A major attribute of Hungary is its phenomenal number of natural hot water springs. Spas, thermal baths and open-air swimming pools based on natural, often curative, hot waters can be found all over the country. Indeed, guests will find a really 'warm' welcome in no less than 400 thermal establishments in more than 100 settlements. Hungary's medicinal waters are primarily used for bathing, but there are waters which have highly efficacious effects when taken as part of a drinking cure.

The past ten years have seen major changes in the approach to bathing therapies. Healing programmes solely relying on bathing have been superseded by complex therapy systems utilizing a complete range of natural healing methods. The aim is to provide better and more lasting results using less medication and more natural healing methods.

Hungary's health & wellness centres, which are usually based on thermal waters offer a complete well-being program and the relaxation of body and mind. Swimming pools, saunas, steam baths, modern fitness rooms, various sport facilities and wellness treatments help to replenish and harmonize the energy of the body.

In Budapest there are many famous baths: the Gellért, Széchenyi, three on Margaret Island, than Rudas, Rác and Király dating from the Turkish times. Outside the capital the three main spas all begin with H - Hévíz in the west, Harkány in the south and Hajdúszoboszló in the east. These are very popular places, but there are also tiny villages with their own baths and pools.

Budapest
Budapest is the only metropolis and capital city in the world with more than 100 thermal springs and wells across its territory, which go on to feed nearly 50 baths. Some have been known for nearly two thousand years, others were built at the end of the 19th, in the beginning of 20st century.

Debrecen
Debrecen is the major town of the Great Plain: with 211 000 residents it has the largest population of any provincial centre in Hungary. The town became known as the 'Calvinist Rome' as the Protestant Reformation gained a strong foothold in Debrecen even before the Turkish times. The expansive baths complex has grown up in one of the most attractive parts of the city, in the Nagyerdő park.

Eger
Eger is truly one of Hungary's most attractive towns famed for its medieval and Baroque historical monuments, and only 120 km from Budapest. One of the country's largest castles sits overlooking the town. After repulsing a massive Turkish siege in 1552 it fell many years later. The Turks then constructed baths around the local springs; one of these baths is still operating today.

Harkány
In the famed Villány-Siklós wine region, only 26 km from Pécs, Harkány is one of Hungary's major thermal spa resorts. Hot waters containing sulphur and fluoride were discovered in the early 19C and have been used in health treatments ever since. Today the public open-air baths complex, with its several pools of varying temperatures, attracts thousands of visitors every day in the summer.

Hévíz
8 km to the northwest of Keszthely, is one of the oldest spas in Hungary and has the largest lake in Europe with natural thermal curative water (50,000 sq m). The temperature, even in winter, rarely falls below 30 C, thus bathing is possible all year round. The specific medical factor is provided by a layer of radioactive mud at the bottom of the lake several metres thick. The lake, with its wooden building on stilts in the middle, is itself quite a sight. There are numerous spa hotels and other bathing-medicinal and recreational establishments in the town.

Sopron
Sopron is situated near Hungary's northwest border, at the foot of the Lővér Hills. The compact centre of the city has retained a medieval atmosphere and it has a remarkably high number of listed buildings.

Visegrád
The Danube Bend is the name given to that part of Hungary that lies along the Danube River to the north of Budapest. The designation comes from the fact that, about 40 km to the north of the capital, the Danube sharply alters its eastward course and starts flowing southwards. The sight of the Danube Bend around Visegrád, where the curve of the river is accompanied by hill ranges on both sides, is certainly impressive and counts among the most beautiful environments in Hungary. It's not surprising that a splendid medieval royal palace was built here.