The Experience
Our Pick: A Széchenyi Day Ticket
Europe's best-known thermal bath, with three outdoor pools open all year. Here is what the ticket covers.
Highlights
- Outdoor thermal pool at 36-38 °C, leisure pool at 32-34 °C, swimming pool at 26-28 °C
- Neo-Baroque bath complex from 1913, which the listing counts at 3 outdoor and 15 indoor pools
- 13 options, from weekday locker passes to cabins, morning, Friday evening and weekend tickets
- Open until 22:00 on Fridays, 20:00 on other days
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before your visit
What's Included
- One-time entry to Széchenyi Thermal Bath on the booked day
- Locker in the public changing rooms or a private cabin, depending on the option
- Wristband that opens your locker or cabin
- Full-day validity until closing (morning and Friday evening tickets have set entry windows)
- Access to the outdoor and indoor thermal pools, saunas and steam rooms
- Fast-track entry on the fast-track options only
Our pick for most visitors
Check Availability & Prices
Select your preferred date and time. Instant confirmation — free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Budapest: Széchenyi Spa Tickets with Optional Upgrades
How a Bath Ticket Works
Four steps from choosing a date to the first soak.
Pick the bath and the day
Weekday, weekend and peak days are priced differently. Choose a date in the live calendar and the ticket type: locker, private cabin, fast track or a morning ticket.
Get your e-ticket
Confirmation and a mobile voucher arrive by email straight away. The voucher says where to exchange it at the bath; online tickets usually skip the walk-in queue.
Wristband, locker, pools
Your wristband opens a locker or cabin. Bring a towel, slippers (compulsory) and a swim cap if you plan to use a swimming pool.
Stay as long as you like
A day ticket is valid until closing. Ticket sales end an hour before closing time and the pools empty 20 minutes before it.
How a bath visit runs
What a Day at Széchenyi Actually Looks Like
The part first-timers miss is that a bath ticket is not a timed slot. It is a day ticket: you can soak, swim, sit in the saunas and come back to the pools until closing. What decides how good the day is comes down to three things: when you arrive, what you bring, and which pools you head for first.
- Arrive early or late — Széchenyi opens at 7:00 on weekdays and 8:00 at weekends. The Good Morning ticket is cheaper if you are in before 9:00, and on Fridays the bath stays open until 22:00, the best evening slot of the week.
- Exchange the voucher, get a wristband — Online tickets are exchanged at the online cashier by the Állatkerti körút entrance. The wristband you get opens your locker or private cabin and is your ticket for the day.
- Change, shower, slippers on — Slippers are compulsory and you shower before the pools. Towels and robes are not rented at Széchenyi, only sold, so bring your own.
- The outdoor thermal pool — The outdoor thermal pool is 36 to 38 °C all year. In winter the walk from the door to the water is the cold part; once you are in, the steam rises around you and the cold stays on your shoulders.
- Indoor pools and saunas — Inside are the medical pools, plunge pools at 18 and 40 °C and the saunas, where a towel is required. The 26 to 28 °C swimming pool outside is for laps, and a swim cap is compulsory there.
- Last call — Ticket sales stop an hour before closing and the pools are cleared 20 minutes before it. Card only at the cafés and shops inside; cash is not accepted.
Photo Gallery
Inside Széchenyi
The outdoor pools, the colonnades and the neo-baroque wings of the city's best-known bath.
Budapest's Thermal Baths Compared
Four baths open all year, priced for a real date. They differ in setting, crowds, opening hours and who is allowed in.
| Feature | OUR PICK Széchenyi: outdoor pools in City Park | Rudas: Ottoman dome by the Danube | Lukács: the locals' bath | Palatinus: family pools on Margaret Island |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $52 per person | $84 with a 3-course meal | $37 full day | $30 full day |
| Best for | The classic outdoor soak, in any weather | The 16th-century Turkish bath and a Danube view | A quieter, local-feeling bath | Families and summer pool days |
| Warmest pool | Outdoor thermal pool 36-38 °C | Turkish bath pool 42 °C | Thermal pools (temperatures not published) | Hot plunge 40-42 °C (indoor) |
| Open late | Fridays to 22:00 | Mondays to 22:00; night bathing Fri-Sat to 03:00 | Tuesdays to 22:00 | Closes 16:00 (from 19 Oct 2026) |
| Children under 14 | Not admitted | Not admitted | Not admitted | Welcome, child rate 3-14 |
| Guest rating | 4.3 from 28,758 reviews | 4.2 from 1,397 reviews | 4.0 from 351 reviews | 4.3 from 466 reviews |
| Check dates | Rudas tickets | Lukács tickets | Palatinus tickets |
More bath tickets
Other Baths and Spa Experiences
From a quiet local bath to an Ottoman dome with lunch, a beer spa or a late-night party. Every card opens our full review.
TURKISH BATH + LUNCHRudas day pass with 3-course lunch
A full day at the 450-year-old Rudas bath, with or without the Turkish bath, plus a 3-course meal and a drink at Rudas Bistro at a table time you pick when booking.
LOCAL FAVORITELukács thermal bath full-day ticket
A full-day ticket to the Lukács bath in Buda, a calmer local favorite with thermal pools, outdoor swimming pools and saunas, plus a cabin or locker.
FAMILY BATHPalatinus full-day pass, Margaret Island
A full-day ticket to Palatinus on Margaret Island, the family bath with children's pools, a 40 m swimming pool and thermal seating pools open all year.
SATURDAY NIGHT PARTYSparty Saturday night at Széchenyi
A Saturday-night party in Széchenyi's outdoor pools, 21:30 to 02:00, with a DJ, light shows and bars. Basic ticket with locker about $82, Premium with drink coupons $112. Adults 18+.
BEER SPABeer spa at Széchenyi, unlimited beer
A 45-minute private wooden tub of thermal water with hops and malt, your own unlimited beer tap and a private cabin, with an optional full-day Széchenyi ticket. From $101.
MODERN DAY SPAMandala Day Spa 3-hour pool pass
A 3-hour pass to Mandala Day Spa's candlelit bath in District XIII: four pools, a 10-person jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam cabin, with packages that add champagne, a robe, a massage chair or a light lunch.
Where to Stay
Where to Stay Near the Budapest Baths
Only one Széchenyi package includes a hotel transfer, so sleep near the bath you will visit most: City Park for Széchenyi, the Buda riverside for Rudas, Margaret Island for Palatinus and Lukács.
City Park and upper Andrássy út (Districts VI and XIV)
Széchenyi is in City Park, and the M1 metro runs under Andrássy út to Széchenyi fürdő station. You can walk to an early or a Friday-evening soak; the trade-off is a metro ride to the river and the old town.
- Mamaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest · On Andrássy út by Heroes' Square; air-conditioned rooms, free access to the Izabella Fitness.
- Mirage Medic Hotel · 19th-century building at the entrance to City Park; listing puts Széchenyi 1,969 ft away.
- ibis Styles Budapest Heroes Square · Hősök tere metro 165 ft away; air-conditioned rooms, some overlook the Zoo; 24-hour front desk.
- All stays near Széchenyi
Buda riverside by the bridges (Districts I and XI)
Rudas sits at the Buda end of Elisabeth Bridge at the foot of Gellért Hill. Hotels between the Chain Bridge and Gellért Hill are about 15 to 20 minutes on foot from it, and quieter at night than central Pest.
- Hotel Clark Budapest - Adults Only · Adults only, on Clark Ádám tér by the Chain Bridge; Leo rooftop bar, sauna, fitness center.
- Hotel Charles · On Hegyalja út below Gellért Hill; spacious rooms with a kitchenette, bus stops at the door.
- Hotel Bara Gellért · Short walk from the Citadella; rooms with balcony and soundproofing, 24-hour front desk, lift.
- All stays in Buda's District I
Margaret Island and Újlipótváros (District XIII)
Two hotels on Margaret Island have their own thermal spa and sit a short walk from Palatinus. Across the river in Újlipótváros, Lukács is about 20 minutes on foot over Margaret Bridge.
- Ensana Thermal Margaret Island · Free use of its spa: thermal, recreational and swimming pools, saunas, steam room; rooms with balcony.
- Danubius Hotel Helia · On the Danube bank opposite Margaret Island; own pools, spa and two-story fitness club.
- City Hotel Ring · On the Grand Boulevard 820 ft from Nyugati station; air-conditioned rooms, 24-hour front desk.
- All stays around Margaret Island
Planning your bath day
Budapest's Thermal Baths: What to Know Before You Book
Which bath suits your day, the rules that catch visitors out, and how much a day in the water really costs.
Budapest is a city built on hot springs, and for most visitors a soak in one of its public baths is the part of the trip they remember. The baths are not museums. They are working public pools run by the city’s bath company, used by locals before work and by visitors all day, and each one feels different. Choosing between them comes down to the kind of day you want, who you are travelling with and the season.
Which bath for which day
Our pick for a first visit is Széchenyi, in City Park. It is the one in the photographs: three outdoor pools in the courtyard of a yellow neo-baroque palace, with the thermal pool at 36 to 38 °C all year, plus indoor medical pools, plunge pools and saunas. It is also the busiest bath in the city, and its day ticket carries 28,758 reviews on GetYourGuide, more than any other bath ticket. Our Széchenyi ticket review →
Rudas, at the Buda end of Elisabeth Bridge, is the counterpoint: a 16th-century Turkish bath under an Ottoman dome, a wellness area with a panorama pool looking over the Danube, and a weekday schedule that splits the Turkish bath between men-only and women-only days. The Rudas day pass with a three-course meal starts at $84 on a weekday. Our Rudas review →
If you want a bath that still feels local, Lukács in Buda is smaller, calmer and $37 for a full day. With children, Palatinus on Margaret Island is the family bath, with a child rate and two children’s pools. Our comparison of the best thermal baths in Budapest goes bath by bath, and the guide to which Budapest thermal bath ticket is right for you sorts the twenty tickets we review by the kind of visitor each one suits.
The rules that catch visitors out
Children under 14 are not admitted at Széchenyi, Rudas, Lukács or Dandár. Staff can ask for a passport to check a teenager’s age. A swim cap is compulsory in the swimming pools, though not in the thermal pools, and slippers are compulsory everywhere. Széchenyi does not rent towels or robes: it only sells them, so bring your own. Inside the baths the shops and cafés take cards only.
Two closures matter if you have read older guides. Gellért, the Art Nouveau bath at the foot of Gellért Hill, closed on 1 October 2025 for renovation, and the operator expects it to reopen in 2028; Király is closed indefinitely. Our page on whether Gellért bath is open suggests where to go instead. At Lukács the wellness Finnish sauna and the private bath are out of use during renovation work.
When to go
Weekday mornings are the quietest time at every bath. Széchenyi opens at 7:00 from Monday to Friday, and a morning ticket before 9:00 costs less. Weekends, public holidays and the weeks around Christmas are the busiest, and are priced higher: a Széchenyi ticket with a locker was $52 on a Monday and $73 on a holiday Saturday when we checked.
Winter is the season the baths do best. With the air around freezing, steam rolls off the outdoor pools and the contrast is the point. Széchenyi keeps its outdoor pools open all year; at Palatinus only the seating pools and the swimming pool stay open. Read Budapest thermal baths in winter before a December or January visit, including the holiday opening hours.
Evenings and night bathing
Most baths close at 19:00 or 20:00, but each has a late night. Széchenyi stays open until 22:00 on Fridays, Lukács on Tuesdays and Dandár on Thursdays. Rudas runs night bathing on Fridays and Saturdays from 22:00 to 03:00, sold only on its own site. The Sparty turns Széchenyi’s outdoor pools into a club night on Saturdays from 21:30 to 02:00, for over-18s with photo ID. Our guide to the baths at night lists every late opening by weekday.
Upgrades worth paying for
A private cabin instead of a locker costs a few dollars more at Széchenyi and is worth it if you are carrying a camera or a change of clothes for dinner. Fast-track tickets earn their price on weekends and in the festive weeks. The beer spa is a 45-minute private wooden tub of thermal water infused with hops and malt, with unlimited draft beer, from $101. For a quieter, more polished afternoon, the luxury day spas and the bath and massage packages cover Mandala Day Spa, the Széchenyi Palm House and the hotel spas on Margaret Island. You can also make a full day of it with the spa and Danube cruise packages.
What it costs
On dates we checked in late October 2026, a full day at a public bath cost $25 at Dandár, $30 at Palatinus, $37 at Lukács and $52 at Széchenyi on a weekday. Rudas with a meal starts at $84. Day spas and packages run from $54 at Mandala to $157 for the beer spa with a Széchenyi ticket. The Budapest thermal baths prices guide lists every ticket alongside the baths’ own walk-in prices in forints, and what towels, robes and swim caps cost if you forget them. If you are still choosing a base, our guide to where to stay in Budapest picks hotels near the main baths.
Guest Reviews
What Széchenyi Visitors Say
Ratings and review counts are the ticket sellers' live figures on GetYourGuide and may shift slightly day to day.
"The thermal baths were fantastic. Really simple entry and once in you could stay all day. Outside there is a relaxing pool, a swimming pool and a fun pool with a jacuzzi and a whirlpool current. There are also multiple indoor pools too. The water is lovely at 38C. There are security boxes beside the pool for your phone etc which are coded to your wristband, really easy to use. Overall fantastic experience. Just remember your towel and slippers!"
"Great place, water at 38°C. We arrived at 7:00 AM, and there weren't many people there. At 9:00 AM, we had breakfast at the restaurant. The cappuccino is amazing!"
"We loved the experience. The fast lazy river was so much fun. Highly recommend!"
"I’m second time visiting this magical place :) have to visit if you in Budapest"
"Think it’s slightly overpriced compared to other countries. But was a nice relaxing afternoon"
"Everything was great. The pools were nice and fun, especially with the whirlpool areas. My only suggestion is that there are no clear instructions on where to go when you first arrive, or once you're inside. We had to look around for people and walk in the back of the place to go in for the fast pass option. Also once inside the staff wasn’t around and once we found someone there were still no clear instructions as to where to go. Once we figured it out we had a great time and it was a great experience."
"Disappointed the main pool was closed Very good day exceeded all expectations would highly recommend getting the private cabin for changing and keeps your things dry and safe. The comunal Changing rooms are VERY busy."
"The Széchenyi Baths were a great experience during our trip to Budapest. The outdoor pools are beautiful, but we also loved the indoor area, with its various thermal baths and saunas. The private changing rooms where you can leave your clothes were a great idea."
Read all 28758 verified reviews
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Budapest Thermal Baths FAQ
Short answers to the questions people ask before they book a bath.
For a first visit, Széchenyi: three outdoor pools open all year, the outdoor thermal pool at 36 to 38 °C, and the neo-baroque setting in City Park. Rudas suits you better for a historic Turkish bath and a Danube view, Lukács for a quieter local bath, and Palatinus if you have children. Our bath comparison matches a bath to each kind of visit.
On dates we checked in late October 2026, a Széchenyi day ticket with a locker cost $52 on a weekday and $73 on a busy holiday Saturday, Lukács $37, Palatinus $30 and Dandár $25. Rudas with a three-course meal starts at $84. The prices guide also lists the baths' own walk-in prices in forints.
No. Gellért closed on 1 October 2025 for renovation and the operator expects it to reopen in 2028. Király is also closed. Rudas, at the other end of Elisabeth Bridge below Gellért Hill, is the nearest historic bath that is open. See Gellért closure and alternatives.
Not to Széchenyi, Rudas, Lukács or Dandár, which do not admit children under 14. Palatinus on Margaret Island is the family bath, with a child rate for ages 3 to 14, family tickets and two children's pools. Our guide to the baths with kids has the details.
At Széchenyi, yes. The outdoor thermal pool stays at 36 to 38 °C all year, and the Sparty parties use the outdoor pools on winter Saturday nights. At Palatinus only the seating pools and the swimming pool are open year round. Read thermal baths in winter before a December or January visit.
A swimsuit, slippers (compulsory), a towel, and a swim cap if you want to use a swimming pool. Széchenyi does not rent towels or robes, it only sells them. Bring a bank card, as the baths' cafés and shops do not take cash. The full list is in what to bring.
Not always, but booking online lets you pick the ticket type for your day and skip the walk-in queue at the cash desk. Fast-track tickets are worth it on weekends and in the Christmas and New Year weeks. Most tickets on GetYourGuide can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before; Sparty tickets cannot.
Rudas runs night bathing on Fridays and Saturdays from 22:00 to 03:00, sold only on its own website. Sparty is a Saturday party at Széchenyi from 21:30 to 02:00 for over-18s. For a quieter evening, Széchenyi stays open to 22:00 on Fridays and Lukács to 22:00 on Tuesdays. See thermal baths at night.
Still have questions? Email us at info@budapestthermalbathstickets.com
