Budapest: thermal baths, ruin bars and where to stay near both

Budapest has the kind of grandeur that requires explanation. The city was, for a period in the late nineteenth century, one of the great capitals of Europe — a co-equal partner with Vienna in the Austro-Hungarian empire, with the architecture and self-confidence to match. Most of it survived the twentieth century intact, which means that walking the boulevards of Pest or the castle district of Buda feels like inhabiting a museum that happens to also be a functioning city.

The thermal baths. Budapest sits on one of the largest geothermal aquifer systems in Europe, and the city has been exploiting this fact since the Roman period. The Széchenyi baths in City Park are the most famous and the most photogenic — the outdoor pools in winter, surrounded by steam and lit by floodlights, are one of the great urban spectacles of Eastern Europe. The Rudas baths, on the Buda bank of the Danube, are smaller and more atmospherically Ottoman. Both require advance booking in high season.

The ruin bars. The Jewish Quarter in Pest is where Budapest's most original contribution to nightlife culture was born: bars constructed within the shells of derelict buildings, decorated with salvaged furniture and a studied disregard for coherence. Szimpla Kert is the original and still the most interesting; it has been imitated so many times that the copies now outnumber the concept. The area around Kazinczy Street is the density you want.

Where to stay. The Jewish Quarter itself offers the best base for nightlife proximity; the area around the Great Synagogue is well served by recent boutique hotel openings. For quieter nights and easier access to Buda's castle district, the streets immediately below Fisherman's Bastion offer smaller hotels with exceptional views. The Chain Bridge is within walking distance of both options.