Szechenyi Baths, Budapest

Everything went to plan this morning, the flight left slightly late but we arrived 15 minutes early - it’s always a bonus when that happens.  By the time we went through passport control (as EU citizens), our case was just arriving on the carousel, so we were straight out and only had a few minutes to wait for our pre-booked driver.  

We arrived at the hotel an hour before the official check-in, but our room was ready so we unpacked and then headed out to the Szechenyi Baths which has 18 thermal and medicinal pools.  We caught the metro which was like stepping back in time but very efficient.

When we arrived at the baths we booked a ‘cabin’ which is an individual changing room, but we shared it so it was very cosy!  The advantage is that it’s yours for the duration of your visit, so you can lock your belongings in there.  We then headed out to the outdoor thermal pool which was heated to 38 degrees, which was very pleasant considering the air temperature was only 8 degrees.  I’d completely forgotten about the locals playing chess in the pool, and as photography is allowed, this had to be my blip.

We had a look at the indoor pools and whilst we went in one, I much preferred the outdoor one so we went back for a while before catching the metro back to the hotel.

The hotel is in the centre of the main pedestrianised old town of ‘Pest’ so a great location not far from the Danube and the Chain Bridge.  We have the added advantage of having booked a room that has access to the privilege lounge which has free hot drinks and juice together with snacks all day, and then between 5pm-7pm there’s free wine, fizz and canapés, so we’re currently in the lounge making the most of it!