268. Budapest's Traditional Thermal Baths

Where: Budapest, Hungary
When: July 1-3, 2017
With: Dave, Aunt Lee, Uncle Joe, Pam, Mary Kate

Budapest has a lot of things to see and do, but the far-and-away most unique thing is its thermal baths. The city sits on top of natural thermal springs, and over the centuries, the various occupiers of Hungary, from the Magyars to the Turks to the Russians, appreciated the medicinal benefits of the waters. 

While several versions of the baths have existed over the years, the three most famous ones in the city now are Szechenyi, Gellért and Rudas. Each provide a very different and unique experience. Rudas is probably the most authentic, separating the men from the women with a "no clothing" policy. We decided to skip that one (no need for Dave and my Uncle Joe to have an incredibly awkward soak together) and visit the other two in the city.

Dave and I first visited the Gellért Baths, located inside the Gellért Hotel on the Buda side of the river. Being located inside a fancy hotel, this one is considered the most spa-like and ritzy of the baths.

Now while this was our first bath experience, we could tell this would be a pretty nice one just from the entrance. Completed in 1918, Gellért has been open every day since, even through World War II, when a section of the baths were bombed.  

The center courtyard of Gellért contains a lap pool with slightly cooler waters. Hot from hiking Budapest all day, Dave and I jumped in until we realized everyone else was in a swimcap. We luckily jumped out before we got in trouble. 

Two arms of the building shoot off from this main pool into what used to be the segregated women's and men's section of the baths. Now both are open for everyone to use. Each arm contains locker rooms, two large baths, some saunas and plunge pools. Each bath was decorated beautifully with statues, arched skylights, and varying temperatures of restorative water. 

The mosaics covering the floor and ceiling are beautiful works of art. 

The natural mineral water pours through these gorgeous fountains and is pumped in at various volumes to change the overall temperature of the bath. Mosaics marked the temperature of each pool. The filtration system means that the water is effectively new every two days. 

The minerals have been building up on the fountains over the years, creating an addendum to the original design. I liked that these guys appear to have grown a mineral mustache. 

So Dave and I relaxed our jetlag away in this setting (I even took a nap in the water). It was relatively peaceful, the arched ceilings echoing but dulling the otherwise normal chatter of a communal pool. 

After feeling properly restored, we headed outside to the "recent" addition of the baths, a wave pool from the 1930s. We swam around in this massive swimming pool for what felt like an hour, but no waves ever came (I'm sure they came as soon as we left). However,  it was beautiful to just take in where we were while we waited. Added bonus was the Red Bull Air Race going on over our heads, resulting in tiny planes zipping around and doing loop-de-loops over our heads. 

Our final soak was in the outdoor bath, where we relaxed and took in the sunny day, blue skies, and appreciation for where we were. 

For our second bath experience, we were joined by my family a couple days later to see how the Pest side does a bath. For this one, we headed to the City Park which holds the Szechenyi Baths. Very different from Gellért in that this is where the locals go. 

Right from the start, it was pretty clear that this bath was busier, including the massive line to get in (we luckily bypassed with prepaid tickets!) We rented lockers, and as I was waiting for everyone to get changed, I marvelled at how beautiful the baths were from above. 

The outdoor baths have two thermal pools, the "relaxing" one and the "fun" one, connected in the middle by a cooler lap pool. We soaked ourselves in the "relaxing" one (the "fun" one was having a bit too much fun) and found the crowds seemed to dissipate in the surprisingly spacious pool. It was dreamy soaking away in the warm water and sunshine.

There were 15 additional pools inside the yellow building, sitting one after another in one big line. Each bath had a different balance of minerals, temperatures and scents to provide unique medicinal benefits. While we were sampling a few of the various pools we saw some of the locals dipping themselves along the different baths in a well-rehearsed, prescribed regimen. It was insanely crowded inside though, making it difficult to truly enjoy with any serenity.

However, there was a sign for a particular bath that piqued our interest more than any other...

Anyone that knows my family knows we like a drink, so we set off on a hunt for the Beer Spa. After quite a maze of stairs and locker rooms, we finally found an unassuming door and crept through, finding the quiet of a spa on the other side, aside from a happy "halloooo" coming from behind the sliding doors. 

The Beer Spa turned out to be giant beer barrels that are filled with fresh thermal water, barley, malt and bath salts. Guests are allowed to soak in this bath for 45 minutes. However, the best part of the whole thing was the open tap just beside the barrel, allowing unlimited, ice cold beer to be poured throughout the experience. We immediately booked three tubs.

It was meant-to-be as we secured the last three tubs for the day. And it was as amazing as we expected it to be. 

Uncle Joe couldn't get over how nice the water was and how cold the beer was. 

Happy to be with family!

This couldn't have been a better thermal bath experience. I would easily go back again and again if I could (and not just to the beer spa!) Happy to have smashed my first book item out with my family.