The Baths of Budapest

The Rácz Hotel and Thermal Spa has its own hot spring, which supplies the extensive spa. The complex includes a 16th-century Turkish bath with a domed roof, saunas, steam rooms, and five pools. The oldest parts of the spa have no electricity, so guests are given waterproof lanterns to light their way. Rooms in the hotel offer some of the best views of the city.

An Art Nouveau hotel on the western (Buda) side of the River Danube, just below Géllert Hill, Danubius Hotel Gellért first opened its doors in 1918, and quickly became one of the city’s most popular places to stay, attracting international royalty and a fair number of U.S. presidents. Today, the hotel’s biggest draw is the Géllert Spa, a sprawling complex comprised of multiple hot-spring baths along with steam rooms, saunas, and an outdoor wave pool that dates to 1927. The 234 rooms are large and elegant, with classical furnishings that echo the stately historical atmosphere of the common areas. Dine under crystal chandeliers at Panoráma restaurant, and don’t miss the huge stained-glass pictorial windows and wrought-iron banisters that ornament the main staircase.

It’s an unforgettable experience: Getting up at the crack of dawn in mid-winter, walking through the large municipal park on the Pest side of town, checking in to the Széchenyi Thermal Bath (mostly with Hungarian pensioners because tourists usually arrive later), and slowly easing into one of its three large outdoor hot spring pools, surrounded by the golden yellow neo-Baroque palace—built in 1913 for the baths—while old men playing chess in the water. Then watch as the sun rises slowly, and your breath dissipates into the cold, crisp air. The spa has 15 indoor baths, too, as well as 10 saunas at various temperatures. This spa isn’t about being posh, it’s about easing into the kind of everyday self-care that Hungarians have known and avidly practiced for centuries. Just join them.

Throughout Budapest are a whopping 123 therapeutic hot springs, but these, in the stately, slightly dusty Hotel Gellért (built in 1918) might be the most famous. The communal bath in the center of the hotel spa is for everyone, but the most interesting traditional spa experience is in the back thermal pools, which have been coed since 2013. Here, join Hungarian locals in pools of varied temperatures, steam baths, and saunas, and jumping into ice-cold baths in between. Everyone takes their time to not only bask in the baths but also gaze at the Art Nouveau tiling on the walls and vaulted ceilings.

With six thermal pools, a large swimming pool, a wellness area, and an oft-Instagrammed rooftop jacuzzi, Rudas has been a full-service spa bathhouse since its restoration and renovation in 2014. Its center, however, reveals a centuries-long history: the octagonal pool under a domed ceiling and surrounded by old stone vaults and pillars, dates to 1550, the Ottoman occupation of Budapest, and is thus literally steeped in history. Though it initially only served men, Rudas now separates genders on weekdays (Tuesdays are for women) and offers coed bathing on weekends. Tip: single-gender bathing can be fabulously pressure-free and almost spiritual; Rudas is the only place that this is still possible. And Fridays and Saturdays, Rudas stays open until 4a.m. Tickets can be booked online.

Arslan, a Turkish pasha, began building Király (which means “King” in Hungarian) inside Buda’s castle walls in the sixteenth century so he could bathe even under possible siege. Thus, this bathhouse doesn’t have its own hot spring—it has piped in its thermal water from the Lucasz bathhouse for nearly 500 years. The central octagonal pool in a dark-stone setting provides a sultry atmosphere favored by younger locals and in-the-know visitors, who also enjoy the green inner courtyard for bathing breaks. Kiraly hasn’t been restored since the 1950s and it shows; the necessary revamp—slated to begin in late 2019 and end in 2020—will add new services and expand facilities. Watch for possible closures.