Budapest, the city of the Danube, is a fantastic city to visit. One can spend a good week here, quietly checking out everything there is to see. If you want to know what to see in Budapest, this and the next posts are for you.
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What to see in Budapest if it rains (our first day)
There was a little heat wave when we visited the city at the end of last May … except the first day, we arrived in full drizzle and cold.
And what to do then? Get into more water. We went straight to the Lukács thermal baths, for two reasons: they were closer to our AirBnB (see post: where to stay in Budapest? [5]) than the other Spas, and also the entrance to this one was included in our Budapest Card (besides the transport to take us there, of course. See the first post of our series on Budapest [6] about details of the Budapest Card, which you can purchase here [7]if you want).
The Lukács Spa
A nice spa in the opposite area of the Danube from the Zone XIII, where we were staying. You can reach it by the bridge that also connects with Margarita Island. This is the Spa’s address: Frankel Leó út 25-29. Map [8].
The main attraction is the central outdoor pool with thermal water, on the lower floor. In it we did have a nice warm time while it rained. Many different jets of thermal water will relax you in here, and we did try them all. It also has enough Saunas [9]and Turkish baths so you can find your perfect balance between heat and humidity and have a good time. Near the sauna area there are, of course, showers, and even a large container with ice.
There are also two fairly large pools of fresh water to cool off and swim (don’t be like us and forget a swimming cap if you are going to bathe there, although you can buy it at the Spa, as well as rent towels). We stayed until 3pm enjoying.
The other spas in the city, which we did not go to, are the Gellért fürdö and the one recommended by my Hungarian friend in addition to Lukács, the Széchenyi fürdö.
Pest’s center: walking tours and St. Stephen’s Basilica
St. Stephen’s Basilica is the place to start any day worth its salt in Budapest.
We went there the first day in the afternoon to start walking around the city and we stumbled into Jordan Peterson [10]giving a free live session – as part of the annual Brain Brain event in Budapest -. As it was about to begin we stayed to see him. He was lucky and it stopped raining just before he started. His interviewer was not as good as others he had, but the ideas are always interesting to listen to. When it was over it was a bit late and we decided to go to the top of the Basilica for another time.
There are free tours (with an expected donation at the end, of course), which start in front of the Basicila every day, as well as the Pest tour that is included in the Budapest Card.
After all this, we went to have a drink and dinner in the Pest side of the city. We headed south-east from the Basilica into the Gozsdu Courtyard (see the previous post of the series: where to eat in Budapest [5]) to find something to drink and dine. We went into a local pub with a front of a patio with live Jazz music for some drinks, and then eat something near the AirBnB. We were very tired after so much relaxing during the day. It was a good day. And this is the next post [11]in this mini-series.