Budapest thermal baths: which one to choose, with Gellért closed and no children under 14 at the big four

💡 The Short Version: Széchenyi is the bath most visitors want, from 13,200 HUF on a weekday, and the only one of the big four with large outdoor thermal pools. Rudas adds a 450-year-old Turkish bath, a rooftop wellness area and night bathing on Fridays and Saturdays. Lukács is cheaper at 7,000 HUF, and Dandár cheapest at 3,500 HUF. The Gellért Baths are closed until a planned reopening in 2028. Széchenyi, Rudas, Lukács and Dandár admit no children under 14. Palatinus on Margaret Island is the one for families. Or book a ticket: GetYourGuide’s Széchenyi Spa Ticketsad (from £33) sit inside the operator’s own weekday-to-Friday price range.

The baths, compared

Prices are the operators’ adult day tickets for 2026, converted at about 434 HUF to the pound. Széchenyi’s ticket includes a locker, and Rudas’s day ticket covers all its zones. Széchenyi charges the same online and at the door.

• Széchenyi sells tickets 180 days ahead online, and serves online tickets first when the bath is full. Rudas’s night-bathing tickets are sold only online.
• Cash desks close an hour before closing, and the pools must be vacated 20 minutes before closing, at Széchenyi, Rudas, Lukács and Dandár.
• The prices rose in 2025 and 2026. Széchenyi’s weekday ticket was 11,000 HUF in June 2025, Rudas’s 11,000 HUF and Lukács’s 6,000 HUF in December 2025.

Which bath to choose

Széchenyi

13,200 HUF weekdays · daily 7:00 to 20:00, weekends from 8:00, Friday to 22:00 · no under-14s · Állatkerti körút 9 to 11

The outdoor thermal pool is 36 to 38 °C and 1.4 m deep, and the operator calls it a famous place to play chess. There is also a 50-metre lap pool at 26 °C, which is closed from 12 to 23 October 2026 for maintenance, a leisure pool at 34 °C, indoor thermal pools from 28 to 38 °C and ten saunas and steam rooms. Online tickets are served first when the bath is full. The Széchenyi tickets guide has the ticket types, the rules and the Saturday-night party.

The Széchenyi Baths’ domed main building in the City Park. Photo: Slyronit, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rudas

12,000 HUF weekdays · wellness 6:00 to 20:00 · no under-14s · Döbrentei tér 9

A 450-year-old Turkish bath with six thermal pools from 16 to 42 °C, a 20.5-metre swimming pool at 29 °C and a wellness zone, on the Buda side of the river. The Turkish bath follows a gender timetable, and the operator says the bath is not currently accessible to people with disabilities.

The Rudas Baths on the Buda bank, below Gellért Hill. Photo: Varius, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The wellness zone is mixed, every day 6:00 to 20:00 (Monday to 22:00), and the sauna world opens at 8:00. A swimming cap is required in the swimming pool. A Turkish-bath-only or wellness-only ticket costs 8,000 HUF on Mondays, Thursdays and, until 10:45, Fridays. Night bathing on Friday and Saturday, 22:00 to 3:00, is 15,000 HUF and sold only online. It covers the Turkish bath, the swimming pool, the wellness area and a cocktail bar on the roof, with mixed bathing. Cash desks take only forint.

Lukács

7,000 HUF weekdays · daily 7:00 to 19:00, Tuesday to 22:00 · no under-14s · Frankel Leó út 25 to 29

Trams 4 and 6, buses 9 and 109 and the HÉV to Margit híd reach it, and it costs about half of Széchenyi. Weekend tickets are 8,000 HUF, an online “complex” ticket is 8,900 HUF on weekends, and a ticket for the last two hours before closing is 3,800 HUF on weekdays. The sauna world opens at 14:00 Monday to Friday. The Finnish sauna is closed from 5 October 2026 for renovation, and the massage jets in the leisure pool are out of service. The Budapest Card gives one free entry.

Dandár

3,500 HUF weekdays · daily 9:00 to 19:00, Thursday to 22:00 · no under-14s · Dandár utca 5 to 7

The cheapest of the four. The thermal ticket is 3,500 HUF on weekdays, a complex ticket with the sauna and outdoor pool 4,500 HUF, and a two-hour ticket 2,500 HUF. Trams 2 and 24 and buses 23 and 54 stop outside. It is a neighbourhood bath, not a sight, so go for a swim, not for a view.

Palatinus

3,800 HUF weekdays · daily 9:00 to 19:00 · children aged 3 to 14 admitted · Margaret Island

The bath that takes children. A ticket for ages 3 to 14, students and over-65s costs 2,500 HUF on weekdays, a family ticket for three costs 7,600 HUF and one for four costs 10,100 HUF. The operator lists a water slide park. Széchenyi’s own FAQ points families to Palatinus, Csillaghegy and Paskál.

Gellért

Closed since 1 October 2025 · reopening planned in 2028

The Art Nouveau bath on every postcard cannot sell a ticket. The operator, Budapest Spas, says the bath is closed and suggests Széchenyi for the time being. Any guide that tells you to book Gellért for this trip is out of date.

Tickets and tours worth paying for

The official tickets are enough for most visitors. The three below are on GetYourGuide, with prices as its lowest “from” prices.

Széchenyi Spa Tickets with Optional Upgrades

From £33 · 4.3 stars from 28,291 reviews

Budapest: Széchenyi Spa Tickets with Optional Upgradesad is the bath’s biggest GetYourGuide product. The “from” price sits between the operator’s weekday (13,200 HUF, about £30) and Friday-to-Sunday (14,800 HUF, about £34) prices, so it costs about the same as buying direct.

Rudas Turkish Bath or Spa Day Pass with a three-course meal

From £64 · 4.1 stars from 1,365 reviews

Budapest: Rudas Turkish Bath or Spa Day Pass & 3-Course Mealad bundles the bath and a meal. The operator’s weekday day ticket is 12,000 HUF (about £28), so this buys the meal and the booking, at about £36 above the bath alone. Choose it only if you want the meal.

Mandala Day Spa

From £33 · 4.6 stars from 3,434 reviews

Budapest: Mandala Day Spa & Luxury Pool Experiencead is a private day spa, not one of the Budapest Spas baths. It sits here as the alternative for visitors who want a quieter room than Széchenyi.

Lukács on GetYourGuide costs more than the bath itself: Lukács Thermal Bath Full-Day Spa Ticketad starts at £28 against the operator’s 7,000 to 8,000 HUF (about £16 to £18), so buy at the door or online from the bath.

Rules to know

• Children: Széchenyi, Rudas, Lukács and Dandár admit no one under 14, outdoor pools included. Széchenyi allows under-14s only with a medical certificate from a rheumatologist or orthopaedic doctor, sent for approval 24 hours before the visit. At the other Budapest Spas baths, children cannot use the thermal-water pools without written medical advice.
• Swimwear: Széchenyi allows only swimwear made for swimming in its pools. Jeans, leggings, sports bras and underwear are banned, and slippers are mandatory in the bath.
• Caps: required only in the pools that show a cap sign, which at Széchenyi means the lap pool. Rudas requires one in its swimming pool.
• Towels and slippers: not included. Széchenyi sells a towel at 6,900 HUF and slippers at 4,200 HUF and does not rent anything. Bring your own.
• Food and drink: Széchenyi lets you bring food but not alcohol.
• Lockers: small, big enough for a backpack. A cabin, a private changing room, costs 1,000 HUF extra and holds a suitcase.
• Cards: Széchenyi’s street-side ticket machines take cards only, and its steam entrance by metro line M1 takes cards and cash. Euros are not accepted.

The Budapest Card and the baths

The Budapest Card gives one free entry to Lukács and 20% off Széchenyi, Rudas and Palatinus. At Széchenyi the discount applies only on site and only to the standard locker ticket, not Fast Track or “Good morning” tickets. The free Lukács entry is worth 7,000 to 8,000 HUF, which is the one bath reason the card can pay back. Is the Budapest Card worth it? runs the sums.

For the other sights, see Széchenyi Baths tickets, Buda Castle and the National Gallery, the Hungarian Parliament and the House of Terror. For a bath outside the city, the Hévíz day trip goes to the thermal lake near Lake Balaton, and day trips from Budapest compares the rest. For the rest of the city’s bookings, see what to book before you go to Budapest. 3 days in Budapest and Budapest in one day put a bath into the plan. The baths are also an evening option after a day on foot: Budapest ruin bars cover the other kind of night out, and where to eat in Budapest says where to eat afterwards. To sleep nearby, where to stay in Budapest compares the areas. For getting to the baths, Budapest public transport has the fares; best time to visit Budapest covers the seasons.