Nicknamed “The City Of Spas,” the Hungarian capital has a spa culture like no other – dating back to Roman times – and is blessed with 118 springs and boreholes. These supply the city’s 31 spas and baths with an astonishing 15.4 million gallons of mineral-rich water daily, ranging in temperature from 21º to 78ºC.
The first springs were discovered some 2,000 years ago in the Roman town of Aquincum (meaning “abundant water”) in north Budapest, but it wasn’t until the Turkish occupation that a bathing culture really developed. Ottoman bathing customs were introduced by the Turks, who occupied Hungary for 150 years in the 1500s. Then, during Budapest’s golden era at the end of the 19th century, spas became an essential part of every Grand Tour. Some of these steam-belching Turkish baths, among the grandest in Europe, are still in use in Budapest today. Taking a dip in one of these opulent-looking affairs is an experience not to be missed. Just lie back, relax and revel in the elegant Roman-style columns, vaulted glass roof and dazzling, stained-glass windows.
The generation game
For generations, people from all over Europe have flocked especially to Budapest to take the waters for medicinal purposes, aiming to heal all manner of ailments from gout to arthritis. And this is still true to this day. Most baths are divided into separate sections – thermal baths and swimming areas – and, with few signs written in English, a first visit can perhaps seem a bit daunting. However, the basic system of attendants and cabins is the same in most baths, and once you get the hang of the rituals, it proves very rewarding. In many pools bathing caps are compulsory but, like swimsuits and towels, they can be rented.
A basic ticket, costing 3,300 forint (£9.85) covers two hours in the sauna, steam rooms and pools. Supplementary tickets, costing about a fiver, will buy you a massage, tub or mud bath. In some baths you pay for these treatments on the spot.
Taking a shower before entering the bath is compulsory. Then the most favoured sequence is first a sauna, warm pool, steam room and cold plunge, followed by a hot plunge that makes your skin tingle wonderfully. Finally, you relax in a warm pool, and then a thorough massage makes the whole ritual complete. Be warned, though – you will be left feeling relaxed, stress-free but delightfully exhausted. So don’t plan any major sightseeing or meetings afterwards. Best just take a refreshing nap before going out on the town in the evening.
Bath culture
At the turn of the last century, Budapest’s bath culture received a fresh boost when new thermal springs were discovered and the science of healing waters, balneology, confirmed the beneficial effects. Some wonderful spas were built at that time, including the best-known and grandest Gellert Baths, a striking Art Nouveau building housing a hotel near the Liberty Bridge. It has a beautiful pool and spa area, with artistic mosaics, exquisite windows and some serious masseurs and masseuses. There’s even an inhalatorium for those with breathing problems.
The other two spas from this era are the Szechenyi Bath, Budapest’s most popular, famed for its chessboards on the outdoor swimming pool, and the Lukacs Bath, the haunt of actors and the arty set. Whichever spa you choose, you’ll walk into a jovial, relaxed atmosphere that’s a million miles from the scented candles, whale music and hefty price-tags that are commonplace in many British spas. Everybody from the landed gentry and tycoons to bus drivers enjoy the baths. Some Hungarians meet there to talk business but most go simply to relax, chat and catch up on the latest gossip.
MICE
Budapest’s spa culture even plays a part in the city’s ambitions to attract more MICE visitors. The Hungarian Convention Bureau, founded in 2000, promotes the use of the Gellert baths as a venue for parties with a water ballet theme. Other suggestions for the social side of business events and incentive programmes include the marching of hussars in the Buda Castle, a Renaissance-themed evening in a medieval castle, a cruise down the Danube, and even a car rally using old-fashioned Trabants, the East German car that once gave Communism a bad name.
For banqueting events and special occasions the Bureau (www.hcb.hu) also suggests – and will help organise – gatherings at the fairytale Vajdahunyad Castle, set in the lovely City Park, the Museum of Fine Arts or even the Parliament building. For more conventional meetings and events, with room for up to 2,000 people, there is the Budapest Congress Centre and about ten other major venues, mainly in the larger hotels, as well as a wide range of smaller facilities. When it comes to accommodation, the city’s hotels offer about 5,000 luxury and first-class rooms.
It is no surprise that Budapest is building a growing reputation as an excellent MICE venue. In addition to being the business centre of Hungary, it is one of Europe’s most delightful, scenic, fun cities. Straddling a gentle curve on the Danube, which splits the city in two – cosmopolitan Pest and conservative Buda – it is more romantic and cosmopolitan than Prague, less formal than Vienna, and more beautiful than both. Backed by the Buda Hills, it has parks heaving with attractions, museums crammed with treasures and a buzzing nightlife that often lasts until dawn.
A bygone era
If you like a palatial hotel that whisks you back to a bygone era, book into the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal, on the city’s main boulevard. Opened in 1896, when guests included singer Josephine Baker, it mixes traditional majesty with modern elegance. It is a 10-minute walk from the nightlife hub of Liszt Ferenc Square and has three dining options – classic dishes in the Brasserie Royale & Atrium, Far East fusion in the award-winning Rickshaw restaurant and local specialities in the Bock Bistro – plus a nightclub. As you would expect, the Grand also has its own luxurious Royal Spa.
Another leading hotel is the Danubius Grand Hotel Margitsziget, built in 1873 and recently renovated, which is located on Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube. The setting is perfect, with all 164 rooms overlooking parkland or the river, and the city centre just a brief taxi ride away. In addition to the usual spa services, there is a solarium.
If you prefer the style of the 21st century, the Hotel Zara, opened in 2006, is Budapest’s original boutique hotel, with just 74 rooms. Offering intimate and chic surroundings, it is situated right in the city centre, on the elegant Vaci Street with its coffee houses and boutiques.
A food capital
Budapest has a reputation as a food capital dating back to the late 19th century and the city’s restaurant scene has seen an incredible tourist-driven transformation in recent years. Nowadays, Hungarian cooking is about more than just goulash and heavily-spiced paprika dishes. Almost every style of cooking can now be found on the menus of the city’s 119 restaurants.
Try the award-winning Biarritz, opened in 1938 near the Parliament building, or the traditional and lively Hungarian restaurant Karpatia, a landmark since 1877, which features a gypsy band. Specialities at the Biarritz include risotto with goose liver and porcini mushrooms.
Elsewhere, at the sophisticated Baraka, in the Andrassy Hotel, you sit surrounded by dark wood tables, aubergine velvet upholstery and pewter vases filled with lilies and imaginative dishes include slow-roasted deer sirloin in a porcini coat with parsnip and aubergine lasagne.
No visitor should leave Budapest without sampling the true café experience. While many of the late 19th century coffee houses are long gone, some, such as the New York, at Erzsebet korut, and the Gerbeaud, on Vorosmarty Square, uphold the tradition, retaining their elegance and period charm. Then there are the many patisseries, with their mouth-watering cakes, pastries and ice cream, along with pancakes stuffed with fruit or nuts and strudel filled with cherries or cream cheese.
Somehow, after sampling these delights, you start to understand why the spa baths are so popular… they go some way toward burning off all those extra calories!
Europe’s most idyllic
Budapest was voted one of “Europe’s Most Idyllic Places To Live” by experts at American business magazine Forbes. They commented: “This city covers a vast 202.7 sq. mile area in the centre of the country and has no fewer than four World Heritage sites, including the second-oldest underground railway in the world. Houses are extremely good value, with a 50 sq. m flat costing approximately $81,000 (£54,811).”
Tourist boom
Budapest was at the forefront of Hungary’s record-breaking year for tourism in 2008. Foreign visitors accounted for 46 percent of guest nights in hotels all across Hungary, and more than half stayed in Budapest. More than half a million tourists were from Germany, with roughly half that number visiting from Austria and Britain.
It’s not just tourists boosting the economy, either. Business visitors are becoming increasingly important to Budapest’s service sector.
The main source of information in English for business people arriving in the capital is the Budapest Business Journal, an almost archival publication of financial news and business stories that has been around for nearly 15 years and appears on Mondays. Another useful publication is the feature-oriented Business Hungary, published monthly by the American Chamber of Commerce.
