Prepare your wallet: Outdoor pool prices to rise this summer in Hungary
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Outdoor pool prices will likely increase by up to 5 to 13 percent this summer in Hungary. Moreover, a scoop of ice cream may also have you clutching your wallet. Read here what prices to anticipate this holiday season to prepare for your vacation spending!
Outdoor pool prices and opening
The saying that outdoor pools open on 1 May is a real cliché in Hungary: in reality, the weather has a lot to do with when the official beach season starts. Usually, open-air pools open when the temperature reaches 30 degrees Celsius, below which few people like to swim, Edit Réffy, senior communications expert at Budapest Spa and Thermal Baths Ltd., tells Pénzcentrum.
Pénzcentrum asked Réffy about entrance fees this upcoming summer and the scheduled opening of open-air pools. She explained that the season usually starts with the arrival of the heat waves. In the meantime, pools are being renovated, cleaned, and maintained in anticipation of the summer visitors.
“At our spas, for years now, we have been opening up our pools and beaches according to a schedule based on the weather – roughly from the end of April to mid-June. […] The outdoor pool at the Gellért Spa will soon be ready for use […] and from the end of May until mid-June – depending on the weather – our other beach pools and beaches will be opening to the public,” she told the site.
Outdoor pool prices will not skyrocket but you will need deeper pockets than last year
At the beginning of this year, from 8 January 2024, the price of admission tickets to the spas of Budapest Spa and Thermal Baths Ltd. increased by 5-13 percent. This is well below the average inflation rate of 17.6 percent in 2023 according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
For the upcoming summer, outdoor pool prices are expected to change at a similar rate, meaning that single tickets will increase by around HUF 100-200 and family passes will be HUF 300-500 more expensive.