6 wonderful thermal baths in Hungary

The Gellért Bath is a speciality among thermal baths. There is hardly any other bath that can compete with its classy atmosphere and historic reputation. The building itself is one of the most important pieces of Hungarian Art Nouveau and the ornamental windows in its main hall were made by Miksa Róth, while the interior of the bath is decorated with Zsolnay ceramic ornaments. No wonder that the International Society of Medical Hydrology has chosen Gellért Bath as its registered seat. Even the modern services offered by the thermal bath set it apart from the others. Its medicinal water is suitable for treating joint and spinal diseases, vertebrae disorders and certain circulatory problems, while its inhalatorium and salt chamber alleviate asthma and other lung diseases. The bath also offers services that massage enthusiasts may find to their liking, while the wave pool is one of the most famous in the country.

Slides are a hit not just among adventurous children and young people, but also those who like to enjoy their adventures under controlled and safe conditions. Sliding will activate muscles and reflexes that you do not really use anywhere else, not to mention the unique experience of it all. Every slide fan will be satisfied in the largest spa complex of Europe, the Hungarospa in Hajdúszoboszló. The bath, with its 45 pools, 15 slides and 8 saunas, offers visitors a chance to try anything from baby slides to long winding giant slides and even get a taste of what free fall feels like. In addition to the slide park, the bath also has other special units such as the ice cave, the tropical spa, the cinema bath, the Ganges or cave bath, and of course, it offers the usual medical, relaxing and refreshing treatments. 

The alkali-hydrogen-carbonated sulphurous medicinal water has proven its worth with almost 200 years of singular results in curing rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The medicinal water treatment for psoriasis is considered a local specialty that is almost unparalleled in the whole world and is even accepted as efficient by the international medical society for achieving results, without interfering with the hormone and immune systems. The medicinal water in Harkány is just as effective in improving infertility problems. This is supplemented by wellness and naturopathic treatments. In recent years, a slide park, an indoor kids world, a complete wellness unit and a modern sauna world were added to the spa, and it was awarded the title Bath of the Year in 2019.

The Hagymatikum building in Makó was designed by Imre Makovecz and is considered a wonder of organic architecture, while the water of the bath is an effective medicine that can cure joint and degenerative spinal diseases, joint and nerve inflammation, nerve pain and paralysis, and also muscle atrophy. In addition, there is a medicinal mud from the River Maros, which has ideal granule composition and plasticity and is used, among other things, in the form of mud bath to treat rheumatic diseases, lower back pain and gynaecological inflammation, but it can also effectively rehabilitate the body after broken limbs. As well as the treatments and medicinal services and thermal pools, the bath also has indoor and outdoor adventure pools and saunas where visitors can relax, ride slides or swim.

The thermal bath in Demjén has a unique atmosphere and is also called the bath for all seasons, with water surging to the surface from a depth of 690 metres. It is used to fill two indoor and six outdoor thermal pools combined with fun elements, where visitors can relax and enjoy themselves while having their rheumatic disorders, abrasion, osteoporosis and bone injuries improved. The body-mind-spirit rejuvenating effect is enhanced by the massages that relax muscles and nerves, such as the therapeutic massage, the foot massage, the detox green tea, the cooling peppermint or the relaxing lavender massages, the anti-cellulite massage and also the salt massage. If you are one of those people who often get headaches, try the special migraine therapy. Enjoy all this in a special environment, where a fantastic cave bath and a waterpark with many slides are also integrated into the spa.

Sixty-three years ago, people were looking for crude oil, but instead found thermal water just outside the idyllic little town of Bük. First the local people, then folks from farther away came to take a plunge in magic water and enjoy the positive effects of its high mineral content. A spa was later built on top of the well. This is how the story of Hungary’s second largest thermal bath started. Today, it is a complex that includes outdoor pools and adventure pools, a sauna world and a three-storey high wellness centre.