Hagymatikum (Makó Thermal and Medicinal Bath)

What to expect

Makó is a farming town near the Romanian border, best known in Hungary for its onions, and the bath’s name is a pun on that: hagyma means onion. The building is the reason to come. Imre Makovecz, the architect most associated with Hungarian organic architecture, designed it, and the roof is a sprawl of timber-ribbed domes over the pool halls, with a 10-metre tree-of-life column rising out of the main experience pool. It was built between 2009 and 2012. Makovecz died in 2011 and did not see it open.

Under the roof is a busy, modern town bath. There are 15 pools, from medicinal soaking pools to a 25 m teaching pool, plus a sauna world, a children’s area with its own pools, indoor and outdoor slides, a restaurant and a bar with bowling. A newer extension of 2,462 square metres added two experience pools, a new reception and a part-covered thermal pool with a water bar.

Thermal water was first found here in 1956, when a well under the old town hall yard hit 106°F41°C alkali hydrogen carbonate water at 993 m. The bath also uses mud from the Maros river for treatments. It is one of only five medicinal muds on Hungary’s official register, and unusual in being mostly inorganic mineral matter.

The pools

Temperatures as the bath publishes them:

• Indoor medicinal pool: 99°F37°C, 0.95 m deep.
• Outdoor thermal pool: 100°F38°C, 0.95 m deep, good under the stars on a late-opening evening.
• Cocktail pool: 95-102°F35-39°C, 1.4 m deep, partly covered, with a water bar.
• Indoor experience pools (cave pool, lazy-river pool around the big column, chess pool): 86-97°F30-36°C.
• Indoor slide pool and umbrella pool: 93°F34°C.
• Children’s world: a paddling pool and a Robin Hood themed play pool, both 95°F35°C.
• Swimming: indoor 25 m teaching pool at 82-86°F28-30°C and an outdoor swimming pool at 82-90°F28-32°C.
• Treatment pools: a weight-bath pool at 95°F35°C and an exercise pool at 90°F32°C.
• Sauna plunge pool: 68°F20°C.

The outdoor play pools (the bubble pool with its lazy river, the outdoor slide pool, the paddling pool and the bucket pool) were marked as closed in October 2026; they are warm-season features.

Getting there

Hagymatikum is at Makovecz tér 6 in the centre of Makó. Makó is about 26 km (16 miles) east of Szeged in a straight line, and the M43 motorway from Szeged to the Romanian border at Nagylak passes the town, so it is an easy half-day trip from Szeged or a stop on the way into Romania. Budapest is roughly 180 km (112 miles) away in a straight line; the drive is longer.

When to go

The bath is open every day except December 24, with shorter hours on December 31 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and January 1 (noon to 10 p.m.). Fridays and Saturdays run late, to 10 p.m., which is the best time for the outdoor thermal pool on a cold night.

Peak pricing applies every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and on dates the bath highlights on its calendar, mostly school holidays. During the 2026 autumn school break, October 24 to November 2, children under 6 get in free. The outdoor slides open only from Friday to Sunday. In past years the bath has run an April price freeze (weekday prices all week) and a Monday 1+1 offer on adult tickets in early spring, so check the news page.

Prices and booking

No booking is needed. 2026 day tickets (weekday / peak):

• Adult, 25-60: HUF 5,900 / HUF 6,500.
• Students under 25 and adults over 60: HUF 4,500 / HUF 4,800.
• Family (2 adults and 1 child under 14): HUF 12,900 / HUF 14,900; each extra child HUF 2,200 / HUF 2,400.
• Under 3: free.
• After 4 p.m.: adults HUF 3,900 / HUF 4,200, students and seniors HUF 2,900 / HUF 3,200.
• Night bath, Friday and Saturday 7-10 p.m.: HUF 2,800.
• Swim only (teaching pool): HUF 2,000. Since July 25, 2026, the teaching-pool entrance sells swim tickets only.

Extras: slide ticket HUF 1,500 (HUF 2,000 in peak periods), sauna world HUF 2,400 on weekdays with a bath ticket, VR experience HUF 1,900, outdoor sunbed HUF 2,000 (indoor loungers are free). The all-in ticket (adult entry, sauna, slides, 10-minute hydromassage bed) is HUF 9,900 or HUF 10,900. Residents of Makó and the surrounding micro-region get large discounts with local cards.

Medical treatments include underwater exercise in 93°F34°C water, medical massage, weight baths, carbonic acid baths and Maros mud. The spa doctor sees patients on weekdays from 1 to 7 p.m.; it is free with Hungarian health insurance and HUF 5,000 for foreign visitors.

Bathing culture

Swimsuits are worn throughout the pools. Shower before you go in, and bring slippers for the tiled floors. As in most Hungarian baths, the hot medicinal pools are for sitting still, so keep the splashing for the experience pools. The house rules keep children under 14 out of the medicinal pools unless they have a doctor’s prescription, whatever the reason for their visit. Ask at the desk about sauna session times; the sauna world runs on its own hours from 11 a.m.

Where to stay nearby

Makó has a few hotels and guesthouses within walking distance of the bath. Szeged, 26 km (16 miles) away, has the widest choice of hotels and is the usual base. For a second big bath on the same trip, Gyulai Várfürdő in Gyula is further east along the border (see the Gyula listing).

Safety notes

• Heat: the cocktail pool reaches 102°F39°C. Keep hot soaks short, drink water and get out if you feel light-headed.
• Children: non-swimmers under 14 must have an adult with them in the water.
• Health: the doctor’s service can advise on treatments; medicinal pools and mud packs are not for everyone, especially people with heart or circulation problems.
• Wet floors: the organic curves look good but the tiles are slippery; walk, do not run.

Nearby stops worth adding

The Hagymaház, the cultural centre Makovecz designed for the town, is worth a look from outside even if nothing is on. Inside the bath, find the Zsolnay fountain, designed by Makó-born Angéla Hofecker after Makovecz’s tree of life, which offers medicinal well water, thermal water and cold water side by side.