SÉTA A BALATONSZÁRSZÓI Vers UtcÁn

Balatonszárszó is a small town on the south side of Lake Balaton in Hungary. It’s my wife’s original home town and her parents still live there so we visit every summer. As well as enjoying the lake there’s a lot of walks in the area. This is one of 2 very short sign-posted walks in the town.

The Poetry Trail opened in 2020 and is a a shorter complement to the Way of Renewal. Like the longer route, this one takes the form of a short walk around the town passing several information signs. There’s also 3 sound boxes on the route where you can hear short recordings of the featured poets.

Unlike the Way of Renewal there’s no English translation available, so unless you have a Hungarian friend you may not get the most of the text. While Google Translate can work out the text it’s still not great with the nuances of Hungarian poetry.

Start: Sign #1 outside József Attila Memorial House, Balatonszárszó, József Attila u. 7 8624
Finish: Sign #8, József Attila Memorial, Balatonszárszó, Csokonai u. 1 8624
Distance: 1 km (0.6 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 7 m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Balatonszárszó megújulás útján (Trail of Renewal)
Other routes touched (cycle): Balaton Cycle Route
Links: Article on balatonszarszo.hu, Lake Balaton, Balatonszárszó

Stop 1: Ars Poetica / Képversek

Location: outside József Attila Memorial House, Balatonszárszó, József Attila u. 7 8624
Poets mentioned: Arany Janos, Josef Attila, Ady Endre, György Rónay, László Gyarmati, László Nagy, Fodor Ákos

Stop 2: Hangulatok

Location: In Erzsébet Park between Josef Attila u and Kölcsey Ferenc u
Poets mentioned: Dezső Kosztolányi, Jenő Heltai, Ferenc Móra, György Faludy, Sándor Kányádi, Miklós Radnóti, István Csukás, Árpád Tóth

Stop 3: Extravaganza

Title in English:
Location: At entrance to Erzsébet Park on Kölcsey Ferenc u.
Poets mentioned:

Stop 4: Szárszó / Idő

Title in English: Szárszó (town name) / Time
Location: Near the Fountain (Szökőkút) at the intersection of Ady Endre u. and Fő u.
Poets mentioned: Árpád Tóth, Aranyosi Ervin, Jenő Dsida, Sándor Márai, István Csukás, Rónay György, József Attila

Stop 5: Asztali örömök

Title in English: Table pleasures
Location: At entrance to the market on Ady Endre u.
Poets mentioned: Aranyosi Ervin, Sándor Petőfi, Dezső Kosztolányi, József Attila, István Csukás, Ady Endre

Stop 6: Balaton

Title in English: Balaton
Location: At entrance to Tóparti Park on Mikszáth Kálmán u.
Poets mentioned: Dániel Berzsenyi, András Fodor, János Vajda