Your guide to the best thermal baths in Budapest

Underneath Budapest, there is a wealth of mineral hot springs with healing properties and one of the top highlights when going to Budapest is to visit a thermal spa. These bathhouses have been used for thousands of years and the strong bathing culture is something you must experience when visiting Budapest.

I have visited Budapest multiple times and every time I visit, I make sure to soak in the hot water of different baths. After testing out several spa baths in Budapest, I’m ready to share Budapest’s best thermal baths and everything you need to know before you visit.

In this guide, you will get the scoop on all the essentials, from tickets and prices to etiquette. I’ll cover what to pack and walk you through the best thermal baths in Budapest and what sets them apart. This way you’ll be able to choose the ones you want to visit and start planning your trip.

What to expect at a Budapest thermal bath

When visiting the best baths in Budapest, you can expect them to be crowded, especially on weekends. If you can, I highly recommend going on weekdays and early in the morning to beat the crowds. You can also choose one of the lesser-known baths, like Lukács Baths.

There is generally a calm aura over the baths even if they are full of people. And even though many of these spa baths have become important tourist attractions, they remain relaxing.

The thermal water has healing proprieties and the baths are a place to slow down and reflect.

All but Rudas Baths are coed and require the use of swimwear and slippers or flip flops. Towels and bathrobes are often available at an extra charge and while lockers are generally included in the admission ticket, cabins often come at an extra cost.

Best Budapest thermal baths

Budapest boasts 123 thermal water springs and has a magnitude of bathhouses to relax in.

These picturesque baths have turned into popular tourist attractions and some of the most photographed places in Budapest. Three of the best thermal baths in Budapest (Széchenyi, Gellért, and Lukács baths) are set in protected, historical buildings.

Unfortunately, one of the oldest Turkish baths in Budapest, Király Baths, is closed until further notice, but there are plenty of other baths to choose from. Here are my favorites:

Gellért Baths

Location: Gellért Baths

Tickets: Get your ticket here

Facilities: 8 indoor and 3 outdoor pools, 5 saunas, 2 steam rooms, wellness center

Highlight: Ceramics by Zsolnay, columns and skylights

Coed: Yes

Gellért Baths are my favorite baths in Budapest. The spectacular Art Noveau architecture, colorful tilework, and the photogenic blue-tiled thermal pool set Gellért Baths in Budapest apart from the rest.

They offer an intimate atmosphere with plenty of hot and cold pools to try out. The most famous pool at Gellért Baths is the indoor swimming pool flanked by ornate columns. It is mandatory to wear a swimming cap to enter this pool.

One of the pools outside turns into a wave pool which is an interesting change from the otherwise relaxing baths.    

Insider tip: You can bring water and snacks to the baths.

Széchenyi Baths

Location: Széchenyi Baths

Tickets: Get your ticket here

Facilities: 3 outdoor pools, 15 indoor pools, 10 saunas/steam cabins, wellness center

Highlight: Outdoor pool with architectural backdrop, Sparty

Coed: Yes

The stunning Széchenyi Baths have the most photographed outdoor baths in Budapest with the distinctive yellow building surrounding the pools. It is one of the city’s most beautiful structures. Not surprisingly, Széchenyi Baths has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Budapest. Indoors, you will find several smaller hot and cold baths.

Széchenyi Baths are the most famous Budapest baths and can get busy, but there is plenty of room.   The extra offering includes the Beer Spa and the famous Sparty, which I will get back to later.

Insider tip: Come first thing in the morning to avoid the crowds, ideally on a weekday. 

Lukács Baths

Location: Lukacs Baths

Tickets: Get your ticket here

Facilities: 2 outdoor pools, 4 inside pools, 4 saunas, hammam

Highlight: healing drinking water, marble tablets with gratitude from patients cured by the spring water dating back to the late 1800s

Coed: Yes

Budapest’s baths can often feel a bit touristy and rightly so – they are beautiful tourist attractions and offer unique experiences for travelers. 

But at Lukács Baths, you will see more locals than tourists. This makes it perfect for anyone looking to escape the most touristic places in Budapest. If you want an intimate, local bathing experience in Budapest, look no further than Lukács Baths. 

This is a smaller thermal spa with only a handful of pools, but you still get the full bath experience with cold and hot baths. Try a hammam massage to truly clean your skin.

Insider tip: Try the drinking water – it has healing properties!

Rudas Baths

Location: Rudas Baths

Tickets: Get your ticket with lunch here or get a discount with the Budapest card here

Facilities: 6 indoor pools, 1 swimming pool, rooftop pool with views, 3 saunas 3 steam rooms, wellness center

Highlight: octangular pool and dome

Coed: No

Rudas Baths is a Turkish bath in Budapest and until 2006, it used to be a men-only bath. Now, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (until 12:45 PM) are men-only days and Tuesdays are only for women. 

Weekends are coed. Besides, they have coed night baths on both Fridays and Saturdays which is a unique experience, especially with cocktails at the rooftop bar overlooking the twinkling city lights.

But this is not the only thing setting Rudas Baths in Budapest apart from the rest. It is also the only bath where clothing is optional (except coed times). If you opt for no swimwear, you will be handed a small cloth to cover your private parts.

People under 14 years of age are not permitted in the pools.

Insider tip: Make sure you visit on the weekend if you are males and females wanting to go together as weekdays are not coed.

Palatinus Baths

Location: Palatinus Baths

Tickets: Get your ticket here

Facilities: 11 pools, wave pool, slides, saunas, steam rooms, wellness center

Highlight: outdoor water park

Coed: Yes

Palatinus Baths is quite a different experience than the other public baths in Budapest. Set on Margaret Island, it is a wonderful water park with plenty of life.

There are bubble baths, showers, and neck massage jets in some pools. In the winter months, only the indoor section of the spa is open with multiple hot and cold water pools.

Beer Spa

Location: Széchenyi Baths or Lukacs Baths

Tickets: Get your ticket for Széchenyi Beer Spa here or for Lukács Beer Spa here

Facilities: Private beer tubs, tap beer

Highlight: Unlimited beer included

Coed: Yes, private

Beer lovers will be delighted to know they can soak in hoppy thermal water while drinking unlimited tap beer. Both Széchenyi Beer Spa and Lukács Beer Spa offer this unique beauty treatment. Because, yes! Beer ingredients are great for your skin and hair!

Budapest’s Beer Baths offer a private bathing session where you soak in a wooden beer tub. There’s a convenient beer taps next to you for an easy refill of your pint. Meanwhile, your skin rejuvenates and toxins are flushed out of your body. That’s what I call a good deal!

Insider tip: Drink plenty of water and avoid bathing or showering for a couple of hours after the Beer Spa for the best effect on your skin.

Things to know before you visit the Budapest Baths

Budapest Thermal Baths tickets and prices

Budapest baths tickets can be booked online or on-site. Prices range between 5000 HUF and 11000 HUF (approximately 13-30 USD/EUR) for full-day tickets depending on the baths. On the weekends, the prices are slightly higher.

There are extra charges for the following:

• Cabins (around 1000 HUF, under 3 USD/EUR)
• Massages
• Spa treatments
• Beer spa
• Ice baths

Towels, swimwear, flip-flops, robes, and swimming caps can be purchased at the baths, but are not available for rental.

Budapest spa baths dress code and etiquette

Most of Budapest’s spas and baths are coed and require swimwear. The only exception is Rudas Baths where they have specific days for men and women. However, you get a small apron to cover your private bits if you don’t want to wear swimwear.

Make sure you bring the following when visiting the baths. It is also possible to purchase at the baths.

• Flip-flops
• Swimwear
• Towel
• Robe
• Swimming cap
• Water bottle
• Waterproof bag for camera/phone
• Bag to store your wet swimsuit afterwards
• Warm hat if you visit in winter

Flip-flops are mandatory and some pools require a swimming cap, but most of them don’t.

Make sure you drink lots of water when you visit the baths and I recommend eating light meals for easy and quick digestion.

Types of pools, facilities, and amenities

The hot springs in Budapest are at boiling temperatures, so the pools of the thermal baths are cooled down for hot and cold baths with temperatures ranging between 18ºC and 42ºC.

There are both indoor and outdoor pools, as well as saunas and steam rooms. Some Budapest bath houses have hammams or Turkish baths and wellness centers offering massages, facials, and aroma therapies among other treatments at an extra cost.

When you arrive at Budapest’s thermal spas, you will get a bracelet that works as a key for the lockers. If you prefer more privacy, you can pay extra for a cabin. A cabin is a glorified locker that is big enough for you to get changed in and safely store your belongings.

Visiting Budapest Baths in Winter

Visiting Budapest’s thermal baths in winter has a completely different vibe than in the summer and it feels like a warm hug in the crisp winter air. What better than warming up in 40ºC water on a cold day? 

Visiting the thermal pools in Budapest is one of the best things to do in winter in Budapest. Just make sure you have a dry towel and robe waiting for you when you get out of the water so you stay warm!

Read next: Budapest in winter

Sparty at Szechenyi Baths in Budapest

The Sparty is the only Budapest thermal baths party and it takes place in the most famous thermal baths of Budapest, the Széchenyi Baths.

Between 9:30 PM and 2 AM on weekends, the spa turns into an epic party scene with a DJ and light show over the outdoor pools. Grab a few drinks and dance the night away in the hot water!

Make sure you book your tickets in advance to avoid long queues, because this is a popular event!

The origins of city baths in Budapest

The thermal spas in Budapest originated in the Roman Empire when they discovered that the wounds from battles healed faster when bathing in the thermal water that simmered under the city.

Throughout the centuries, Budapest’s hot springs have been popular for healing and rejuvenating purposes and the baths you see today are mostly historical. You can still see some Turkish bathhouses from the Ottoman Empire, like Rudas and Király (currently closed for reconstruction.) 

Later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire built majestic architectural baths like the Széchenyi, Gellért, and Lukács baths. These are all protected, historical buildings and have turned into important tourist attractions. Tourists and locals still use the baths regularly and the 2000-year-old bathing culture is still going strong!

Getting to Budapest

Budapest is the main arrival point for anyone coming to Hungary and is well-connected to neighboring countries and the rest of Hungary by bus and train.

By air: Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, often referred to as Ferihegy, is the biggest and most frequented international airport in Hungary. It has connections to a multitude of international and national destinations. It is only 30 minutes by shuttle from the airport to the city center.

By boat: The Danube River makes Budapest accessible by boat from neighboring countries on the Danube like Vienna and Bratislava besides other local destinations located on the riverbank.

By car: Located centrally in Hungary, Budapest is easily reached from all neighboring countries by car. It can be hard to find free parking in the city center, though, so booking a hotel with private parking is ideal.

By bus: Traveling by bus to Budapest is convenient and budget-friendly from other Hungarian destinations and neighboring countries like Slovakia and Austria. Some of the bus companies that frequently travel to Budapest are FlexiBus, RegioJet, and ArdaTur.

By train: Budapest Keleti station is the city’s main inter-city train station which daily connects with 25 European capital cities. The train station is 3 km from the city center but well connected with metro lines 2 and 4.

Getting around Budapest

Budapest is a walkable city, but there are many ways you can speed up between attractions. The trams are easy to use and one of the most iconic ways to get around and you can access free public transport with the Budapest Card.

Other ways to get around are hiring a bike for the day or joining an e-bike tour of the city. There are also e-scooters for rent on the street, all you need to do is download the app of the specific e-scooter company and pay to unlock it.

You can also jump on the hop-on-hop-off bus which will drop you off at the major tourist sites. It includes an audio guide, a walking tour, and a Danube River cruise.

Planning a trip to Budapest?

Budapest is a fantastic city with a rich blend of history, culture, picturesque views, a vibrant food scene, lively nightlife, and relaxing thermal baths. With so much to explore and experience, make sure to check out the articles below for my top recommendations when visiting Budapest!