We’re running out of English superlatives to describe this wonderful city, so in Hungarian, mesés, mesés, mesés. We spent 6 days in Budapest, and there still wasn’t enough time to see and do everything this city has to offer. So those who just breeze through here on one of those whirlwind trips, truly miss out. We have more highlights our trip in our photo album, which includes a wonderful day of seeing some of the city’s famous buildings, museums, and parks. And a special highlight included our visit to the Széchenyi Bath, which is the largest of the world famous thermal baths of Budapest, which date back to the Romans and Turks.

The Thermal Baths

Here we are at the thermal baths.

One of the things we were most looking forward to was a visit and dip in the Széchenyi Bath, which is the largest thermal bath of Budapest. For Tomatoes who love spas and wellness, (hello?) Budapest is known as the City of Healing Waters. The neo-baroque style Széchenyi Bath was built in 1913. Its thermal springs were discovered in 1879 and are the deepest and warmest thermal wells in Budapest. This is a huge complex of indoor and outdoor pools, with waters and varying temperatures. They are opened all year long, and even on a cold winter day, people enjoy the hot thermal waters. We didn’t quite know what to expect, but it was a unique experience for sure.

We went late in the day on Sunday afternoon, a bit past the peak time, so that it was a bit less crowded than it would normally be on a beautiful weekend. Europeans flock to these baths for their healing prosperities that proponents say can help and heal anything from joint and arthritis conditions, nervous system and skin conditions, improve your skin and much, much more. In fact, European, doctors often prescribe the thermal baths and medical insurance covers it. We should be so lucky! We felt relaxed and calmed after spending a delightful afternoon there.