Gyulai Várfürdő

Gyulai Várfürdő is the castle bath of Gyula, in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary, laid out beside the town's brick castle in a large old park. It is one of the bigger Hungarian bath complexes, with a therapeutic and beach section, an indoor water park, a competition pool and a sauna park.

The water

The water holds the Hungarian gyógyvíz designation, an official medicinal certification; it is an alkali-hydrogencarbonate, chloride water. According to the venue it is used for musculoskeletal complaints and for recovery after injury.

Areas

The therapeutic and beach bath is the core, with medicinal pools, outdoor and indoor basins, slides and a tanning pool. The AquaPalota is the indoor water park, and the Castello sauna park holds the saunas — a second sauna area belongs to the AquaPalota. A 50-metre and a 25-metre sports pool are used for lane swimming, and the site has a wellness section, massage rooms, a baby-and-parent room and playgrounds. The dome wellness pool is out of use for technical reasons at the time of writing.

Visiting

The therapeutic and beach bath opens 08:00 to 20:00 and the tanning pool 08:00 to 18:00. The sports pools run longest, 06:00 to 20:00 daily. The AquaPalota opens 10:00 to 19:00, extending to 20:00 in the peak season, and the Castello sauna park 10:00 to 20:00. On Saturdays there is a night wellness session from 20:30 to midnight, and the beauty and massage salon runs 09:00 to 17:00 daily. The therapy department works 08:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and to 16:00 on Saturdays, closed on Sundays and public holidays; patient referrals are handled until 16:00 and the specialist consultation until 14:00 on weekdays. Extended summer hours apply between 1 July and 31 August. The bath has step-free access and stands at Maróthy tér 2, in the castle garden.