The world famous Budapest spas have seen record visitor numbers for the second year running, approaching one million attendees.
According to MTI, Budapest Spa Company marketing director Szilvia Czinege said the Hungarian capital’s spas had a total 980,000 visitors in the first three months of the year, an increase of 67,500 compared with the same period in 2018.
The first records of thermal baths in the Budapest region goes back to the Roman era, when the Aquincum garrison of the Pannonia province had a total of 18 such facilities. Even the name Aquincum means – according to the best guess of linguists – “five waters”.
Budapest currently has eight thermal baths, three of which are also historical monuments. One of them – and the most popular with tourists – is the Széchenyi Spa pictured above, located in the capital’s central park, Városliget. It was built in 1913 in Neo-Baroque style. It has three outdoor and 15 indoor pools.