What Is Gellért Baths?

Gellért Baths (Gellért Gyógyfürdő) is the thermal bathhouse attached to the historic Gellért Hotel at the foot of Gellért Hill on the Buda side of the Danube, right beside Liberty Bridge (Szabadság híd). Built between 1912 and 1928, it's one of Budapest's best-known Art Nouveau structures — a main pool hall topped with a stained-glass roof and Roman-style columns, turquoise Zsolnay ceramic mosaics throughout, and carved stone sculptures that make the building itself the attraction, separate from the thermal water.

The complex normally combines an indoor thermal bathing hall with multiple pools of varying temperature, an outdoor wave pool and sunbathing terrace open in summer, and a spa offering massage and treatment services. It draws its water from natural thermal springs beneath Gellért Hill, the same source that feeds several other Buda-side baths. Under normal operation it ranks among the most photographed and most visited thermal baths in the city — which is exactly why the current closure catches so many travelers by surprise.

Gellért Baths Tickets & Prices 2026

There is no current 2026 ticket to buy — Gellért Baths has been closed to the public since October 1, 2025, for renovation, and the operator's own site states the earliest realistic reopening is 2028. If you see third-party tour or ticket-resale sites still listing "Gellért Baths tickets" for sale, treat that as stale listing data rather than a live booking; confirm directly with the operator before paying anything.

For reference, here is the last published pricing structure before closure, from early-to-mid 2025: a full-day adult ticket cost about €36 (roughly 11,000 HUF) with a locker on weekdays, or €38 (about 12,000 HUF) with a private cabin; weekend pricing stepped up to about €39 (12,500 HUF) with a locker or €41 (13,500 HUF) with a cabin. Towels and robes were not included in any of those prices and had to be rented separately. These figures are historical only — they are not bookable and should not be treated as what reopening pricing will look like in 2028.

Opening Hours 2026 & When It Reopens

There are no opening hours in 2026 because the baths are shut for construction, full stop — not reduced hours, not a partial reopening of some pools, closed entirely. Before the October 2025 closure, Gellért Baths operated daily from 6:00 to 20:00, seven days a week, with no weekly closing day. That schedule is a useful reference for what a future reopening will likely resemble, but it is not currently in effect.

The renovation is described as a major structural restoration rather than a cosmetic refresh, which is consistent with the multi-year timeline. No interim reopening date, phased-reopening plan, or preview access has been announced as of mid-2026. If you're planning a trip for later in 2026, build your Budapest bathing plans around a different bathhouse rather than waiting on Gellért — and check the official site again closer to your travel date in case the timeline shifts.

How Long to Plan for a Visit

Right now, there is nothing to plan for inside the building — it's closed to visitors and there's no ticketed access of any kind, including for photography or a lobby walk-through. What you can do in 2026 is view the exterior: the Art Nouveau facade facing the Danube and Liberty Bridge is visible from the street and from across the river, and a short stop of 10–15 minutes is enough to see the building and take photos before moving on.

When the baths do reopen (targeted for 2028), a typical thermal-bath visit at a comparable Budapest bathhouse runs 2 to 4 hours — enough time to move between pools of different temperatures, use the sauna and steam rooms, and unwind on a lounger, without feeling rushed. Use that window as a planning benchmark for a future trip once a firm reopening date is confirmed.

How to Get to Gellért Baths

The building sits at Kelenhegyi út 4, on the Buda side of Liberty Bridge, in the Szent Gellért tér square. The M4 metro line (green) stops directly outside at "Szent Gellért tér – Műegyetem," which is the fastest way in from central Pest — about 10–15 minutes from Kálvin tér or Keleti station. Trams 47, 48, and 49 also stop at Szent Gellért tér, and it's an easy 10-minute walk across Liberty Bridge from the Pest-side markets around Vásárcsarnok.

If you're combining a viewing stop with other Buda-side sights, the Buda Castle district sits further up the hill and works well as a longer stop on the same outing, with the Gellért exterior as a quick add-on along the riverside route.

Visit Tips: What to Do Instead & Common Mistakes

• Don't book third-party "Gellért Baths tickets" from resale or tour aggregator sites without confirming directly first — several of these listings are stale and predate the October 2025 closure.
• If thermal bathing is the goal of your trip, book Széchenyi Baths instead — it's the largest bathhouse complex in Budapest and remains fully open, with a similar range of indoor and outdoor thermal pools.
• Rudas Baths and Lukács Baths, both also on the Buda side, are commonly recommended stand-ins for travelers specifically chasing the historic Ottoman-era bathhouse atmosphere Gellért is known for.
• Don't skip the neighborhood entirely — the exterior, the Liberty Bridge crossing, and the base of Gellért Hill are still worth a short stop even without access inside.
• Check the operator's official site again close to your travel date; multi-year renovation timelines on historic buildings sometimes shift in either direction.

Nearby Attractions

Gellért Hill rises directly behind the bathhouse, with the Citadella and Liberty Statue at its summit reachable by a signposted uphill walk of roughly 30–40 minutes, offering the best panoramic view over both sides of the Danube. Across Liberty Bridge on the Pest side, the Great Market Hall (Vásárcsarnok) makes an easy combined stop. Further along the Buda riverbank and up the hill, the Buda Castle district and the Fisherman's Bastion are both within a longer walk or a short tram-and-walk combination, and pair naturally into a half-day Buda-side itinerary.

For the full range of sights on both banks of the river, the Budapest attractions hub covers what else to combine with a Buda-side day, and our 2-day Budapest itinerary shows where a bathhouse stop (at Széchenyi, in Gellért's absence) fits into a short trip.