Gellért Baths

Of all the baths in Budapest, the Gellért Baths are the most luxurious: they has been described as like taking a bath in a cathedral. Standing on the Buda side of the Danube, by Liberty Bridge and at the foot of Gellért Hill, it’s the perfect place to rest after a day on your feet — or you can simply slip from your bed into the bath, quite literally if you are staying at the Danubius Hotel Gellért.

Built between 1912 and 1918 in Art Nouveau style, the whole complex has recently been refurbished. Within you will find a huge tiled arcade, with mosaic floors, stained glass and domed ceilings. Eight thermal pools hold water that ranges from 26 to 38 degrees celsius in temperature, but there’s much more besides: massage halls, beauty salons, cafés, a chiropody hall, and even a dentistry complex, oddly enough. If you’re feeling brave, roast in the sauna before hopping into the freezing plunge pool.

Water of Life

The thermal baths contain water taken from Gellért hill’s hot springs. It contains all sorts of things, such as calcium, magnesium, hydrocarbonate, alkalis and sulfate, and people swear by it as treatment for a whole range of conditions, from joint problems to circulatory disturbances, and from asthma to neuralgia.

Venus and Mars

From its inception to January 2013, the Gellért baths had traditionally been separated into pools for men and pools for women. Now they are all mixed, so you won’t have to split up to enjoy them.