Which Budapest Thermal Bath? Széchenyi, Rudas or Lukács While Gellért Is Closed

For years the default answer to “which Budapest bath should I visit?” was a toss-up between Széchenyi and Gellért. That has changed: Gellért Thermal Bath closed on 1 October 2025 for a long renovation, with reopening planned for 2028. If you are visiting Budapest now, the realistic choice is between three historic baths run by the city’s spa company: Széchenyi, Rudas and Lukács.

The short answer: pick Széchenyi for the classic outdoor experience of steaming yellow-walled pools in City Park, and budget for the highest price of the three. Pick Rudas for its Turkish bath, a panorama pool above the Danube and late-night bathing at weekends, but only if everyone in your group is 14 or older. Pick Lukács if you want a calmer, cheaper bath used mostly by locals and are happy to trade spectacle for space.

The quick comparison

Bath	Best for	Adult day ticket, 2026	Main trade-off
Széchenyi (Pest, City Park)	First-timers, outdoor thermal pools, a famous setting	13,200 Ft Mon–Thu; 14,800 Ft Fri and weekends (with locker)	Highest price of the three; pools close at 19:40 most days
Rudas (Buda riverbank)	Turkish bath, Danube views, Friday and Saturday night bathing	12,000 Ft Mon–Thu; 15,000 Ft Fri–Sun (all zones)	No under-14s; Turkish bath is single-sex on some weekdays
Lukács (Buda, near Margaret Bridge)	A quieter local bath, lower prices, late opening on Tuesdays	7,000 Ft Mon–Thu; 8,000 Ft Fri–Sun	Less of a showpiece; some services are temporarily unavailable

Prices are from each bath’s official 2026 price list and are in Hungarian forints. Széchenyi and Rudas also list a higher price for holidays and peak periods.

Széchenyi: the classic outdoor bath

Széchenyi is the bath most people picture: large outdoor pools in front of yellow neo-baroque wings with domes, in Budapest’s City Park. It is the easiest to reach from central Pest, with its own stop on the Millennium Underground (metro line M1) and trolleybus 72 nearby.

What you get

• An outdoor thermal pool at 36–38 °C and a leisure pool at 32–34 °C.
• A 50-metre swimming pool at 26–28 °C if you want to swim lengths.
• Indoor medical pools ranging from 28 to 40 °C, plus saunas and steam rooms.

Hours and tickets

The bath opens at 07:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 at weekends. It closes at 20:00, or 22:00 on Fridays, but the pools and saunas close 20 minutes earlier and the cash desks an hour before closing. A daily ticket with a locker costs 13,200 Ft Monday to Thursday and 14,800 Ft on Fridays and weekends. If you can arrive early, the “Good morning Budapest” ticket (entry until 09:00) costs 10,500 Ft Monday to Thursday and 11,800 Ft on Fridays. An online-only Fast Track ticket costs more. A private changing cabin is listed as a 1,000 Ft extra.

Choose it if you want one bath visit that feels unmistakably Budapest and you are happy to pay for it. If you already have a Budapest Card, note that it is accepted for the daily ticket with locker.

Rudas: the Turkish bath and the river views

Rudas sits on the Buda bank of the Danube. Its heart is the Turkish bath, with six pools from 16 to 42 °C. There is also a wellness area, a 29 °C swimming pool (swimming caps are compulsory) and a 36 °C panorama pool with views across the river.

Rules that shape your visit

• No under-14s. Rudas does not admit children under 14, so it is not an option for most families.
• Single-sex sessions. On weekdays the Turkish bath is not always mixed. The timetable shows Tuesday as women only and Wednesday as men only, with men-only mornings on some other weekdays, followed by mixed bathing in swimwear. Weekends are mixed. Check the day’s timetable before you go.
• Accessibility. The bath says that, for technical reasons, it cannot currently accommodate guests with reduced mobility.

Hours and tickets

Rudas opens at 06:00 every day and generally closes at 20:00, with longer Monday hours in parts of the bath. An all-zone ticket costs 12,000 Ft Monday to Thursday and 15,000 Ft Friday to Sunday. An evening ticket valid for the last two hours before closing costs 6,000 Ft on weekdays and 7,500 Ft at weekends. Night bathing runs on Friday and Saturday from 22:00 to 03:00 for 15,000 Ft, and those tickets are sold online only.

Choose it if you are travelling as a group of adults, you want the Turkish bath atmosphere, or you like the idea of a late-night soak with the city lit up across the Danube.

Lukács: the quieter, cheaper option

Lukács, near the Buda end of Margaret Bridge, feels more like a neighbourhood bath than an attraction. Its indoor thermal pools run at 32, 36 and 40 °C. Outside there is a 33–35 °C pool and two swimming pools at 22 and 26 °C, set around a courtyard.

Hours and tickets

Lukács opens daily at 07:00 and closes at 19:00, except on Tuesdays, when it stays open until 22:00. An adult ticket costs 7,000 Ft Monday to Thursday and 8,000 Ft Friday to Sunday, roughly half the Széchenyi price. On weekdays, an afternoon ticket for the last two hours costs 3,800 Ft. The sauna area is a 1,300 Ft add-on and opens at 14:00 on weekdays. Trams 4, 6, 17 and 19 and buses 9 and 109 stop nearby.

Lukács currently lists some temporary limits: the Finnish wellness sauna and private bath are unavailable during renovation work, and the wheelchair lifts are out of service. Check the notices on the official site if either matters to you.

Choose it if you care more about soaking than sightseeing, you are on a budget, or you want a second, calmer bath after visiting Széchenyi.

What about Gellért?

Gellért, known for its Art Nouveau halls and mosaics, closed on 1 October 2025. Its official site gives 2028 as the planned reopening and suggests Széchenyi in the meantime. Older guides and booking sites may still describe it as open, so check before you plan a day around it.

Practical tips for any Budapest bath

• Buy online when you can. Fast Track tickets at Széchenyi and Rudas and night-bathing tickets at Rudas are sold only online. At Széchenyi, same-day tickets bought at the entrance opposite the circus can be paid for by bank card only.
• Watch the real closing time. At all three baths, cash desks close an hour before closing and you must leave the pool areas 20 minutes before closing.
• Bring a swimsuit, and a cap if you plan to swim. Rudas makes caps compulsory in its swimming pool.
• Check holiday hours. Hungary’s 23 October national holiday falls on a Friday in 2026, and Rudas and Lukács list Sunday hours for that day.
• Be careful with hot pools. Széchenyi recommends 20 minutes in its indoor medical pools. Anyone with a health condition should check with a doctor before bathing in very hot water.

If you are just arriving, our guide to getting from Budapest Airport to the city centre compares the 100E express bus, the 200E bus with the metro, taxis and shuttles.

Official sources

• Gellért Thermal Bath: closure notice
• Széchenyi Thermal Bath: opening hours
• Széchenyi Thermal Bath: prices 2026
• Széchenyi Thermal Bath: pools
• Rudas Bath: opening hours
• Rudas Bath: pools and saunas
• Rudas Bath: prices 2026 (Hungarian)
• Lukács Bath: opening hours (Hungarian)
• Lukács Bath: prices 2026 (Hungarian)
• Lukács Bath: pools and saunas (Hungarian)

Featured image: Széchenyi’s outdoor pools sit in front of its neo-baroque domed wings in City Park. Photo: Christine Zenino from Chicago, US, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Sources accessed 20 October 2026; prices, opening hours and service notices change, so check the official sites before you go.