Rác Thermal Bath

A Buda bath of Ottoman origin, with an octagonal domed pool rebuilt by Miklós Ybl in the 1860s.

Globetrotter19, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bathing: Indoor
Established: 1572
Accommodation: Hotel on site

Rác Bath stands at the foot of Gellért Hill on springs used since Ottoman times. The octagonal Turkish pool under its dome survives inside a nineteenth-century building designed by Miklós Ybl, later wrapped in a modern extension.

Balnevia view

Why visit

Architecturally it is one of the most interesting baths in Budapest — an Ottoman core, an Ybl shell and a contemporary annexe in one structure.

The water

Thermal water

Source: Rác springs (Gellért Hill)
Mineralisation: Calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate with sulphate
Character: Buda hillside springs used continuously since Ottoman times.

Practical information

The bath has been closed to general public bathing for years; check current status before travelling, as access has depended on the hotel development around it.