ℹ️ Short answer: Gellért Baths are closed. They shut on 1 October 2025, and as of September 2026 the official site gives 2028 as the planned reopening. The renovation loan still needs government approval, so that date could slip. Book Rudas Bath instead: it’s a 10-minute walk away, and a weekday ticket costs 12,000 HUF (about €33). For outdoor pools, book Széchenyi. Gellért Baths are closed, and they’ll stay closed for years, not weeks. The official notice now reads, in full, that the bath has been closed since 1 October 2025 with a planned reopening in 2028. Plenty of guides still describe Gellért as open. This one covers what’s actually happening, why the date may move, and which open bath gets you closest to what Gellért was.
ℹ️ Short answer: Go to Széchenyi for your first bath (13,200 HUF, about €36, Monday–Thursday) and Rudas for atmosphere, the rooftop pool and night bathing (12,000 HUF on weekdays). Lukács (7,000 HUF) and Veli Bej (from 5,700 HUF) are the calmer, cheaper local choices. Travelling with children under 14? Only Palatinus Strand will let them in. Gellért is closed until 2028 and Király is closed indefinitely. Budapest sits on more than a hundred thermal springs, and choosing between the best thermal baths in Budapest mostly comes down to three questions: how much atmosphere you want, what time of day you’re going, and whether you have children under 14 with you. The last one rules out almost every bath in the city, a rule that older guides haven’t caught up with.
