Budapest baths

The famous bathhouses of Budapest

The Rudas Baths in Budapest

Budapest’s famous bathhouses range from the broodingly 16th century Turkish Rudas Baths (www.budapestgyogyfurdoi.hu) to the grand Art Nouveau Géllert Baths (www.gellertbath.com).

Entry for a day, including use of a private changing cabin, costs about $18 to $21. Once inside, massages run as little as $13 to $20.

There are also button-down modern spas, exemplified by the Danubius Grand on Margaret Island (www.danubiushotels.com) that feature menus of treatments ranging from spa massages and mus baths to nose jobs, cosmetic dentistry, and laser eye surgery.

Hungary has become famous for this kind of medical tourism, (they have made a particular specialty of dentistry), all of it performed by highly-trained physicians, surgeons, and dentists at prices so low that you can actually spend a week at the spa hotel—including airfare, meals, sightseeing, and the medical procedures— and still spend far less than you would Stateside just for the procedures themselves.