice, and friendly rivalry. Come celebrate fishing, community, and the melancholic glow of the autumn lake.
Guitar Mass in the Abbey
Two evenings of gentle devotion and shimmering strings in the Benedictine Abbey Church of Tihany (Tihanyi Bencés Apátsági Templom): November 15 and December 6, 2025. A third Guitar Mass closes out the year on December 27. The Benedictine abbey’s acoustics wrap modern accompaniment around centuries of prayer, turning a winter night into a warm echo.
Hunt Tihany’s Hidden Treasures
November and December are perfect for outdoor sleuthing. Across multiple weekly windows, the Szabadtéri játékos túra (Outdoor Playful Tour) sends you into Tihany with a brand-new, uniquely designed game that blends treasure hunt, local lore, and team spirit. It’s not just for kids; grown-ups get just as hooked. Expect to learn the streets, squares, and landmarks by doing, not by reading.
– November 10–16, 2025
– November 17–23, 2025
– November 24–30, 2025
– December 1–7, 2025
– December 8–14, 2025
– December 15–21, 2025
– December 22–28, 2025
– December 29, 2025–January 4, 2026
Grab your team, chase clues, and enjoy the thrill of discovery—with the lake and abbey as your backdrop.
Another Attic Evening
On December 12, 2025, Korzenszky Richárd OSB steps up for Tetőtéri esték with a talk that pairs monastic calm with sharp insight. It’s the sort of evening where you walk in for a lecture and leave with a pocketful of perspective.
The Year, Framed
While the late-year highlights shine bright—Gardália’s smoky pans, the abbey’s guitar strings, the treasure hunt’s steady beat—Tihany stretches the calendar. September sets the stage, November deepens the tones, December warms the edges, and from January to December the village keeps adding notes: exhibitions, concerts, theater, food events, and plenty of optional and guaranteed programs that make a weekend feel like a discovery and a week like a story. Hike the rim trails above the Inner Lake, wander the basalt cones, track birdlife across the reeds, then circle back into town for wine, music, and craft. The peninsula’s natural and cultural riches aren’t a list to tick off—they’re an invitation to return.
Pack curiosity. Bring an appetite. And leave time for the view—because in Tihany, even the pauses are part of the program.
