Budapest - Hungary: The City of Thermal Spas

We wanted to run in Budapest but just couldn't find the strength or motivation to do it. The many days of sinful living eating nothing but meat and beer has sapped our will to crawl out of the bed early in the morning. The intensity of our "Death Marches" around the Castle Hills of Buda and museums have left our feet sore. We badly need a good massage or a hot soak in an Onsen.

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is also known as the City of Spas with more than 100 thermal springs dotted all around the city. The Unfit runners have been to many baths in the world, ranging from the Onsen in Japan, Wenquan in Taiwan and Moorish baths in Spain. I will say that the look and feel of the thermal bath in Budapest is definitely different. While the baths in Spain and Japan have a more exclusive and private feel to them, the baths in Budapest are bigger and are often visited by families.


The thermal spa we went to, Széchenyi thermal bath is one of the largest medicinal baths in Europe. When we first approach the spa complex, we thought that we had visited the wrong building thinking that the grand architecture of the spa belongs to a museum or a government building. The interior is equally grand, with works of art, murals and sculpture dotting every part of the compound. We brought our own towels and flipflops as a rental fee will be required for these essential bathing equipment. There is also a requirement for swimming caps, which we were prepared to rent, since none of us saw the need of using swimming caps for our water activities in Singapore. Truth to be told, the swimming cap is not required, unless you are considering doing some serious swimming in the dedicated lap pool.

After changing, we wondered around the indoor thermal spas for more than an hour with more than a dozen of them in different shapes, size and temperatures. The most gimmicky pool in the compound is the Beer spa where you soak in a thermal pool with some beer added into it along with a free flow of beer which will cost you 20 euros. Alcoholic did seriously considered trying out the Beer spa but we decided to give it a miss given that he is still recovering from beer poisoning as a result of the Oktoberfest.

We initially thought that the outdoor pools will be closed, since most of the spa resorts often close their outdoor facilities after the summer period. It was only when we noticed a trail of people walking towards the corner of the building that our curiosity was piqued and decided to fellow along. The door opened and we were greeted with a stunning sight of the outdoor area. 

    

We stood there at the stairways with our mouths agape for a few moments, taking in the sights of the scale and the structure that surrounds the pools. We have been to many historical sights in Europe and I will say that this is one of the best experience I ever had. It combines the grandeur of architecture,  glorious lukewarm medicinal water, deep history and many beautiful bikini Hungarian ladies.

Without further ado, we hopped into the warm embrace of the outdoor pools and spent the rest of the afternoon in the spas. 

For those who are looking forward to our running report in Budapest and was disappointed by our post workout spa therapy, we will recommend the Margaret Island if you intend to plan a run at Budapest. It is a 5km round the island route with a beautiful water view, lush trees and interesting buildings We know because we took an evening stroll there during one of the evenings taking down level 10 red gyms that seemed to dominate the entire City of Budapest.

Well, at least our Pokemon got some exercise...