Rick Steves: Soak in opulence at Budapest’s thermal baths

Centuries ago, the towns of Buda and Pest, the leading cities of a mighty Hungarian kingdom, united to become Budapest. Today, Hungary’s vibrant capital maintains its stately ambience and offers plenty of tourist-friendly activities. You can sample spicy paprika at the Great Market Hall , sip coffee in a sumptuous turn-of-the-20th-century café, and enjoy an affordable performance at the luxurious Opera House.

Locals brag that if you poke a hole in the ground anywhere in Hungary, you’ll find a hot-water spring. Judging from Budapest, they may be right: The city has 123 natural springs and some two-dozen thermal baths. The baths are actually a part of the health-care system. Doctors regularly prescribe treatments that include massage, soaking in baths of various heat and mineral compositions, and swimming laps. For these patients, a visit to the bath is subsidized.

To soak with the locals, head for the Szechényi bath complex — a big, yellow, copper-domed building in the middle of Budapest’s City Park. Recent renovation has restored the complex to its late-19th-century glory days, making Széchenyi Budapest’s best bath. Sitting in hundred-degree water under glorious Baroque domes, I felt my stress ebb away as I enjoyed some of Europe’s most memorable people-watching. Hungarians of all shapes and sizes were stuffed into tiny swimsuits, strutting their stuff. People floated blissfully in warm water. Speedo-clad intellectuals stood in chest-high water around chessboards and pondered their next moves. It’s Budapest at its best.

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