The Baths of Budapest
Budapest is an amazing city so full of character and culture. Our bank holiday weekend was the perfect amount of time to explore this somewhat quaint capital city. Check out our 2 day itinerary here!Now for what you're really interested in... Budapest is famous for the thermal springs and commonly referred to as the 'City of Baths'. It is one of the few cities to still have traditional Turkish baths from the 16th and 17th centuries!Széchenyi Baths: Located within the City Park, it is a massive complex (the largest in Europe!) with 18 pools! It has hot & cold and indoor & outdoor geothermal baths, saunas, massages, beer and wine, and even a tasting area of the natural waters--from over 1000 meters underground! Also, spotted: a quick game of water chess.
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Gellért Baths: Built some time between 1912 and 1918, this bath is the most famous Art Nouveau thermal bath in Europe. It contains 10 pools of differing size and temperatures, including an outdoor wave pool. You can also get a red wine treatment--think soaking in red wine and sipping some as well.
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Also, I have to tell you...Eastern Europe is cheap. You have to pay an entrance fee into the Baths, a fee for a locker or dressing cabin totaling about 4,800 Hungarian Forint per person or roughly 35ish USD per couple. We added on an hour long couples massage for about $ 60 more.. totaling about $100 at the Bath for a few hours in the variety of pools and an hour long couples massage! And that was for an upscale massage--they offer many types of massages at all different price points. It was such a great deal, we did it again the next day at Gellért Baths!
Have you been to the Baths of Budapest? Which was your favorite?Xx