Lukacs Baths — Local services in Budapest

We visited the Lukacs baths during our stay in Budapest.. and it was an adventure. Below is our experience where we detail how our trip went & things we wish we’d known before we went!

We pre-booked tickets through GetYourGuide, which were then not recognised on the system. This was eventually accepted, after a short wait.

We did not bring our own towels or flip flops as we understood these could be purchased at the desk. We were charged £45 for two towels and two pairs of flip flops. Forty. Five. Pounds. Entry to the spa for the day was cheaper.

We were shown upstairs to our cabin, this space was actually a great idea. They are small private changing rooms which also act as lockers. You use your electronic wristband to lock them behind you and gain access again.

After changing, we attempted to navigate the maze that is Lukacs Baths. I think that it’s only fair we should state we are both short-sighted and were no longer wearing our glasses, so for people with better vision this may be easier 🤣 However, trying to comprehend where things are was no easy feat.. I’m still not entirely sure what a “thermal section” is. We ventured upstairs and downstairs and upstairs again. The place is signposted, although some have English translations and others do not, the only explanation we have for this is that these areas are exclusively for the Hungarian visitors. During this navigational terror, we found the main outdoor pool. This was where we spent the majority of our visit. Although it is outside, it’s very warm (we visited in January). There are multiple jets, and a whirlpool. Cannot fault this area in any way!

We then decided to head to their leisure pool, where we were yelled at for not wearing swim caps and made to leave. It appears there was a sign for this, in Hungarian.

We wanted to visit the Sauna World. We asked the lifeguards who gave us into trouble for our lack of swim caps about this, and were told it opened at 2pm, so we came back then. We’d been told the tickets for this were included in the price we paid, but were made to go down to the main reception (other side of the maze) and buy them again. This process took a full 30 minutes.

Once in Sauna World, we visited the steam room - which was lovely. We then attempted to go into the Salt Therapy sauna. This is where a woman jumped off the bench and sprinted towards me, telling us we had to take off our swimsuits before entering. This is a new concept for us, and the translation was lost.

After this confusing ordeal, we tucked our suits into our towels and headed for the Finnish sauna upstairs. This was delightful. After a short time, we went back to the Salt Therapy sauna, where the women were now satisfied with our attire.

In the end, the only person we came across who spoke a word of English was the cleaner.. and I tried to exit out the wrong door.

Facilities are great, but the communication and directives for English...

I'm guessing that the reason why those who are giving this bath a great review, is because either a) they don't know better or b) they're the ones making it unlikeable by:

1.) Ignoring the signs everywhere that say "Silence" - i.e. shut your pie-hole, you're in a health facility meant for rest and recuperation not you to run your mouth about whatever thinking you're the only person in the place.

2.) Blocking the stairs in the pools and trying to squeeze into pools or sauna when it's too full. Again, a sign says not to do it, (because sadly people need to be schooled to be polite, care about safety and be considerate towards others), but it's done anyway to be a rebel or just a jerk?

3.) Putting your shoes in front of the pool entrances or in the walkways so others have to trip over or step over them. Again, it's all about Me, Me, Me...awful.

4.) Take pictures or videos. This is an ABSOLUTE NO. It is NOT OK to take photos of others while bathing or changing or in the saunas or showers without their permission. As a bath historian, I fully understand one wants to take photos of the historic site, but again - IT IS NOT OK TO FILM OR TAKE PHOTOS OF OTHER BATHGOERS IN THE FACILITY WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION and if you do, don't be surprised if someone gives you the finger for being a douche and feel free to put that on your Instagram influencer page or share with your friends & family at home that you were, in fact, an inconsiderate jerk for doing so and deserved it.😉

Sadly, staff does nothing about any issues, says management tells them not to say anything when guests complain about the loudness so one can actually enjoy the pools as they were meant to be enjoyed - quiet, calm and rejuvenating. I understand, I'm in the business, and see myself & colleagues not doing their job because they're tired of pointing out the rules to inconsiderate, entitled people and when they do mgmt. doesn't back them up. Now, I'm guessing mgmt here will respond with "thanks for pointing this out, we'll keep it in mind" like they've done before, but it's all lip service, so spare me, please - it's an insult, just like the facility is a...

We had a wonderful time here and that time went by extremely fast, because we really did enjoy it!

We chose to go on a weekday morning, at about 9am, in the hopes that it wouldn't be busy and it wasn't, thankfully! It picked up around noon and was quite busy when we left at about 2pm.

When you pay, you are given a wristband that you will be using to enter, use/lock the lockers (which come with the entrance fee), use any extras that you may have paid for, and also leave.

The only thing that let it down for us was that it was a bit of a maze and it took us a while to get our bearings. Once we did though, we were happy going between the different areas. If you do go, don't be afraid to wander! We were quite anxious at first, but there's no need to be. If you can't go in an area, there will be an obvious sign or your wristband won't let you through (or there'll be a sign on the door with the opposite sex etc).

We used the outside thermal pool the most, with the "whirlpool" and various jet areas. We also used the pebble foot massage pool, which was a cold shallow pool with pebbles in the bottom, which was lovely between warm baths. We also tried out two of the three indoor thermal baths, one of which was a small 40C one. Wonderful! There were two swimming pools that we did not use as we didn't have swimming caps, a plunge pool, a cold bath and ice, which we also did not use.

There's a cafe on site, where you can buy drinks, cakes, baguettes, hot half baguettes with various toppings amongst other things.

There are lots of toilets around the site, lots of showers and a few changing rooms (with cabins to get changed in). You will need shower slippers or sandals/flip flops to get around and you'll need to take a towel. You'll be showering twice, so don't forget to take toiletries too! The baths themselves are a great price, but any of these extras aren't cheap here if you are only buying them to use for this trip.

I'd 100% go again and I'd probably give it 5 stars next time, as we know our way around now, so won't feel...