Hungary - Eastern Europe - page 275

Budapest's most spectacular bathhouse.
The Gellért Baths are located in Buda's
Hotel Gellért, the oldest Hungarian spa
hotel and an Art Nouveau jewel. Enter the
baths through the side entrance. The exte-
rior of the building is in need of restora-
tion, but once inside the lobby, you'll be
delighted by the details. The unisex
indoor pool is without question one of
Europe's finest, with marble columns,
majolica tiles, and stone lion heads spout-
ing water. The two single-sex Turkish-style
thermal baths, off to either side of the
pool through badly marked doors, are also
glorious, though in need of restoration.
See a listing on p. 321, and see the “Ther-
mal Bathing 101” box on p. 323.
After your afternoon of thermal bathing, you
may want to head back to your hotel to rest

and freshen up for your evening, and then head
out to dinner. You'll be going to dinner from
your hotel, so it's difficult to recommend a
restaurant based on itinerary location. See p.
304 for Budapest dining options.
7 Attend a Nighttime Concert
Spend an evening attending a concert at
the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music
(p. 343), or the recently opened National
Concert Hall at the Palace of Art ,
both Budapest's finest concert halls: The
first is a more classical hall, while the
National Concert Hall is the most mod-
ern hall in Budapest. The fine arts are
alive and well in Budapest, and a night-
time concert is the perfect cap for your
short stint in the city. Note that perform-
ances usually start at 7:30 or 8pm.

Side Trips
You've seen Budapest; now its time to get outside of the capital and explore the land
of the Magyars. Since the average visitor to Hungary spends less than a week in the
country, we've opted to give you a few side-trip options from Budapest, rather than a
1-week or 10-day tour of the entire country. The train system is Budapest-centric, so
a full Hungarian tour would be difficult anyway; you'd need several weeks, traveling
by bus (time-consuming) or by car (dangerous if you're not used to European driving).
But trains, though not quite luxurious, are easy and safe, and they usually cost less
than 4,000 Ft ($20/£11) round-trip.
This section lists four options for your Hungarian side trip: Szentendre is a charm-
ing village and artist colony only 20km (12 miles) from the smog of the capital;
Keszthely is at the far end of Lake Balaton and away from the throngs of tourists;
Keszthely is a small scenic town, not far from the beaches, and nearby Héviz has lots
of recently opened spa-hotels; Pécs is a burgeoning cultural center which has lately
been attracting many young travelers; and the southern Hungarian city of Szeged is
another cultural center and Hungary's “spice capital.”

Margit Kovács. Her depictions of peasant life
in Hungary are heartwarming. Have a late
lunch at the Aranysárkány Vendégl ó ,
and take a walk along the river. Then
spend your afternoon exploring the many
shops, museums, and galleries in town. F ó
tér, the main drag, is enticing, but explore
all the side streets of this small, manageable
town. Try Régimódi for dinner, and
stay at the Róz Panzió, which overlooks

Option 1 A Day in Szentendre
After 2 days in Budapest, you might visit
Szentendre (pronounced Sen -ten-dreh),
an artists' colony just north of Budapest
and one of the most visited spots in all of
Hungary. Take the HÉV (regional train)
from Budapest's Batthyány tér metro for
a 45-minute ride.
Visit the Margit Kovács Museum
and see a wonderful collection of the late