We found a swimming pool in every city on our Interrail trip around Europe

18.03.2024 - 12:29 / theguardian.com

Stepping into the lobby of the Gellért Baths in Budapest is like stepping back in time. Having resisted the temptation to look at photos of the baths online, I was thrilled at my first sight of the spectacular art nouveau interior.

After changing, my husband and I did a few laps of the main indoor pool, admiring the intricately decorated columns surrounding us. Afterwards, we explored the building’s labyrinth of geothermal pools before emerging on to the enormous roof terrace. There, we swam in the heated outdoor pool under bright sunshine.

Less touristy than the more party-style Széchenyi Baths, the Gellért offered us the chance of a decent swim and steam.

Visiting a thermal spa in Budapest is a must, but this wasn’t the first dip on our Interrail trip around Europe last spring. Lured by the offer of a discount on an Interrail Global Pass, we found time to travel across mainland Europe by rail – 30 years since I last Interrailed in my 20s – with little in mind but sightseeing, eating and drinking.

We had loosely planned a clockwise route, starting on the Eurostar from London to Brussels and returning via Paris two months later. Staying in mid-price hotels and hostels, we took whirlwind tours of Bruges, Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin and Kraków, trying an endless stream of cafes, bars and restaurants.

But less than two weeks into our trip, when we arrived in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, we found that our experiences were already blurring into one. What’s more, despite walking a good number of steps each day, we were feeling the effects of the freedom to overindulge and missing the routine of our regular swims back home.

So, deciding it was time to take action, we hit on the idea of seeking out a swim wherever we stopped. We Googled swimming pools and set off across the city on foot, eventually arriving at Plaváreň Pasienky. Once inside the facility’s largely deserted building, we wandered up and down staircases and along quiet corridors until we spotted a sign telling us that the entrance to the pool was “through the wardrobes”. We located our respective changing rooms and found an attendant selling tickets.

Our journey through the wardrobes then led us to a 50-metre pool – the largest in Bratislava – with just a handful of swimmers bobbing along the lanes. Though the pool was a little run down (and would soon be refurbished, to reopen this spring), we emerged feeling invigorated and ready for the next leg of our journey.

Besides the obvious physical benefits, our swimming expeditions also took us to parts of cities we might otherwise have missed.

On our way to Plaváreň Pasienky, we chanced upon the giant Slovak Radio Building, shaped like an upside-down pyramid. After our swim, we