The Great Lake Balaton Neon Overview – Siófok Part III.

June 24, 2026

As the largest and most populous town on Lake Balaton, Siófok was naturally full of neon signs in the 1960s and ’70s. Numerous restaurants, hotels, bars, and even nightclubs operated here – places that were also visited by celebrities.

This is how Esti Hírlap wrote about Siófok in 1969:

“Siófok is the queen of Lake Balaton. Földvár may be prettier, Füred more established, Lelle more charming, Boglár more cheerful. Almádi may be lovelier, Tihany more imposing, Kenese more homely – but when it comes to culture and grandeur, Siófok takes the lead. This is the Balaton resort that has benefited the most from development so far, where most foreign visitors arrive, where the restaurants are the most elegant and the hotels the most modern. Yet all this is no longer the privilege of the few, but belongs to the masses…

…A whole series of new catering establishments have opened in Siófok. In place of the Fogas Restaurant, a modern, gleaming row of buffets has been built; next to the milk bar, a music café has opened. At the boat station stands the Mackó Buffet, sparkling with neon.”

However, the large number of newly installed neon signs also had a downside: these advertisements, not particularly resistant to the elements, required constant maintenance. A 1965 article in Tolna Megyei Népújság gave a detailed account of a maintenance crew referred to as the “doctors of Balaton’s neon lights.” This three-person team was responsible for repairing and maintaining more than a thousand neon installations along the southern shore of Lake Balaton, from Lepsény to Tapolca.

When asked how often the signs broke down, they answered:

“Take the Tünde Bar, for example. Three days after we completed the job, eight broken letters had to be replaced. The bar is open at night, but during the day no one is there. Children play ball and use slingshots, and a neon sign is a very sensitive ‘target’.”

But they were not always called out because of a typical malfunction:

“We had to dismantle and replace the neon sign of the State Insurance Company in Fonyód because it had broken down and started flashing. The flashing red light was mistaken for an emergency signal, and one after another the Balaton boats interrupted their route and headed into the harbour. Now they will probably choose a different colour at the insurance company.”

With this in mind, it becomes a little easier to understand why so many neon signs eventually disappeared. Thanks to Fortepan, however, we can still look back at the signs of these once-popular places.

The beautiful 1960s typography of Hotel Lidó has unfortunately since been replaced by a much more characterless sign, but the hotel itself is still open today.

Photos: Hotel Lidó in 1967 and today, Fortepan

Photos: Hotel signs on Petőfi sétány in 1966, Fortepan

Places with wonderful names, such as the Tünde Hotel or the Borharapó, no longer exist. I wonder where these signs might be today?

Photos: Tünde Restaurant in 1963 and Borharapó in 1965, Fortepan

One of the most popular places at the boat station was Matróz.

Photos: Matróz buffet with its staff in 1959, Fortepan

Photos: Sió Buffet on the shore in 1959, and Motel Restaurant in 1962, Fortepan

Photo: Hullám Bistro along the hotel row in 1976, Fortepan

The dancing sign of the Éden Bar and Night Club is my absolute favourite. The striptease bar, which opened in 1966, was a real curiosity at the time.

A fun fact: according to some accounts, Elizabeth Taylor, as well as Shah Reza Pahlavi and his wife, also visited the place during this period.

Photo: Éden Night Club in 1971, Fortepan

The Delta Restaurant was one of the most distinctive buildings around Lake Balaton. Inside, it housed a restaurant, a bar, and a nightclub. What made the Delta venues special was that they operated all year round, while the night bars were usually seasonal, opening at 9 p.m. and staying open until 4 a.m. During the New Year’s Eve period, however, these were also opened.