Thermal spa in Budapest
Also known as Széchenyi Gyógyfürdő
Paid entryThere is an entry charge.
Szechenyi is one of the largest public thermal bath complexes in Europe, housed in a neo-Baroque building in City Park. Entry is paid but central to the Budapest budget experience. The outdoor pools stay open year-round, and soaking in steaming water on a cold winter day surrounded by yellow colonnades is one of the defining moments of a Budapest visit. Weekday visits are cheaper and less crowded.
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Continental Europe's oldest metro line, built in 1896, runs directly under Andrassy Avenue from the city center to Heroes' Square. Above it, the boulevard was laid out simultaneously as Budapest's answer to the Champs-Elysees: Neo-Renaissance palaces and mansions, the Hungarian State Opera House, luxury shops, and 2.5 kilometers of plane trees.
Buda Castle has been destroyed and rebuilt at least six times, which makes the Baroque (meaning the ornate 17th-18th century style of the Habsburg empire) palace visible today something of an illusion: it was shelled in 1686 when the Habsburgs retook it from the Ottomans, nearly obliterated in the 1944-1945 siege, and then gutted by the Communist government
Tram 2 runs along the Pest side of the Danube from Jaszai Mari Square to the National Theatre, passing the Parliament, the Chain Bridge, the Vigado Concert Hall, and the Central Market Hall. A standard transit ticket covers the ride.
The Chain Bridge (Szechenyi Lanchid) was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest, connecting Clark Adam Square on the Buda side to Roosevelt Square on the Pest side. Free to cross.
City Park (Varosliget) is the green space behind Heroes' Square, home to the Szechenyi Baths, Vajdahunyad Castle (a whimsical mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, free to walk the grounds), and a boating lake that becomes an ice rink in winter. Free.
The Dohany Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe, seating nearly 3,000 people, with twin 43-meter onion-domed towers visible from much of the seventh district. Franz Liszt and Camille Saint-Saens played the original 5,000-pipe organ at the 1859 inauguration.
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