Re-opening date and restrictions of all Hungarian baths

The moment everyone was waiting for is finally here in a week: all Hungarian baths will re-open in a couple of days.

Hungary has many exciting opportunities that attract tourists from all over the world. From the beautiful and relatively cheap Budapest to the biggest lake in Central Europe, the country offers many experiences that make it worth visiting. 

Here are 5+1 reasons to visit Hungary

Apart from the price, the monuments, and the people’s hospitality, many are attracted by the endless possibility of spending a wonderful day in Hungary’s spas and thermal baths. 

The question arises: do I need an immunity certificate to enter a bath in Hungary? The answer is yes, at least for now

you do need an immunity certificate to enjoy the warm and refreshing water of a spa or a bath.

In the case of a completely open-air bathing spot with natural water, entry will not be limited to the possession of the plastic card.

So, what is the long-awaited date?

Starting from July 1, all Hungarian baths will get the green light to re-open!

The vice-president of the Association of Baths told the good news to TV channel M1.

This is very good news both for Hungarians and tourists, especially after the extreme heat of the past days in the country. Last year, when these establishments prepared for the summer, they had certain restrictinos to follow and implement. For instance, the otherwise full capacity had to be reduced to its half, making sure there will not be huge crowds. Only outdoor pools could be used and some elements, for example waterfalls, could not function. However, this year, when the first news of re-opening reached the media, there was no such list of restrictions, which suggests, that they do not exist this summer. The most probable reason is the high number of inoculated people, which also caused that Hungary became a “green zone” on many countries’ risk list regarding traveling. 

Hungary is the safest green zone – where can we travel from now on?

Still, we need to be careful, hence the immunity certificate remains a restriction. Unfortunately it is not only in effect for adults, but people under the age of 18 also need to take into account that they can only visit a bath in case a parent has a valid immunity certificate. 
As it was mentioned earlier, open-air bathing spots with natural water do not require an immunity certificate. However, according to the government decree highlighted by termalonline.hu,

if there is an artificial, manually built swimming pool at a beach, it is reagarded as a public bath, thus, we need to have an immunity certificate to enter. 

As coronavirus caused many problems for many economic sectors, thermal baths and spas were not an exception either. Many of them had to let some of their employees go in order to stay in business. Thanks to the government’s financial aid (a 50% wage subsidy), these baths were able to keep about 70-80% of their employees with them, quotes femcafe.hu the words of Imre Kovacsics.

He added that even though these closed baths can only be visited with an immunity certificate, the open-air beaches with natural water do not require the same. As the official association representing all these businesses, they already asked the government and the Association of Hungarian Travel Agencies for this easement to be implemented on the closed baths, as well.

July 1 will be the date when the EU immunity certificate/ EU vaccine passport will come into effect in all the member states of the European Union.

Here are all the details of the EU vaccine passport

Kovacsics also said that parallel to the re-opening, the improvements of baths have not stopped. He highlighted the investments made in Miskolc and Hajdúszoboszló. He also pointed out that in Győr, as part of a project called “Modern cities”, a brand new bath will be built from a 22 billion-forints investment that arrives entirely from the Hungarian government.

Read alsoBREAKING! Hungary eases travel restrictions, further alleviation to be expected

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Source: M1, femcafe.hu, 24.hu, termalonline.hu