9 divine Budapest pool parks for summer swimming

Római Bath
The history of Római Bath dates all the way back to the Roman Empire, but it was refurbished in 1964 and modernized in 2000. Visitors can spend their time amid a plethora of facilities, such as the sauna, steam room, playground, outdoor fitness park, an outdoor pool with slides, neck-massaging jets, a lazy river, and a bubble bath, along with numerous catering facilities. We can swim in a cool 33-meter-long swimming pool, as well. Some Roman relics and Roman-inspired design elements pay tribute to the bath’s long-standing history.

Adult ticket: 2,400 HUF on weekdays, 2,700 HUF on weekends

MOM Sport Swimming and Sports Center
The 13,000-square-meter MOM Sports Center houses training rooms, football fields, and a wellness department with saunas and steam rooms, as well as an indoor and a huge 33-meter-long outdoor swimming pool with eight lanes. It’s good to know that the swimming pools are pre-sanitized with a special technology using ultraviolet rays, so cleaning the water requires half as much chlorine as other swimming pools.

Adult ticket: 3,200 HUF

Külkerpark
While this sports and leisure complex is somewhat difficult to find, the effort is well worth it. Located in a beautiful valley surrounded by trees, Külkerpark awaits visitors with a 500-meter-long running track, various ball-game courts, a climbing wall, a 33-meter-long outdoor pool with eight lanes, and two children’s pools where young’uns can learn the basics of swimming.

Adult ticket: 2,900 HUF

Vituki Bath
Vituki Bath is one of Budapest’s cheapest and most underrated open-air baths. Set in a park-like environment just a ten-minute walk away from the Lágymányos terminus of tram 2, the one pool and sauna of this simple bath belong to the Institute of Environment & Water Management. Massages, an aqua gym, and swimming lessons are available, as well as a tennis court and a rather affordable café.

Adult ticket: 1,650 HUF

BVSC Swimming Pool
The bright blue home of the Budapesti Vasutas Sport Club’s Swimming Section is located right next to City Park, and is open to everyone. The new building was handed over in 2015, and not only has indoor swimming pools but an outside one, as well, which is open from May 1st until August 31st. Recently, the complex expanded with a 50-meter-long, 8-lane outdoor swimming pool that functions as one of the training pools for the contestants of FINA.

Adult ticket: 2,200 HUF

Csillaghegyi Bath
One of the city’s most picturesque open-air pool parks, Csillaghegyi Bath, is undergoing renovation works at the moment, but its 33-meter-long swimming pool filled with natural mineral water and infra-sauna are still available for use. We can view the visual plans for the future wellness and bath complex, currently under construction and to be opened in the summer season of 2018, on billboards placed around the pools.

Adult ticket: 1,000 HUF

Paskál Bath
Paskál Bath was built in 1989 in the Zugló district of Budapest, with pools fed by nearby thermal springs. In the winter, the 33-meter-long swimming pool is covered with a tent to remain available for use. In 2016, the bath expanded with an indoor unit, housing a training pool, two children’s pools, a geometric sauna, a thermal pool, and an indoor-outdoor adventure pool with a water bar, where we can enjoy cocktails while soaking.

Adult ticket: 2,400 HUF on weekdays, 2,600 HUF on weekends

Pünkösdfürdő Bath
Pünkösdfürdő Bath, designed by Hungarian Olympic champion Alfréd Hajós and renovated in 2003, is surrounded by lush trees and rose arbors in Óbuda. The bath has an adventure pool, a children’s pool with slides, a 50-meter-long swimming pool, and a sauna where we can relax our tired muscles after a long workout in the water.

Adult ticket: 1,900 HUF

Palatinus Bath
Palatinus Bath was Budapest’s first open-air bath, and it recently underwent some renovation works on the main building and the pools’ filter, and the restaurant. Also, a full thermal section was established in the basement, with water from the drilled thermal springs of Margaret Island. Among the ten pools of the bath, we can find a wave pool and numerous slides, as well as a 40-meter-long, 22-24°C swimming pool. In-between two swimming sessions, we recommend recharging at Laza Pala, the local buffet run by Lajos Bíró.

Adult ticket: 3 000 HUF on weekdays, 3 400 HUF on weekends

This article was sponsored by the Bp2017 Nonprofit Kft.