The Dress Code in Gellert Spa is essentially requiring covering the essentials with decent swimwear made of swim wear fabric. The dress code relatively recently changed when the thermal baths turned into a mixed spa bath complex on January 01, 2013. Before Jan 2013, men and women had separate thermal pools, so guests were often nude, or just wearing an apron. This is no longer the case as the spa operates with coeducational system.
Swimwear at All Times
Now, as Gellert Spa & Thermal Bath has become a coed bath palace, all guests need to be in some sort of swim wear at all times. No more nudity, no more aprons. Every guest has a swim suit, or a swim trunk, etc. Swim wear is compulsory in the pools, saunas, steam baths, and during massage treatments too.
Swim Caps in the Swimming Pool
Swim caps are obligatory to wear in the swimming pool, but not in the other 9 thermal pools. If you do not have a swim cap, you can buy a swimming cap in the main hall at the spa shop.
Dress Code in Gellert Spa
What is the dress code of Gellert Baths? What should men wear at the baths, and what are women bathers to wear? One of the most frequently asked questions about Gellert Spa & Thermal Baths in Budapest is what to wear. Please read our guide if you are a first time visitor in Gellert Furdo, or if visited the thermal bath a long time ago, before Jan 2013.
Some of the first time visitors have no idea what they should wear, if anything, in the formerly gender separated Gellert Spa. Can you be naked? Should you be nude in the pools of Gellert Baths? Men wonder if they can don a speedo or if they need to wear longer swim trunks? Women want to find out if a bikini is accepted in the baths, or they are to wear a more complete one piece swimming suit?
Please note the the Private Bath in Gellert Spa is exempt from the general Dress Code policy.
Let’s see the dress code of Gellert Baths:
Swim Wear to Cover
As Gellert Spa is now a fully mixed thermal spa baths complex, all bathers are expected to cover the most important gender essentials during the whole visit in the baths (in the public areas). All the ten pools (indoor and outdoor), all the thermal baths, all the steam rooms and saunas, the gym, are completely coed in Gellert Spa & Thermal Baths on every day.
Women’s Swimwear in Gellert Spa
Women guests are kindly asked to wear decent swim wears. The bare minimum is the proper bikini style swim wear, but you can don a sporty tankini, shorts (with a top), or a one piece ladies swimsuit too, if you prefer more coverage, or you are planning to do some laps in the open air swimming pool. Burkini is also allowed and long sleeve / long legged swimwear as long as it is made of quick dry swimming fabric. Normal fabric, like cotton, is not accepted. That means that a T-shirt or other street wear is not accepted.
Men’s Swimwear in Gellert Spa
Men guests are kindly asked to wear decent swim wears. The bare minimum is the speedo style swim wear, but you can choose to wear a sporty pair of swim trunks, or shorts (maximum knee-length) and a top (maximum shoulder-length). If you prefer more coverage, try to get some wet suit or wet suit style T shirts (maximum shoulder-length). It is not unusual to see men with hairy chests and backs in Gellert Spa. It should not be an issue.
Children’s Swimwear in Gellert Spa
Gellert Spa Baths is geared more towards adults and teen children rather than kids under 14 (kids under 14 are not allowed to use the hot spring water pools for potential cardio stress).
In general, teenagers wear the same as adult bathers (the dress code is the same).
Useful Bath Gear in Gellert Spa
Flip Flops / Slippers / Clogs for your Feet
Flip flops are the most ideal type of footwear for treading the wet floors in Gellert Spa. Slippers or flip flops are required to be worn at all times in Gellert Spa.
Put on a sun hat on sunny days
Heatwaves in the summer in Hungary are not rare. June, July and August can be especially hot (over 35 degrees Celsius). Regulars who spend more hours in or around the outdoor pools (in the wave pool, or chatting around in the thermal sitting room, sunbathing on the sun terrace), usually wear a light coloured baseball cap or some kind of sun hat to protect the top of their heads from the strong sun rays. If you have a sensitive skin, and you are planning to stay a full day or half a day in Gellert Spa having a sun hat is a must (unless you alternate your outdoor stay with the indoor funs).
Sun-tan lotion to protect your skin
From June to September the weather can be quite hot and sunny. Please bring your own sun tan lotion to protect your skin from potential sun damage. There are some nice shady areas in the back court of the Gellert Spa Palace, but it is warmly recommended to have a protective layer on your skin.
Related Info about Budapest Thermal Baths:
ho can to help mee to tell me how many dressis i hawe to mke in my swimming pool in school pol i hae 580 students ????
Can we rent swimsuits in Gellert Spa as we forgot to bring ours with us! Thank you.
Dear Laura,
yes, it is possible to rent swimsuits inside the Spa. The prices are the following:
Swimwear (women): HUF 2,000 (deposit HUF 2,000)
Swimwear (men): HUF 2,000 (deposit HUF 2,000)
can I arrive in the morning and then leave and come back later the same day ( on the same ticket)?
Dear Jane,
unfortunately the tickets are single pass only, therefore you cannot come back with the same ticket once you left the baths. Thank you for your understanding.
I would like to visit the thermal pools with my very mature 11 year old daughter. Is this permitted? Thank you.
Dear Judith,
Children under 14 can use the thermal bath, but only at their own responsibility, as it is not recommended for younger children.
There are no children tickets in the spa any more, only full price adult tickets.
http://gellertspa.com/children-gellert-spa
Have a lovely time in the Spa!
“If, for religious or other reasons, you want to cover more of your body, please wear something in the pools that still qualifies as a swim wear for waters.”
This is a lie.
I wear hijab so obviously I need to wear full body covered swimwear. But at the entrance they have signage that ban this and only allow bikininor one piece conventional swimsuit. I even showed them this page and try to explain that I have swimsuit but it’s covered. But still they didn’t let me. Very discriminative. Their definition of swimwear is very narrow and not inclusive to many different people.
Dear Laras,
thank you for your invaluable feedback.
We would like to apologise for the out-of-date information on our website. Indeed, non regular swimsuits used to be allowed in Gellert Spa in the past, but this policy has been changed recently.
As per the current swimsuit policy of Gellert Spa, only regular swimwear is allowed (bikinis, tankinis or one piece swimsuits). Any other type of swimwear are unfortunately not accepted inside the Baths.
We apologise for all the inconveniences caused by the misleading information on our website, which has already been removed.
Thank you for your kind understanding.
So sorry to know about burkini banned, I’m from Indonesia, most are Muslims who need to cover with burkini (except there are separation between male/female area). Seem we have to skip thermal spa during our visit in Budapest.
Dear Laksmi,
thank you for your comment.
Your email was forwarded to the management of the spa, hopefully, the dress code and policy will be changed in the near future.
Thenk you for your understanding.
Does the naturist terrace in Gellert bath function or not? Can I come with my partner (no children)?
Hello Jane,
unfortunately, there is no naturist section at Gellert Spa.
Please follow the link below for the dress code of the baths:
http://gellertspa.com/dress-code-in-gellert-spa-thermal-baths-budapest
As the thermal waters are not recommended for younger children we would like to invite you to read our FAQ’s about children on the below link:
http://gellertspa.com/children-gellert-spa
Hope we can welcome you at Gellert Spa!