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24 | SPRING 2018 is a must on the coffee-and-cake circuit — its famous confectionary and fi n-de-siècle decors as alluring as it was when this iconic establish- ment fi rst opened shop in 1858. Nearly as old, Centrál Kávéhás was where pre- war Budapest intelligentsia came to cogitate, caffeinate and carb load. At night, grab a cheap beer in an offbeat setting at one of Budapest's wildly popular ruin pubs — an assortment of rickety-chic watering holes now breathing new quaffi ng life into the ramshackle buildings of Erzsébetváros, Pest's historic Jewish Quarter. SOAK IT UP It's been said that if you poke a hole anywhere in Hungary (a vast, aqua-thermal zone), you'll strike spa water. That's only a slight exaggera- tion in Budapest, where more than 120 natural hot springs and nearly a dozen government-run thermal bath complexes buoy the city's top syb- aritic pastime: Basking in healing, 100-degree, mineral-rich waters. Housed in an enormous Baroque Revival bath facility in City Park, Széchenyi Thermal Bath and Swimming Pool is the city's favorite ahhh space for local regulars (including old-timers who come here to play chess while they soak) and out-of-towners. For a full list of public spas visit spasbudapest.com. MARK THE DATE Budapest's fl agship music-and-culture bash is the annual Sziget Festival (Aug. 8-15, 2018), featuring 1,000 performances and roughly 400,000 revelers on Óbuda Island just north of town. Savvy travelers seeking milder tempera- tures and lighter crowds gravitate to Budapest in the shoulder seasons — early autumn and late spring. Just in time for summer travel, American Airlines begins new summer service from Philadelphia (PHL) to Budapest, Hungary, (BUD) May 4. Budapest is a new destination on the airlines' route map. Szechenyi Thermal Baths