Gellért Thermal Bath

A Summer Wellness Getaway in Budapest's Storied Baths

"Part of the under-renovation Art Nouveau Hotel Gellért, this bath features a monumental swimming pool with a glass roof and thermal pools surrounded by regal lion heads and Zsolnay porcelain tiles."

"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."

A huge and beautiful thermal bathhouse Tony went to with Vilmos Zsigmond, a cinematographer who worked on movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (He died in 2016.)

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"Several baths vie for the top spot: Gellért, with its orientalist décor and outdoor wave machine; Széchenyi, for its belle époque grandeur; and Rudas, which feels like the Turks never left."

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"Listed alongside Rudas as a famous thermal spa in the Castle District, Gellért Baths is presented as one of the notable places to enjoy Budapest’s thermal culture while staying in the upscale castle area." - Matthew Kepnes