Overview
About this location
Băile Herculane: thermo-sulphurous springs of 38–67 °C, pools from 30 lei, hotels with working treatment bases — and a historic centre in ruins, with 19 buildings confiscated by the state.
Weather – 3 day forecast
Details
General Information
Water temperature
38–67 °C by spring (Hercules 67, Diana 55, Neptun 54, Hygeea 48, Hebe 41)
Water type
Sulphurous thermal waters, sodium chloride, with radon
Entry price
Ștrand 7 Izvoare 30 lei / adult, 10 lei / child; Ștrand Versay 50 lei / day or 30 lei / 3 hours; Apollo Baths museum 15 lei (pool rates from July 2025, not confirmed by the operators for 2026)
Accessibility
Open all year, complete facilities
Wellness
Therapeutic indications
Rheumatic, dermatological, gynaecological, nervous system conditions, post-traumatic recovery
About Băile Herculane
A spa town in Caraș-Severin County, at 168 m altitude on the Cerna Valley, inside Domogled–Cerna Valley National Park. First attested in 153 AD, and the only Romanian resort in the European Historic Thermal Towns Association, alongside Vichy and Baden-Baden.
What to know before booking: Herculane is two resorts in one. The hotels built between 1968 and 1985 work normally, with their own treatment bases and their own boreholes. The historic centre, the part in the photographs, is largely a ruin — in November 2025 the Timișoara Court of Appeal ordered 19 properties confiscated for the state, including the Casino and the land under the Neptune Baths, in a ruling that is still not final. Separately, the resort has had no valid thermal water licence for three seasons, which affects public infrastructure but not the hotels.
Region & access
- 5 km off DN6/E70; the second way in is DN67D up the Cerna Valley from Târgu Jiu. No motorway serves it directly.
- Timișoara about 150 km, Craiova about 200 km, Cluj-Napoca about 250 km, Bucharest about 370 km. Airports: Craiova 160 km, Timișoara 170 km.
- The station sits on the Bucharest–Timișoara–Vienna line, opened in 1878. A restoration permit worth 12,150,500 lei was issued in February 2026, for 24 months of work.
Water & minerals
- Roughly 16 to 20 springs along 4 km of the Cerna, only some of them captured. Hercules 67 °C, Diana 55 °C, Neptun 54 °C, Hygeea 48 °C, Hebe 41 °C. Total flow over 4,000 m³ per 24 hours.
- Chlorosodic, bicarbonate and sulphurous, from 0.5 g/l up to 7.93 g/l depending on the group. Hydrogen sulphide reaches 60 mg/l, but Hercules I and Hygeea contain none at all.
- Sources disagree on radioactivity: the town hall calls it high and comparable to Vichy, the Diana operator calls it low. Same resort, opposite claims.
Which spring, for what
- Drinking cure: Diana III, by the Rotunda, for biliary and urinary conditions. Neptun III, the eye spring, for chronic conjunctivitis and blepharitis.
- Bathing cure: borehole 511 H, the Traian borehole at Podul Roșu, Neptun I and IV, and the Apollo II source behind the Grota Haiducilor restaurant.
- The distinction most visitors miss: the water at Ștrand 7 Izvoare comes from the Crucea Ghizelei borehole and is oligomineral leisure water, not sulphurous treatment water.
What actually works in 2026
- Ștrand 7 Izvoare, Str. Valea Cernei 6, at km 3.6 on DN67D: water around 28 °C, depth 1.3–2.4 m, camping and parking. The slides do not work.
- Ștrand Termal Versay, Str. Castanilor 4: sulphurous water around 32 °C, depth 1.35–2.10 m, its own restaurant and pools for children.
- Hotels with their own treatment base and a balneology doctor: Afrodita, Diana, Grand Hotel Minerva, Roman, Domogled and Dacia. At Hotel Roman, Roman Imperial Baths found during the 1975 excavations were built into the structure and have been open to the public since 1999.
- Armonia Spa at Grand Hotel Minerva is a closed circuit — guests only, no day access, whatever third-party sites suggest. Day rates at Afrodita and Diana are not published; Afrodita answers on WhatsApp at +40 725 724 182.
- Free: the three Via Sissi sulphurous tubs by the Stone Bridge, cleaned roughly every two weeks and, since 2026, funded purely by donations. Plus rough basins along the Cerna, the most used ones near Hotel Roman.
- The Apollo Baths are a museum, not a bathing venue: 15 lei for adults, 10 lei for pensioners, students and groups, free for people with disabilities.
- The town hall lists fifteen categories of indication, headed by degenerative and inflammatory rheumatic conditions, post-traumatic sequelae, dermatological and respiratory conditions, and occupational lead and mercury poisoning. Contraindications include tuberculosis, decompensated cardiac conditions, blood pressure above 180 mmHg, pregnancy and epilepsy.
- On CNPP pensioner tickets, the framework is a 16-day stay with 12 days of treatment, one ticket per calendar year. Which Herculane units are contracted for 2026 is not readable on the CNPP portal — ask your county pension house.
Opening hours
- Ștrand 7 Izvoare: 09:00–20:00, closed on Thursdays. That is the single most common wasted trip in the resort.
- Ștrand Versay: daily 10:00–20:00. Herculum Spa at Afrodita: 09:00–21:00, Wednesday from 10:00.
- Treatment bases run on weekdays — Diana 07:30–16:00 Monday to Friday, Domogled Monday to Friday. Procedures are not done at weekends, exactly when the pools are busiest.
- The Apollo museum has two published timetables that contradict each other: 09:00–21:00 in summer and 09:00–19:00 in winter per one source, 09:00–20:00 year-round per the town hall.
Read on 1 August 2026
- Ștrand 7 Izvoare: 30 lei adults, 10 lei children, sun lounger 10 lei extra. Ștrand Versay: 50 lei a day or 30 lei for three hours, loungers included.
- Both pool prices come from a third-party report of July 2025 and have not been confirmed by the operators for 2026. Treat them as a guide.
- Procedures at Hotel Diana, July 2026: sulphur bath in the pool 30 lei, individual sulphur bath 44 lei, herbal bath 44 lei, galvanic bath 45 lei, individual kinesiotherapy 39 lei, electrotherapy 24 lei each, consultation 50 lei.
- Hotel Roman packages, 1 July to 30 September 2026, three procedures a day plus a sulphur bath: 6 nights 1,970 lei per person, 9 nights 2,690 lei, 12 nights 3,040 lei. Other outlets quote 1,650 lei for 6 nights — confirm directly.
- Grand Hotel Minerva, same period, half board, per room, with four procedures per person per day: 5 nights 4,750 lei, 6 nights 4,800 lei, 9 nights 6,500 lei, 11 nights 7,900 lei.
- Nightly rates start around: Hotel Roman 313.5 lei, Afrodita 323 lei, Domogled 375 lei, Diana 199 lei. Hotel Versay is the only one publishing a weekday and weekend split — from 1 August, double 530/580 lei.
Good to know
- The tubs along the Cerna are treatment, not spa. Kinesiotherapist Antonio Petru Guran put it plainly in November 2025: a correct cure is 15 to 20 minutes, not two or three hours, and about 80% of tourists ignore the timing. Alcohol in sulphurous water can cause fainting. No lifeguards, no changing rooms.
- The gap between the photographs and the ground is real. The Neptune Baths cannot be visited — the façade has been under scaffolding since 2022 and three sectors are described as pre-collapse. Estimates put the investment the resort needs at around 150 million euro.
- Crowding: 82 tourists were counted at once in the three Via Sissi tubs on a single day in summer 2026, and 7 Izvoare is best avoided at weekends.
- Around the resort: Crucea Albă, a viewpoint at 529 m, 30 to 40 minutes up; Grota Haiducilor, free, ten minutes on foot; the Vânturătoarea waterfall, a 40 m free fall, about an hour up. The national park has 34 trails, 20 of them officially approved.
- Do not plan around the Cheile Cernei — no official park page documents such a landmark. The documented gorges are Cheile Țăsnei, Cheile Corcoaia and Cheile Ferigari.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much is the entrance fee at Herculane Baths?
Ștrand 7 Izvoare 30 lei / adult, 10 lei / child; Ștrand Versay 50 lei / day or 30 lei / 3 hours; Apollo Baths museum 15 lei (pool rates from July 2025, not confirmed by the operators for 2026). Prices can change, so check the official information before visiting.
What are the opening hours at Herculane Baths?
Ștrand 7 Izvoare 09:00-20:00, CLOSED THURSDAYS; Ștrand Versay daily 10:00-20:00; Herculum Spa (Afrodita) 09:00-21:00, Wednesday from 10:00.
What is the water temperature at Herculane Baths?
38–67 °C by spring (Hercules 67, Diana 55, Neptun 54, Hygeea 48, Hebe 41).
Is Herculane Baths open in winter?
Open all year, complete facilities.
What is the therapeutic profile of Herculane Baths?
Herculane Baths is a balneary resort with a profile covering: Rheumatic, dermatological, gynaecological, nervous system conditions, post-traumatic recovery. Whether a balneary cure is appropriate is a decision to make together with a physician.