Rudas Thermal Bath: serving bathers for almost 500 years

Here’s an idea for physical and mental relaxation: take a truly pleasant dip in a cosy, modern, sublime and grandiose environment — precisely what the Rudas Thermal Bath provides. You can choose from the following services (but we would recommend trying them all, if you can):

• Turkish Bath: part of the Rudas Thermal Bath (mostly referred to as just “Rudas”), this is a so-called “ilija”-type bath, meaning that it was built on thermal waters. Here, you can try six pools filled with water of different temperatures, which also has a beneficial effect: Rudas boasts thermal water charged with calciummagnesium-hydrogen bicarbonate, sulphate and sodium, which can be used effectively for chronic and semi-acute arthritis, disc herniation, degenerative joint diseases, calcium deficiency in the bone system, and neuralgia.
• Swimming pool: if you’re after some exercise, take a dip in the pleasantly warm water of the 20.5 metre pool. If you get tired of swimming, just take a rest in the beautiful gallery surrounding the pool.
• Wellness: a wide range of wellness options awaits you! An aroma sauna, a Finnish sauna, a steam room, a salt room and an ice machine can all help you achieve a perfectly relaxing time. It’s up to you which one you feel like trying.
• Therapeutic services: take a pleasant tub bath in medicinal water, enjoy an underwater jet massage, or choose between several other types of massages. Or perhaps you’re more interested in a medical therapeutic massage, such as an aromatherapy treatment? Not a problem!
• Drinking cure: in the Rudas drinking hall, you can drink from the water of the Hungária, Juventus and Attila springs, should you decide to give a drinking cure a try. While the Hungária spring’s medicinal water offers relief from gastritis and renal pelvic complaints, Attila's medicinal water helps with respiratory catarrh, bladder, bile and liver problems, while the Juventus medicinal water has a beneficial effect on high blood pressure and rheumatic diseases.  

If our list above hasn’t convinced you, we have one more argument to offer: a little R&R in the rooftop thermal water jacuzzi at Rudas, open in winter and summer alike. Enjoy the pleasant silkiness of the bubbling medicinal water, while admiring the panoramic views of Budapest. We have good news: if you want a bit of an extra thrill, you can even admire our illuminated capital at night, as the spa offers late-night bathing on Saturdays.  

Gellért Hill and its surroundings enjoyed their first golden age during the reign of Béla IV: the Johannite knights built a bath here. And when Buda was occupied by the Turkish armies in 1541, the Turkish bath was built from the stones of the old buildings, which continues to serve as the foundation of the Rudas Thermal Bath today. The octagonal pool of the former Turkish bath and the eight-columned, hemispherical domed pool area form the centre of the building to this day – although the bath has, of course, undergone a number of expansions and reconstructions over the centuries, allowing it to flaunt its present-day glory and satisfy even the most demanding bathers.