After finishing up my trip through Iran (read my Iran travel blog) I flew into Europe. I picked Budapest as my first stop because I really needed a place to relax and having visited Budapest before, was pretty familiar with it. I was in dire need of some decent internet to do an admin day or 3.
First order of business was to visit one of the thermal baths that Budapest is famous for. My accommodation was located close to Gellért Baths so I headed there. Gellért is one of the more expensive baths in Budapest but is also the most beautiful. Given that I was taking a friend along for her first Budapest bath experience, I figured it was the best choice.
The Gellért baths are within the famous Hotel Gellért on the Buda side of the Danube river that splits Budapest in two. The Gellért hotel is a beautiful Vienna Secession building, while the interior is in a wonderfully colourful Art Nouveau style.
The shot below shows the beautiful entrance foyer to Gellért Bath followed by the main lap pool inside.
The price of entry into Gellért Baths for an adult with a locker on weekdays is about 17€. My personal preference is the Lukacs bath. Lukacs is a little less touristy and cheaper thanGellért. I will do a big writeup on all the Budapest baths in an upcoming post.
Gellért Baths is a great example of Art Nouveau architecture. The 40°C degree pool below is my favourite in Gellért. I love the pastel coloured tiles and gold trim.
The walk to Gellért Baths takes you over the Liberty Bridge, in my opinion the prettiest bridge over the Danube in Budapest.
The bridge was built between 1894 and 1896 to the plans of János Feketeházy. Although radically different in structure (it is a cantilever truss bridge with a suspended middle span), the bridge imitates the general outline of a chain-type bridge, which was considered an aesthetically preferable form at the time of construction.
Here you can see the massive Gellért Bath complex coming into view as you cross the bridge. These shots were taken in the evening as I was leaving Gellért, hence the darkness.
I spent the day after my trip to the baths walking around the Danube. The shot below is taken from the Pest side of the Danube looking towards Buda Castle.
I really like the trams in Budpest. There are a lot of modern trams but a few older models still doing the rounds and they look pretty cool in photos.
Another stay attraction in Budapest, at least from a photography standpoint is the Hungarian Parliament building which is both the tallest and largest building in Hungary. The Hungarian Parliament is built in the Gothic Revival style. Construction started in 1885 and the building was inaugurated on the 1000th anniversary of the country in 1896, and completed in 1904.
The last photo below is from the Margaret Bridge that leads to Buda Castle and is a view back towards the Parliament building.
The photo below is not mine but it shows of style of the building well.
If you want to check out all my photos from Budapest, check out this album on Flickr.
1 comment
Comment by Alan Ramirez
Alan Ramirez June 21, 2017 at 3:22 am
Great pictures Hayden. I went to Budapest about a month ago and I found Gellerd’s baths to be fancier than some of the other bath houses in the city. Really enjoyed your pictures, specially the ones of the pools!