Every Thermal Bath in Budapest, Compared
Updated September 2026 · Verified against official and operator sources
Budapest sits on more than a hundred thermal springs, and the eleven public baths built on top of them are not interchangeable. Szechenyi is not Rudas. Gellert, the one usually recommended first, is currently closed. Most articles on this pick four or five favourites and describe them in prose; none of the guides that currently rank for this topic put all eleven side by side with comparable data, and none of them break down more than two or three baths individually the way this guide does below.
The table below covers all eleven, verified against budapest.org, each bath's official site where one exists, and Viator or GetYourGuide's live listings for the ones sold online. Every section after it covers one bath on its own, including the smaller, more local ones.
All 11 baths, side by side
| Bath | Where | What it is | Entry from | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Szechenyi | City Park, Pest | Neo-Baroque, 15 indoor + 3 outdoor pools | from €55 (Viator) | Open |
| Gellert | Kelenhegyi u., Buda | Art Nouveau, indoor + outdoor | - | Closed until 2028 |
| Rudas | Danube riverside, Buda | Ottoman, rooftop pool with river view | 12,000 HUF (weekday) | Open |
| Lukacs | Near Margaret Island, Buda | Historic, multiple pools at different temperatures | from €33 (Viator) | Open |
| Palatinus | Margaret Island | Family water park, 15 pools incl. 1937 wave pool | from €27 (Viator) | Open, seasonal outdoor |
| Kiraly | Fő u., Buda | Ottoman, built 1565, 5 pools + outdoor wooden tub | - | Closed for renovation |
| Veli Bej | Buda | Ottoman hamam, one octagonal pool, no advance tickets | - | Open |
| Dandar | Pest, south | Small, local, budget option, 14+ only | - | Open |
| Paskal | Pest, outer | Built 1989, refurbished 2016, most modern of the older baths | from €25 (Viator) | Open |
| Csillaghegyi Arpad | Csillaghegy, Buda | Established 1919, modernised 2018, 14 pools (4 indoor + 10 seasonal) | from €22.50 (GetYourGuide) | Open |
| Mandala Day Spa | Ipoly u. 8, Pest | Modern day spa, massage-focused | - | Open |
Entry prices change with season and day of the week at almost every bath on this list, and the affiliate prices above are for the ticket products sold through Viator and GetYourGuide, not always the same as walking up and buying an official on-site ticket. Confirmed as of September 2026.
How to choose between them
Four questions do most of the work:
- First time in Budapest, want the photo? Szechenyi. It is the one on every postcard, and the range of pools makes it forgiving for a first visit.
- Want the view more than the people-watching? Rudas, for the rooftop pool on the Danube.
- Want fewer tourists and more locals? Lukacs or Veli Bej, both used daily by Budapest residents rather than tour groups. Kiraly used to be a third option but is currently closed for renovation.
- Travelling with kids? Palatinus, the only one of the eleven built around family use.
The six smaller baths further down the table are worth knowing about mainly if you already have a reason to be in that part of the city, not as a special trip on their own; more on each of them below.
Why Gellert is not on this list as an option
Gellert Baths closed for a full renovation on 1 October 2025, and the operator's own site puts the reopening in 2028, with no month attached. It is still one of the best known baths in Budapest, and the closure is not widely reflected yet, so plenty of people turn up expecting to get in. If you already had a Gellert visit planned, Szechenyi, Rudas and Lukacs are the three baths closest to it in character, and Palatinus is the only one with a working wave pool.
The closure, the evidence that what you will read elsewhere is wrong, and a bath-by-bath substitute with 2026 prices are in our page on whether Gellert Baths is open.
Szechenyi, in more detail
Szechenyi is the largest medicinal bath in Europe and the one every Instagram photo of Budapest baths is taken at: a mustard-yellow Neo-Baroque complex in City Park with three large outdoor pools and fifteen indoor ones. It is also the busiest, and the entry price and current opening hours change often enough that it gets its own page.
Private Entrance to Szechenyi Spa, with Optional Massage
An entry ticket to Szechenyi with a private entrance, bought ahead so you skip the ticket counter. The most-reviewed Szechenyi product on Viator by a wide margin, with an optional massage add-on.
Full guide, current hours and everything that catches first-time visitors out: Szechenyi Thermal Bath.
Szechenyi is also the only bath on this list that turns into a nightclub. On Saturday nights from February to December it hosts Sparty, an 18-plus bath party that costs from 69 euros and opens two of the complex's eighteen pools, with no saunas and no massages. It is a different night out at roughly twice the price of a day ticket, and worth understanding before you book it as a way of seeing the baths.
Rudas, for the view
Rudas sits on the Danube riverside on the Buda side, an Ottoman-era bath whose rooftop pool looks straight across the river to the Pest skyline. It is the one bath on this list built specifically around that outlook rather than added to it.
Entry is 12,000 HUF Monday to Thursday, 15,000 Friday to Sunday and 16,000 on holidays, bought from the bath's own online shop or at the desk. The booking platforms do not sell a plain Rudas entry ticket, only bath-and-brunch packages at roughly triple that, so buy direct. Rudas also admits nobody under 14.
The thing to check before you go is the day. The Ottoman bath at the centre of Rudas is women only on Tuesdays and men only on Wednesdays, all day, with no mixed session on either, and men have the mornings until 10:45 on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays too. The wellness pools, swimming pool and sauna world stay mixed every day, so a single-sex day is not a closed door. The full schedule, the 2026 prices and the rooftop pool that holds sixteen people are in our complete guide to Rudas.
Lukacs, for fewer tourists
Lukacs, near Margaret Island on the Buda side, is one of Budapest's older working baths, built around multiple pools at different temperatures rather than one large complex. It draws a noticeably more local crowd than Szechenyi, day-pass regulars rather than tour groups. Since 1 August 2025, it only admits guests aged 14 and over.
Full-Day Admission to Budapest Lukacs Thermal Bath
A full-day entry ticket to Lukacs, bought ahead rather than relying on the ticket counter. Far fewer reviews than Szechenyi's product, in keeping with how much less touristy the bath itself is.
Palatinus, for families
Palatinus, on Margaret Island, is the only one of the eleven baths built specifically around family use: fifteen pools in total, including a wave pool, plus dedicated play pools for younger children alongside the thermal pools for adults. It is also the only bath here that still admits under-14s, and the cheapest by a distance: 3,800 HUF on weekdays, 4,200 at weekends.
Correcting what this page said until 29 September 2026, when we checked it against the operator instead of against ourselves: Palatinus is not a summer-only complex. Its opening-hours page states that the bath opens every day of the year, 9:00 to 19:00, and it publishes a separate winter tariff that took effect on 14 September 2026. The wave pool is listed as in service at 28 degrees; the round outdoor pool closes from 4 October.
Budapest Palatinus Bath Full-Day Admission
Full-day entry to Palatinus with skip-the-line access, useful in summer when the outdoor pools and slides draw the biggest crowds on Margaret Island.
Kiraly, currently closed
Kiraly, on Fő utca in Buda, is an Ottoman-era bath built in 1565, with five pools plus an outdoor wooden tub, one of the oldest bath buildings in the city. It has been closed for restoration since 2019, and as of September 2026 still has no confirmed reopening date, current estimates point to sometime in 2026 at the earliest. Several older guides online still list it as open. The nearest alternatives, both Ottoman-era baths themselves, are Rudas and Veli Bej.
Veli Bej, walk-up only
Veli Bej, also in Buda and run by a religious order rather than the city's bath operator, is a smaller Ottoman hamam built around a single octagonal pool. It opens Monday and Tuesday 15:00-21:00, and Wednesday to Sunday 06:00-12:00 and 15:00-21:00, and does not sell advance tickets online at all, so it is walk-up only.
Dandar, the local budget option
Dandar, in southern Pest, is a small, local, budget-priced bath without the architecture of the bigger names, open every day from 9:00 to 19:00 with last entry at 18:00. Since 1 August 2025 it only admits guests aged 14 and over, the same restriction now in place at Szechenyi, Rudas and Lukacs.
Paskal, the most modern of the older baths
Paskal, in outer Pest, was built in 1989 and refurbished in 2016, making it the most modern of the older baths, open daily from roughly 06:00 to 20:00. It sells an entry ticket through Viator, from €25.
Csillaghegyi Arpad, in the hills of Buda
Csillaghegyi Arpad, in the Csillaghegy district of Buda, started life as an open-air lido in 1919; a 2018 renovation added the modern Bauhaus-style complex visitors see today, with fourteen pools in total, four indoor and ten seasonal outdoor ones, plus a dedicated sauna area. It has a genuine hillside setting rather than a downtown courtyard, and dedicated children's pools alongside the adult ones, though the mineral-rich thermal pools themselves are recommended only from age 14 or with a doctor's note. Open daily 9:00-19:00, last entry 18:00, priced from around €22.50 through GetYourGuide.
Mandala Day Spa, for a massage day
Mandala Day Spa, at Ipoly utca 8 in Pest, is a modern, massage-focused day spa rather than a historic public bathhouse: pools, a jacuzzi and steam and sauna rooms built around treatments rather than soaking. Open every day, 10:00-20:00.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gellert Baths open?
No. Gellert closed for a major renovation on 1 October 2025 and is not expected to reopen before 2028. The closure covers the entire complex: indoor pools, the outdoor wave pool, saunas and the treatment areas. Szechenyi, Rudas and Lukacs are the usual substitutes, and several older guides online still list Gellert as open, so double-check before you build a day around it.
Which thermal bath is best for a first visit to Budapest?
Szechenyi, for two reasons: the Neo-Baroque building is the one everyone pictures when they think of Budapest, and it has the widest range of pools and temperatures for a first-timer. It's also the most crowded, so go early on a weekday if you can.
How many thermal baths are there in Budapest?
Eleven that are commonly listed as the city’s real public thermal baths: Szechenyi, Rudas, Gellert, Lukacs, Palatinus, Kiraly, Veli Bej, Dandar, Paskal, Csillaghegyi Arpad and Mandala Day Spa. Budapest sits on more than a hundred thermal springs in total, but most of those never became public bathhouses.
Which Budapest thermal bath has the best view?
Rudas, by a clear margin. Its rooftop pool sits right on the Danube with a panoramic view across to the Buda side, and it is the one bath on this list built specifically around that outlook rather than added to it.
Which thermal baths in Budapest are good for families with kids?
Palatinus, on Margaret Island. It is the only one of the eleven built around family use: water slides, a wave pool dating to 1937 and dedicated play pools for younger children, alongside the thermal pools for adults, with no minimum age. Csillaghegyi Arpad also has dedicated children's pools, though its main mineral-rich thermal pools are recommended only from age 14 or with a doctor's note, same as the four baths below.
Is there a minimum age at Budapest thermal baths?
At four of them, yes. Since 1 August 2025, Szechenyi, Rudas, Lukacs and Dandar only admit guests aged 14 and over, a rule most older guides online do not mention. Palatinus has no age minimum and is built for families instead, and the smaller local baths generally do not enforce one either, though it is worth checking on arrival if you are travelling with younger children.
Do you need to book thermal bath tickets in advance in Budapest?
For Szechenyi, Lukacs and Palatinus, only if you want a guaranteed time and to skip the ticket counter: all three sell advance tickets online, and Szechenyi in particular gets busy enough in summer that walking up without one can mean a real wait. Veli Bej is the opposite case: it does not sell advance tickets at all, so it is walk-up only.
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