Budapest Thermal Baths Now Gellert Is Closed: Which to Pick and What Each Costs

Széchenyi in Városliget

The bath is the mustard-yellow palace in Városliget. The big outdoor pool runs at 36 to 38°C, with the chess boards floating at one edge. Indoors there are medical pools from 28 to 40°C and plunge pools at 18°C and 40°C.

A day ticket with a locker is 13 200 Ft Monday to Thursday and 14 800 Ft Friday to Sunday. Holidays and peak season cost 15 800 Ft, and the online fast-track ticket is 2 000 Ft more. It opens at 07:00 on weekdays and 08:00 at weekends. Closing is 20:00, or 22:00 on Friday, and the pools clear 20 minutes before that.

Children under 14 are not admitted, so a family needs a different bath. Saturday nights are given over to a ticketed pool party for over-18s only.

The two Ottoman baths

Rudas Gyógyfürdő és Uszoda is in the city centre, and its octagonal pool sits under a 16th-century stone dome that drops shafts of coloured light into the steam. On the upper terrace there is a small round pool at 36°C, knee-to-chest deep, looking straight across the Danube at the Pest skyline. The pools under the dome run from 16°C to 42°C.

Check the schedule before you plan a weekday visit. The Turkish bath is women only all day Tuesday and men only all day Wednesday. On Monday, Thursday and Friday it is men only until 10:45. It is mixed, with swimsuits, at weekends and from 11:00 on those three days. A day ticket to all zones is 12 000 Ft Monday to Thursday, 15 000 Ft Friday to Sunday and 16 000 Ft on holidays. Night bathing on Friday and Saturday, 22:00 to 03:00, is 15 000 Ft and sold online only. The bath opens at 06:00 daily and closes at 20:00, 22:00 on Monday. Nobody under 14 gets in at any time.

Irgalmasok Veli bej Fürdője is the quiet one, hidden inside a working hospital courtyard off Árpád fejedelem útja. Star-shaped skylights are cut into a low stone dome over a pool at 36 to 38°C, with four small alcove pools in the corners. Tickets cover a three-hour stay and are sold only at the cash desk on site. Entry is capped at about 80 people, and a large group arriving together can be turned away. A morning session is 5 700 Ft, afternoons and weekends 6 700 to 7 200 Ft, and overstaying costs 40 Ft a minute. There are morning and afternoon sessions Wednesday to Sunday, and afternoons only on Monday and Tuesday. Under-14s are not let in, and the hot steam cabins are out of order.

Szent Lukács instead of Gellért

Szent Lukács Gyógyfürdő on Frankel Leó út is the Buda-side bath locals use, and trams 17 and 19 stop outside the entrance. The courtyard is walled with marble thank-you plaques left by bathers over a century. Behind it is the outdoor adventure pool at 33 to 35°C.

An adult ticket is 7 000 Ft Monday to Thursday and 8 000 Ft Friday to Sunday. A weekday ticket for the last two hours is 3 800 Ft, and Sauna World is 1 300 Ft on top. It is open from 07:00 to 19:00 every day, to 22:00 on Tuesday.

Two baths on Margitsziget

Palatinus Strandfürdő is the 1930s open-air lido in the middle of Margitsziget, and it is the cheapest way to sit in hot water outdoors in the city. The sitting pool at 32 to 36°C is open every day of the year, and in winter a heated corridor takes you out to the 26°C swimming pool. The wave pool and the adventure pools are summer only, so do not promise children slides. An adult ticket is 3 800 Ft on weekdays and 4 200 Ft at weekends, and a family of four pays 10 100 Ft or 11 200 Ft. It is open 09:00 to 16:00 daily. Wheelchair users cannot be accommodated because of a technical fault.

Ensana Thermal Margaret Island is the hotel spa on the same island, fed by the island's own spring, and day tickets start at 12 000 Ft. The thermal pool runs 37 to 38°C and is for ages 14 and over, while the recreational pool takes children from six. Non-hotel guests have to be in by 20:30. Day access is not guaranteed, so keep a second bath in mind.

Dandár in Ferencváros

Dandár Gyógyfürdő is a small brick bath on a back street in Ferencváros, a short walk from the Danube embankment south of the centre. The open-air pool in the walled yard is 38°C and there is a lawn to sit on, with almost no tourists in sight. A thermal ticket is 3 500 Ft on weekdays and 4 000 Ft at weekends. The komplex ticket, which covers the sauna and the outdoor pools, is 4 500 Ft or 5 000 Ft. Open 09:00 to 19:00, and to 22:00 on Thursday.

Baths that take children

Csillaghegyi Árpád Forrásfürdő at Pusztakúti út, in the far north, is the pick if you have children with you. Spring-fed pools run in terraces down a green slope, with slides and a children's world, and the only place the under-14s cannot go is the sauna world. An all-zones ticket is 6 200 Ft on weekdays and 6 600 Ft at weekends. A family ticket for four is 12 300 Ft or 13 700 Ft, and adults who skip the sauna pay 4 500 Ft. Open 06:00 to 20:00 daily, to 22:00 on Wednesday.

Aquaworld Resort Budapest, on the northern edge of the city, is the fallback when the children want slides. There is no thermal or medicinal water, so treat it as a water park. An adult full day is 10 000 Ft on weekdays, and 11 900 Ft at weekends and in peak periods. Children aged 3 to 13 pay 6 000 Ft or 7 100 Ft. The giant slides rotate Monday to Friday and all of them open at weekends, so go on a Saturday if the slides are the point. Online tickets cannot be bought for the same day.

Baths worth a train ride

Miskolctapolcai Barlangfürdő reopened on 20 August 2026, after two years shut following a fire. You bathe in the limestone cave halls themselves, at around 30 to 32°C. An adult all-day ticket is 8 500 Ft, three hours is 6 000 Ft, and entry from 16:00 is 4 300 Ft. An InterCity from Budapest-Keleti to Miskolc-Tiszai takes about two hours. Tram 1 and bus 20 finish the journey, so allow about three hours door to door. Open 09:00 to 19:00, with the ticket office closing at 18:00.

Hunguest Saliris Egerszalók has outdoor pools at 33 to 38°C looking at a white travertine hill that spills down the slope. Walking on the terrace is not allowed, so you look at it from the water. An adult full day is 10 700 Ft Monday to Thursday and 11 900 Ft Friday to Sunday. Take a train to Eger, about one hour forty-five minutes, then a bus or taxi for the last 8 km. It opens at 10:00 and closes at 20:00, 21:00 on Friday and Saturday.

Dates and booking to check

Széchenyi and Rudas both close at 16:00 on 8 December. Széchenyi opens at 08:00 from 18 December to 6 January. Non-hotel guests cannot use the island hotel spa from 19 December to 10 January. Buy Rudas night bathing and Széchenyi fast-track online, and remember Veli bej sells tickets only at its own cash desk.

See the Budapest guide and the Budapest hotel search.