Pápai Várkertfürdő

What to expect

Várkertfürdő, the “castle garden bath”, is Pápa’s town bath, built beside the large park of the Esterházy Castle on the edge of the old town. It opened in 2003, with the summer lido and pool first in August and the thermal section that October, and it marked its 23rd birthday with a festival in August 2026. The complex is owned mainly by the town through Pápai Termálvízhasznosító Zrt.

It combines three things under one ticket: a year-round thermal bath, a 25 m indoor swimming pool, and a 4-hectare outdoor beach that opens in summer. It feels like a well-used town bath rather than a polished resort.

The water is the reason it has a “medicinal bath” title. Pápa’s thermal water is strongly mineralised, with 4,410 mg of dissolved minerals per litre, mostly sodium hydrogen carbonate and chloride, plus iodide, bromide, fluoride and lithium. It was certified as medicinal water at the end of 2007 and recertified in 2018.

The pools

Thermal bath (all year)

• Thermal pool: indoors, with neck massage, underwater back massage benches and geysers.
• Medicinal sitting pool: filled with Pápa’s medicinal water at 100°F38°C, aimed at people with joint and rheumatic complaints.
• Thermal garden: a swim-out channel leads to a two-level outdoor pool at 90-93°F32-34°C, with a cascade between the levels that doubles as a neck massage and a current channel. Underwater lights come on in the evening. The swim-out pool runs in winter; the sun terrace and rest of the garden open from early spring.
• Children’s paddling pool: 15 cm deep, 86-90°F30-32°C.
• Giant slide at the thermal bath, for children and adults.

Swimming pool: a 25 m indoor pool for lap swimming and lessons, with a teaching pool. Swim caps are compulsory here.

Summer beach: an adventure pool, two children’s paddling pools, a warm sitting pool with a ring of benches, a 1,000 m² sports pool, a family slide tower, three high-speed slides, a jumping tower with 1.5 m and 4.5 m platforms, a playground and sand courts.

Sauna world: Finnish, infrared and bio saunas, a steam cabin, a cold plunge pool and a warm jacuzzi, with two rest rooms.

Getting there

The bath is at Várkert út 5, 8500 Pápa, beside the Esterházy Castle park. Pápa is in the north of Veszprém County, about 40 km (25 miles) south of Győr and a similar distance northwest of Veszprém as the crow flies. From Budapest, the usual route is the M1 toward Győr, then south on main road 83. Pápa has a railway station on the Győr to Celldömölk line, and the bath is within walking distance of the town centre. Parking at the bath is free.

When to go

The thermal bath and swimming pool are open every day of the year, with holiday hours published separately. The outdoor beach runs only in the summer season; the operator does not publish fixed opening and closing dates in advance, so check its news page in late spring.

Winter is the time to enjoy the swim-out pool, with steam rising off the 90-93°F32-34°C water under the lights. Summer brings the slides and the crowds, especially on hot weekends and during the birthday festival in August. Note that the cheaper 2-hour ticket is only sold from the end of the beach season until May 31.

Sauna hours change with the season. In summer the thermal sauna opens Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. From October 1 it opens on weekdays from 1 p.m. and at weekends from 10 a.m., closing at 7:30 p.m.

Prices and booking

The posted price list says it is valid from 2025, and it was still the one on the site in October 2026:

• Full price: full day HUF 5,900, 4 hours HUF 5,000, 2 hours HUF 3,450.
• Pensioners and students (with ID): HUF 4,100, 3,800 and 2,600.
• Children 4 to 14: HUF 3,350, 3,200 and 2,100.
• Family full day: 2 adults and 1 child HUF 12,700; 2 adults and 2 children HUF 15,200; extra child HUF 2,550.
• Swimming only, 2 hours: HUF 1,550.
• Sauna: HUF 2,700 with an entry ticket, or HUF 4,900 for 3 hours of sauna only; sauna sheet hire HUF 1,000.
• Safe: HUF 1,250. Beach lockers HUF 700 a day and sunbeds HUF 1,250 a day in summer.

Children under 4 go free. Groups of more than 15 get 10% off. Pápa residents pay a lower rate. Tickets cover only the time you paid for; staying longer means buying another.

Bathing culture

Swimsuits throughout, and a cap in the swimming pool. Street shoes and street clothes stay out of the pool areas, slippers are required in the sauna rest area, and the slides are used barefoot. No food in the pools or changing rooms; in the sauna world only fruit is allowed. Children under 12 need supervision in the thermal bath and pool, children under 14 cannot use the saunas, and some water attractions set their own minimum age (6), weight limit (120 kg) and life-vest rule. Anyone drunk is turned away. A new changing area opened on December 26, 2025.

Where to stay nearby

The bath has its own small miniHOTEL, whose guests use the sauna free. Pápa’s old town, a short walk away, has guesthouses and small hotels. Győr, about 40 km (25 miles) to the north, has a much wider choice.

Safety notes

• Hot medicinal water: At 100°F38°C, keep sessions in the sitting pool short, and talk to a doctor first if you have heart problems or high blood pressure.
• Slides and attractions: Follow the posted age, weight and vest rules.
• Wet floors: Wear flip-flops between pools and in the sauna area.