Rudas Bath is probably the most popular medieval Turkish bath in Budapest, the City of Baths, famous for its bathing palaces like the Neo-Baroque Szechenyi Bath or the Art Nouveau Gellert Bath.
What makes Rudas Bath stand out is the modern rooftop panorama pool overlooking the river Danube and its many Budapest river cruise boats, the Parliament, the historical bridges and more. Also, Rudas Bath boasts a 16th-century thermal bath in its core, called the Turkish Bath.
In addition, Rudas Spa offers a special late night bathing opportunity, with its special overnight opening hours every Friday and Saturday (the baths reopen from 10 pm to 3 am, both nights: Rudas Night Bathing is only available with tickets booked online). Finally, Rudas is the only thermal bath in Budapest, which has – at least in a smaller part of the thermal complex – men only and women only weekdays in certain hours, when aprons are worn by many guests instead of traditional swimwear. You can book your Rudas Bath entries with a nice dinner right in the Thermal Baths for a special extra.
Rudas Bath & Dinner Booking
Opening hours – Rudas Bath Coed
Mon-Sun: 6 am to 8 pm (pools must be left by approx. 7.30 pm)
The bath is open on holidays, including national and any other holidays, e.g. Christmas, New Year, etc with a mixed set up (open to all genders). That means that the bath is open 365 days. Due to its popularity among locals, expats and tourists alike places are subject to availability at all times. Rudas Bath is a large bath complex, mostly co educated, but one of its several pools, the Turkish Bath has gender specific days, as seen below.
Turkish Baths Gender Days
Monday: Men only
Tuesday: Women only
Wednesday: Men only
Thursday mornings: Men only
Thursday afternoons: Coed
Friday mornings: Men only
Friday 11:00-20:00: Coed
Friday 10 pm – Sat 3 am: Coed Night Bathing with online tickets
Saturday: Coed
Sat 10 pm – Sun 3 am: Coed Night Bathing with online tickets
Sunday: Coed
National Holidays & Peak season periods: Coed
(hours and settings are subject to change, including the gender specific days in the Turkish Bath inside Rudas Bath. Kindly note that the majority of the bath complex, the saunas, plunge pool, large indoor thermal swimming pool etc. are coed, mixed seven days a week)
Rudas Bath is located at the foot of the scenic Gellert Hill on the Buda side.
Turkish Bath inside the Rudas Bath Complex
Turkish baths in Budapest are amazing oriental monuments with modern-day facilities. Many tourists who visited Turkey will expect to see the dry Turkish sauna as a Turkish bath, but the medieval Turkish baths of Budapest are not steam baths as in modern-day Turkey, but historical Turkish baths with a central octagonal-shaped pool extended with other baths.
That said, you can take a Turkish bath as a steam bath too, as Rudas Bath offers a complex bath and wellness experience, including a hammam (Turkish sauna) as well as an ilidza (Turkish “Ilica” for warm thermal spring). There are 6 thermal baths in Rudas Bath as well as a larger swimming pool.
The knights of St John in the 13th century built their healing center here, then after the Buda Castle siege, when the Ottoman Turkish armies successfully captured the Royal Palace of Hungarians, the Turks started to build a series of Turkish baths along the river Danube, using the deep underground hot spring waters for relaxing, bathing and healing. Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (Sokoli Mustafa), the Turkish pasha, who excelled in the siege of Vienna, and governed the town of Buda for 12 years during the Turkish occupation in Hungary, made sure that the baths are well built (with hard ceramic pipes, and tiles brought from Turkey).
Last updated on Oct 11, 2024
I can’t figure out for sure on any websites I’ve come across if the Friday night hours from 22.00 to 04:00 are mixed or male only. My wife & I are wondering. Thanks!
Hello Kevin, the Friday nights in Rudas Bath are mixed / coed, so both you and your wife are welcome to visit this thermal bath on the Buda side of Budapest.
What is the difference between night swimming on friday at Rudas, and the bath party on saturday at Szechenyi Bath?
Hello Romijn, the night swimming in Rudas Bath on Fridays and Saturdays is literally an opportunity to swim at late night opening hours (when people swim and soak).
On the other hand, the party in Szechenyi Baths on Saturday nights is a party with music (DJ mostly electronic music), laser show and hundreds of girls and boys clubbing, dancing, chatting, etc.
In short, Rudas Thermal Bath offers a laid back night swimming, while Szechenyi Thermal Bath offers a crazy night to remember for a lifetime as a highlight of Budapest nightlife.
What a disaster are these baths, not really nude-friendly, better to go to Germany.
Dear Lars, we are sorry that you did not like Rudas Bath in Budapest. The bath is men only / women only on weekdays, which does not necessarily mean that the bath is nude friendly, but it is certainly relaxation friendly.
We, me and my husband wil be in Budapest on April 1, 2 and 3 and we would like to go toghether to Rudas Bath , is ist possible, ? when and at what time? should we make any reservation or just arrrive in? what about clothes to go bath?
Thank you
Hello Ana,
unfortunately Rudas Bath is gender separated on weekdays, including April 1 – 3 (Tue – Thurs). If you wish to visit a bath together please consider another thermal bath in Budapest, like Szechenyi Baths or Gellert Spa or Kiraly Bath or Lukacs Bath – they are all co-ed every day of the week, on weekdays too. Rudas is only coed on the weekends.
Please bring swimwear to the baths as none of the mixed baths are nude baths.
We are a couple from Slovakia. We are n Budapešť and we are leaving tomorrow Thursday in the afternoon. Would IT be possible fór both of us ,/ female, malé // to go tu Rudas špás on Thursday morning beteeen 7-10am?
Hello Zlatica,
Thank you for contacting us.
We have sent you an email. We hope you enjoy Rudas Bath today!
Can you please tell me if there are still any small old fashioned, male only hammams in Budapest?
Hello Bernard, the only male only thermal bath in Budapest is Rudas Bath on certain weekdays. There are no more male only baths in Hungary as far as I know. The old traditional Turkish hammams like Kiraly Bath has been turned into a mixed bath.
Hi Bernard, I am visiting Budapest in late April 15 also looking for a hammams bath house, could possibly meet in Rudas ?
Could buy you a beer…..James