Eastern Europe Bath Houses Faceoff

I'm hardly the authority on public bathing, but I do make an effort to visit spas or bath houses wherever I travel. In most Western European cities, spas are prohibitively expensive, but in Eastern Europe you can get quite a deal - an hour's massage for $30 or a day in thermal pools for $15. Quality varies widely between different locales and cities, however.

Turkish Baths are quite well-known, and have inspired a number of homages in NYC, most notably the Russian & Turkish Baths on E 10th St, which upon entering you feel you've time traveled to medieval times. The various dry and wet heat rooms are rustic, packed with sweaty bodies, and often garnished with a shirtless Turk whipping someone in the corner. Highly recommended, if you're into back-in-time-while-scantily-clad experiences.


In Istanbul, however, the "authentic" Turkish baths feel much less...well...authentic. The most famous and highly recommended bath house Cagaloglu Hamami (included in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, it proudly proclaims) is beautiful, as is most of Istanbul. The actual bath experience is a bit underwhelming - you lie on a large round stone slab while an attendant gives you a 15 minute scrub with soap and a loofah. It's a nice piece of history - and it's always heartening to visit a place where cleanliness really is next to Godliness - but as a sheer bathing ritual, it's not particularly spectacular. I would never, ever, in the slightest way discourage someone from visiting Turkey--it truly was one of the most arresting places I've ever been--but perhaps take a peek at the bath house and keep walking.

The place to indulge in a full-out bathing experience is the Szechnyi Bath & Spa in Budapest.

Pure Awesome

A bathing complex housed in a beautiful 19th Century building. It holds 12 thermal baths of different temperatures, some inside and some outside, plus several saunas/steam rooms as well as massages. The best part is the sense that tons of Hungarians frequent this place as part of their regular lives (the place offers weekly and monthly passes). The cafeteria doesn't serve wheat grass shots, but rather beer and sausage. I had one of the best massages of my life there. And the whole thing was very reasonably priced.

The large outdoor pool (below) is reminiscent of Iceland's much-touted Blue Lagoon, but Budapest wins hands down. It's cheaper, more low-key, offers more variety, and the large outdoor pool doesn't give you the chills (though arguably I did visit the Blue Lagoon during a mild hurricane).

Budapest: Szechnyi Baths

Iceland: Blue Lagoon

I realize it's blasphemy to live in Poland and not visit a Polish spa, but I haven't yet. I'm remedying the situation next weekend with a trip to the city of Szczecin (on the German border), about which I know very little other than that there are reasonably priced hotels and spa services. Sweet! I'll let you know how it compares to gilded Budapest.