THE BATH HOUSE
Széchenyi and Gellért are the two that are most well known by tourists. But this is the RS Experienced Travelers forum and tourist baths just won’t do, so off to the RS Back Door Style Lukacs baths in Buda https://www.lukacsfurdo.hu/ . You can reach it by a short walk from the first 4/6 Tram stop after you cross the Margit Island bridge or you can take the 17 or 19 tram, both of which stop out front of the bath house.
You know those magnificent entries at Széchenyi and Gellért, nope, not here. You will be lucky to know you are standing in front of it unless you Google Maps says “you have arrived”.
Once through the unmarked iron gate you go down the winding trail past the concession window and to a door. Just a door, not much more. Through that you will find the ticket vendor. 6.000 a ticket or about $18. Your “ticket” is a plastic watch that opens things. Use it to scan the turnstiles into the interior of the bath house. Again, just a door, nothing special, that leads to some narrow winding stairs. Up one level and you will maybe find the co-ed locker room. Nothing says family adventure more than a co-ed Locker Room (edit). Now you change and put your street clothes in a locker that you open with the watch. Forget your locker number? There is a display you can scan with your watch and it will tell you which locker is yours. Oh there is a second room after the first where all the lockers are pink. That’s co-ed too …. well, I hope so. No one screamed. Don’t forget the flipflops you will need them, so you lessen the chance of contracting some sort of fungal infection.
Leaving the not screaming ladies in the pink co-ed locker room, continue down narrow halls and odd little stairs that continue without rhyme or reason and you will note a couple of large outdoor pools in the building courtyard … keep walking to the inside thermal baths. Cold, Warm, Warmer, and downright Hot. All with a capacity of 10 people in the coldest to about 40 in the Warmer pool. Temperatures are listed in C on plaques at each pool and the hottest has a recommendation which when translated says 5 to 8 minutes. I guess that’s how long to reach the state of hard boiled.
The steam room is a good example of thermal stratification at work. You walk in and the heat hammers your face and you breathing orifice sucks down hot air that you can feel in your lungs, your lips might even burn. Sit down and things are several degrees more tolerable. Don’t forget to use the hose to wash off the previous persons sweat before you sit ... or not. Flip Flops still on?? Say yes.
There is also a sauna that I did not try and whirlpool hot tub configuration in another courtyard. No time today, but done it before sort of fun.
The building is old, parts are from the 1830’s and parts from the 1930’s and parts from the 1990’s. All built upon a thermal site that was first used in the 12th century by the knights of the order of Saint John. The paint is well….. ehhhhhh. But the place is clean. I had to get a dehumidifier for my bathroom to stop the shower grout from getting … you know. But in this place, nothing is growing anywhere. Spotless, but alas old.
While there I heard one couple speaking English (good English, like in America) and four kids who were the victims of a bad upbringing speaking German. Everyone else that I heard was speaking Hungarian. The place on a weekday at 11am was at pretty much at an ideal capacity. Full, but not so much that it became an issue. More people for people watching. There are also gender specific locker rooms and private cabana rooms, for a price, that you can change in. I found site with "realistic" photos. https://ar.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g274887-d279411-i328076454-Lukacs_Thermal_Bath_and_Swimming_Pool-Budapest_Central_Hungary.html
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