Vintage pictures of Budapest

Baths in Budapest

Today's Budapest has been a habitation site noted for its baths for nearly two thousand years; From the earliest traces of various tribal settlements to the former bathing buildings and the barracks of the 2nd Roman legion in Acquincum of the province of Pannonia. The earliest known remains from after the establishment of the nation, date from 1178, and mention a settlement under the name of Felhévíz (Upper Hot Spring) in the present area of Óbuda-Újlak (thermal baths Lukács and Császár).

Turkish baths: Rudas,Király
Historical baths: Gellért, Lukács, Széchenyi
Baths: Dagály, Dandár

Budapest Spas and Hot Springs

Heroes' Square Budapest

The most spectacular square in the capital, Heroes' Square is located at the entrance to City Park. The central site of the Hero's square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Monument. The construction of the Monument started when the one thousand-th anniversary was celebrated (in 1896), but it was finished only in 1900, and the square got its name then.


When the Monument was originally constructed, Hungary was a part of the Austrian Empire and thus the last five spaces for statues on the left of the colonnade were reserved for members of the ruling Habsburg dynasty. From left to right these were: Ferdinand I (relief: Defense of the Castle at Eger); Leopold I (relief: Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta), Charles III, Maria Theresa (relief: The Hungarian Diet votes support "vitam et sanguinem") and Franz Joseph (relief: Franz Joseph crowned by Gyula Andrássy) The monument was damaged in World War II and when it was rebuilt the Habsburgs were replaced by the current figures.

Budapest on Vintage Postcards

Gellert Baths

Gellért Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool, also called Gellért fürdő or Gellért Baths, are a bath complex in Budapest, built between 1912 and 1918. They were damaged during WW2, but then rebuilt. References to healing waters in this location are found from as early as the 13th century. A hospital was located on this site during the Middle Ages. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, baths were also built on this particular site.

The Gellért Baths complex includes thermal baths, which are small pools containing water from Gellért hill's mineral hot springs. The water contains calcium, magnesium, hydrocarbonate, alkalis, chloride, sulfate and fluoride. Medical indications of the water includes degenerative joint illnesses, spine problems, chronic and sub-acute joint inflammations, vertebral disk problems, neuralgia, vasoconstriction and circulatory disturbances; inhalation problems for the treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis problems. There are two different thermal baths, according to the signs on the walls of the baths, one is around 36 °C and the other around 38 °C. The thermal baths are decorated beautifully with mosaic tiles.

The complex also includes saunas and plunge pools (segregated by gender), an open-air swimming pool which can create artificial waves every ten minutes. A Finnish sauna with cold pool and children's pool is also enclosed within the complex.

The one warm water swimming pool is possible to visit mixed, but the male and female thermal sections (saunas and massage) are separate. In 2011, every Sunday is a family day, so all sections can be visited mixed. Gellért Baths also offer a range of medical services.

Budapest Nyugati pályaudvar

Budapest Nyugati pályaudvar (Hungarian for Budapest West railway station) is a railway station in the northern part of the Budapest City. It is one of the three main railway stations of Budapest (together with Keleti pu and Déli pu) and can be found in the 6th district.

The station was planned by August de Serres and was built by the Eiffel Company. It was opened on 28 October 1877. Previously another station stood in its place, the end station of Hungary's first railway line, the Pest–Vác line (constructed in 1846). This building was pulled down in order to construct the Nagykörút - Grand Boulevard which is now smaller than the outer ringroad (Hungária körút - Hungary Boulevard) and the recently opened motorway ringroad M0 (2008).

Picture from the end of 19th Century

The station gave name to the immediately adjacent Nyugati tér (Western Square), a major intersection where Teréz körút (Theresia Boulevard), Szent István körút (Saint Stephen Boulevard), Váci út (Váci Avenue), and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út (Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Avenue) converge. The square also serves as a transportation hub with several bus lines, tram 4 and 6, and a station of the M3 line of the Budapest Metro.

Hungarian State Railways runs regular service between the station and Budapest Ferihegy International Airport's Terminal 1. The trip takes approximately 25 minutes, costs 365 HUF, and runs 2-3 times per hour.[1]

Beside the train station and partially above its open area there is the WestEnd City Center shopping mall.

Source - Wikipedia

Budapest Keleti pályaudvar

Budapest Keleti pályaudvar (often abbreviated Budapest Keleti pu), Hungarian for Budapest East railway station is the largest among the three main railway stations (together with Nyugati pu and Déli pu) in Budapest. It can be found in the 8th district (Józsefváros), on Baross Square.

The building was constructed in eclectic style between 1881 and 1884 and was one of the most modern railway stations of Europe in that time.

Picture from 1905.

Also, recently, almost all international trains serving Budapest call at Keleti station. From Budapest Keleti provides connections as well as international destinations :

* Belgrade (Serbia)
* Bratislava (Slovakia)
* Bucharest, Sibiu, Timişoara, (Romania)
* Ljubliana (Slovenia)
* Kiev, Lvov (Ukraine)
* Vienna, Graz, (Austria)
* Split (Croatia)
* Zagreb (Croatia)
* Berlin, München, Hamburg, (Germany)
* Prague (Czech Republic)
* Sofia, Varna (Bulgaria)
* Moscow, Bryansk, Kaluga (Russia)
* Venice (Italy)
* Zürich (Switzeland)

Source - Wikipedia


From Keleti station, you can go to airports Ferihegy1 and Ferihegy2 on two ways.

1) Red Metro line M2 toward Deli station, go three stations until Deak square. There take Blue Metro line M3 toward Ujpest until Nyugati station. From Nyugati station go railway toward Ferihegy1, ticket for the railway costs 300 forint.

2) Blue Metro line until last station Kobanya, and after with bus line 200E (this is for flights from Ferihegy2, but you can reach also Ferighegy1)


Near Keleti station is Arena Plaza. That is Hungary's biggest, most modern and only regional shopping centre and is conveniently located just 5 minutes from the Eastern Railway Station. Arena Plaza’s shops and restaurants are open from 10h to 21h from Monday to Saturday and from 10h to 19h on Sundays.

Arena Plaza has almost 200 stores, including many world famous brands such as Peek & Cloppenburg, Zara, H&M, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear, Oysho or Gant - some of whom opened their first shops in the Arena Plaza. And there are almost 30 restaurants and cafés in the centre, including Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Burger King as well as Häagen Dazs and Tchibo, who’ve opened their very first Hungarian shop in Arena Plaza.

Here you’ll also find the biggest Tesco hypermarket in Budapest , covering more than a 10,000 sqm. And Cinema City have opened Central-East-Europe’s biggest multiplex cinema in the centre - the only IMAX cinema in Hungary.