Photo of the Week: Visiting the Szechenyi Baths

This weekend, I finally went to check out one of the thermal baths that Budapest is famous for. Most people are shocked that I haven’t been to a bath yet, but no more. I love water sports and bathhouses. Whenever I visit any new destination, I make it a point to try out the local water sports they have to offer and keep myself up to date with the gears required for water sports using various water sports guide. And now I finally made it to the budapest’s famous bathhouse.

I had a friend visiting from home and of course we had to go see the baths. We went to the most famous one – Széchenyi Gyógyfürdő (Széchenyi thermal bath). It was the first bath on the Pest side of the river. It comprises of 15 pools of varying sizes and temperatures. Outside, there are 3 pools: a swimming pool, a thermal sitting pool (with 38°C water temperature), and a slight cooler pool (32-34°C) which has a whirlpool, and massaging waterfalls. Inside, there are 12 thermal baths of varying temperatures and varying medicinal ingredients.

We picked one of the hottest days to go to the baths. Temperatures were up to 34 – 35 degrees so it was really nice to be hanging out in the cooler waters of the pools. We picked a bad day to go though – between the heat which brings out lots of people, a massive music festival, Sziget, was starting that day. I guess they must have received free entry tickets with their tickets to the festival. What normally would have been a busy day, was made even worse with the influx of tourist and concert goers.

Despite the massive amounts of people, I still really enjoyed myself. I’m surprised how much time passed when I was just soaking in pools of water. Of the total 15, I think we went into at least 8 of them both inside and outside. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, especially among the beautiful architecture.