Visiting Gellért Thermal Baths: A Practical Guide To Doing It Like a Pro
After living in Budapest, Caleb and I have been to EVERY single thermal bath, and Gellért is up there with my favorites. The “blue room,” as I call it, is probably the most beautiful room in all the thermal baths in the city!
But, when we first visited, we were a bit overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do or where to go, which took away from the relaxing we were supposed to be doing. So, in this guide, we’re covering EVERYTHING you need to know not to feel lost and have a relaxing visit
Whether you’re a couple like us looking for a romantic experience or just looking for a pretty place to beat the jetlag, we know you’ll love these famous baths!
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Quick Navigation: 🚗 How To Get There // 📆 When To Go // 🛁 Basic Info // 🛀 Amenities // 🚰 Walkthrough // 🚿 Tips
How To Get There
Gellért Baths is inside the Hotel Gellért, which will become a Mandarin Oriental in 2027. It’s a bit outside the city center, just across the Liberty Bridge in one of the main tourist districts. We personally love walking so we opted for a 30 minute walk from city center. Work off all that heavy Hungarian food, you know?!
You could also jump on buses number 7, 7A, and 86, or on trams number 18, 19, 47 and 49. Trams are one of our favorite ways to get around the capital.
You can also take the metro line M4 and get off at “Szent Gellert Ter”
The Best Time to Visit
Because the most beautiful pool is indoors, we think the best time to visit Gellért Baths is any month of the year! If you want to visit the outside pool, we love visiting in winter.
Yeah, it’ll SUCK for the few seconds that you separate your bathing-suit-clad body from your towel before jumping in but then the warm water feels SO GOOD.
The summer is also nice to catch a pretty sunset in the outdoor pool, the water just won’t feel as refreshing and you’ll have way more people, as bath visitors are on the rise. However, the huge wave pool is only open in the Summer, so that’s a pro to visiting!
The Basics To Know Before You Go
The Prices
There are different prices based on the day you go:
From Monday through Thursday, it’s HUF 10 500 ($30 USD) for a day ticket with a locker, and on weekends, it’s HUF 12 000. ($33)
COUPLES TIP: you can also do a 90-minute private bathing for 2 for HUF 20,000 each, which is romantic, lovely, and a great thing to add to your budget as a couple.
PRACTICAL INFO: prices are a little higher than this on holidays and on peak season. Check out all the prices on their website here.
The Opening Hours
The baths are open daily from 9am until 7pm and the cash desks close one hour before that.
Saunas, steam chambers and massage have different hours, so check out the entire opening hour list here.
How To Buy Tickets
The best way to buy tickets is directly through the official website here.
You can also get them right at the cash desk in the bath and pay with credit card or HUF (no other currency.) We just like buying online for the ease and less dealing with language barrier.
We mean, have you tried to speak Hungarian? It ain’t easy!
What To Bring
When packing, one of our main tips for Budapest is to bring a bathing suit, towel and flip flops so you can go on bath adventures. You can buy a towel at the bath but it’s kind of expensive. It’s sorta weird that it’s not included right?
You can also buy a swimsuit but they’re expensive and will not be a LOOK if you know what we mean. Ask Caleb how he knows. 😅
PRO TIP: if you forget flip flops, go to any of the PEPCO locations in Budapest. It’s a chain discount store and we got slippers there for a buck. They were perfect for all out thermal bath adventures!
How Long Do You Need At Gellért Baths?
We think that 2 hours is the perfect amount of time at Gellért Thermal Baths. We got to experience the indoor pools and even hit up the outdoor pools twice on top of time spent changing in 2 hours!
Locking Up Your Stuff & Lockers Vs Cabins
When you get your tickets, you’ll receive a bracelet. This bracelet acts as your locker key, so be sure to keep it on you at all times! You’ll also need it to access certain turnstiles inside some thermal baths.
To lock your locker: scan your bracelet on the locker you select and then turn the knob to red.
To unlock it: scan your bracelet on your locker and then turn the knob to green.
You’ll have the option between lockers and cabins (cabins cost an extra HUF 1000, and only one person needs to pay for it, allowing everyone to share the cabin). Cabins are essentially small changing rooms with a locker inside.
PRACTICAL TIP: we did just the lockers and really wished we shelled out the extra few bucks to do a cabin, so we recommend that
The basic lockers are included in your regular ticket price and don’t come with a changing cabin, but they have them available to use in the changing room area. The lockers are spacious, so you’ll have no trouble storing your belongings. We managed to fit winter clothes, boots, backpacks, and more.
Quick Amenities Overview
The entire Gellért Spa complex is massive and has a TON of different thermal pools (about 13 or so) with different temperatures ranging from 26-40 degrees Celsius (78-104 degrees Fahrenheit) so they run a little warmer than the famous Szecheyni baths. Here’s a quick look at the facilities.
Indoor Pools
The very first pool you’ll run into is a swimming pool which is probably the most bougie, over-the-top swimming pool you’ll ever see in your life. Like, we’re talking domed ceilings, balconies and roman columns. It’s a far cry from the public swimming pools mom took me to as a kid.
As one would guess, this one is just for swimming and you need a swim cap if you want to do some laps.
You probably won’t spend much time here and we noticed it seem VERY popular with the older, local Hungarians.
Then there is what you came to take a photo of: the beautiful “blue room” that has the thermal baths which range from 36 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius (96-104 F) as well as a plunge pool that is so cold my teeth started chattering. Wouldn’t recommend that one.
The art-nouveu-style blue-tiled room is what you see in all the Instagram and Pinterest photos with cherubs and fountains with carvings of fish and lions. It’s probably the most beautiful room in any of Budapest’s thermal spas, TBH.
If you get tired of staring at all that beauty (who are you?) you’ll also find a massive white-tiled steam room and some saunas to mix things up a little.
Outdoor Pools
The main wave pool outdoors is exactly what you think it is: a huge pool that creates super fun fake waves! The temperature is 27 celsius (80F). However, is is closed between October and May.
There is still a much smaller, outdoor thermal pool that runs around 36 Celsius (97 F) that you can visit year round (as long as it doesn’t drop below 0 degrees Celsisus outside.) We sat it in in January for sunset, and while it was COLDDDDD to get in and out of, it felt great. Even though the pool faces away from the sunset, the colors still change in the sky on a clear day, and it’s pretty. But, if you want the best sunset in a thermal bath, Rudas baths is the bath for you.
COUPLES TIP: if you do this, go AT SUNSET, not after. It got much busier and was less romantic. Plus, there are these annoying motion lights going off ALL THE TIME that kill the vibe.
If you really want to spend a lot of time outdoors, you may want to stick to Szecheyni bath as the outdoor pool is open all year long.
READ NEXT: A GUIDE TO SZECHENyI BATHS
Massage/Pedicure
They also offer various massages and pedicures which you can find the prices for here. Keep in mind, Gellért Thermal Baths are not a fancy day spa like you might be used to. We were told the massages weren’t super amazing, so we skipped them. But, if you want a little extra time turning into a blob of jello, they’re here for you.
Exactly What You’ll Do From Start To End
To make this super easy for you, here’s a detailed guide of what to do and expect during your visit from start toend:
First, buy your ticket or show your confirmation if you buy online, and they’ll give you a wristband. Head down to the end of the entrance, past the therapy entrance and go through the turnstiles (use your watch) to enter.
Now come the labyrinth of of halls to the changing room. Keep going until you see the people asking if you have cabins or lockers.
If you have lockers you go up a small flight of stairs to the coed changing room. (If you have a cabin,keep going straight through and you can ask an attendant to help you if you don’tknow your number. They will show you how to use the machine that reads your wristband and gives you your locker.)
If you’re “lockering” head up the stairs and pick a free locker, drop your stuff and change inside one of the changing cubicles. Lock your locker as we outlined earlier in this post.
To get to the outdoor pools you have to go through the changing room. Don’t go downstairs! You just pass all the lockers then go up the stairs.
To get to the beautiful inside thermal pools (the blue room) go through/around the swimming pool (from the locker room) and into a very small door that takes you into the big room with small massage stalls. follow the thermal bath signs (you can’t miss them) and go straight through the two big doors and you’ll find it.
If you want to get the steam room, go straight through the blue tiled room and you’ll walk into it.
Once you’re ready to leave, follow the maze back to the change rooms and change. When you exit, you’ll walk through a turnstile. In order to get it to move, you drop your wristband in the little open compartment (vertically.)
You just visited the baths like a PRO – go you! Bet you feel like a big bowl of Jell-o, don’t ya?
Tips For Making The Most Of Your Visit
- Go during the week at the opening. This is when it’s the least busy and enjoyable.
- Be quiet. You don’t need to be mute, but people are really trying to relax (especially at the indoor pools), so be respectful and keep your voice down.
- Waterproof cameras are your best friend. The baths are super photogenic, so if you want to take pics, a waterproof camera is helpful. We used our iPhones, and it was SUCH a pain. There aren’t a lot of ledges to put your phone and you have to carry it around awkwardly a lot.
- If you take photos, be aware of others. We did feel a bit creepy taking photos of people in their swimsuits, so don’t be weird about it okay?
- Don’t bring a water bottle – we brought around our own water bottle but no one else did so we looked dumb. I’m not even sure if you’re allowed. So just don’t
- Shower before bathing. This is required in all thermal baths in Budapest. Keep it clean!
- No Nudity – not that you would go in your birthday suit, would you?
Now you know everything you need to know to visit Gellért Baths in Budapset like a pro! It truly is a beautiful complex and a relaxing way to spend the day so you really should try to plan it into your trip! If you have any questions, just leave a comment and let us know.
Don’t miss some of the other baths around Budapest! Check out our ultimate thermal bath guide to see which are worth visiting
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