Budapest is the only large city in the world with 80 geothermal springs. Thanks to these springs, there are 20 bathing places and indoor or outdoor pools supplied by medicinal waters, with more than half of them offering health services. 

lf you spend time in Budapest, at least a part of it should be at the soothing thermal spring baths.

The Romans reaped the health benefits of hot springs here, but it was during the 16th- and 17th- century Turkish occupation that the bath culture was developed. Some of these spas are still in operation today. The Király, the Rudas and the Rác are the finest examples.

But there is an array of baths from more recent Hungarian times, such as the wonderful Art Nouveau Gellért Baths and the lavish Széchenyi Baths in the City Park.

With its fifteen pools, the Széchenyi Gyógyfürdő (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath), in an impressive, recently renovated neobaroque building, is one of the largest bathing complexes in Europe with thermal pools, Turkish steam baths and tubs, swimming pools and a water park is Europe's largest spa baths.

One of its wells yields the hottest water (77 °C) in Budapest. The prestigious Gellért Gyógyfürdő (Gellért Medicinal Bath) offers virtually a full range of Medicina services, and its swimming pool, featuring artificial waves, and its jacuzzi are very popular. The beautifully restored Király Gyógyfürdő (Király or King Medicinal Bath) built in the Middle Ages reminds the visitor of Otteman bathing culture.

The domed pool of Rác Fürdő (Rác or Serb Bath) was also buílt by the Turks, and its water is mainly used now for curing arthritis and neuritis, as well as gout and back pain. lt is a speciality of Szent Lukács Gyógyfürdő és Uszoda (St. Lucas Medicinal Bath and Swimming Pool) that it has the only hot-water mud pool in Budapest. One of the pools of Rudas Gyógyfürdő (Rudas Medicinal Bath) is protected from the elements by an ornamented dome dating back to the 16th century. This bath has a park, where the Juventus radium spring was discovered in the twenties. The spring water here, true to its name, substantially reduces rheumatic and arthritic pains and hypertension-related disorders.