If you happen to spend this summer in Budapest you have at least two good reasons to visit the Gellért Bath, at the feet of Mount Gellért:
1. it is a great spa, with inside and outside pools, thermal pools, saunas, massage facilities, steam chambers and lovely architecture,
2. this is the best way to escape one of the hottest Hungarian summers ever.
This is one of the places that works as it should: it does not try to be more than it should, and it does not fail what one reasonably expects from a bath. The services are quick, the staff are helpful, everything is clean and the water is great.
During the summer period it is probably best to go in the morning: if you happen to arrive later the smaller pools might be full. After all, this is the tourist season in Budapest as well, when tourists flock in to the city in herds.
Me and my Japanese girlfriend just couldn't get enough of the 40 Celsius degree thermal pools - we just kept going back. Finally, we left the bath after 4 hours of soaking ourselves. The beneficent effect of the pool lasted for a few hours and we made it somehow to the Museum of Fine Art at the Heroes Square to get a peek at the Schiele exhibition.
