Overview
About this location
Băile Olănești, Vâlcea County: over 30 cold sulphurous springs at 10–12 °C, each numbered and each with its own indications published by the sanatorium. Not a thermal pool resort but a drinking-cure one. Treatment from 290 lei a day, with a medical referral.
Weather – 3 day forecast
Details
General Information
Water temperature
Cold springs; the operator publishes 10–12 °C for Spring 24. The water in the hotel pools is heated mineral water
Water type
Mixed sulphurous waters, from oligomineral (under 1 g/l, springs 10, 11, 12 and 24) to isotonic (8–10 g/l); the drinking-cure springs are weakly sulphurous, bicarbonate, chloride, sodium waters
Entry price
There is no public strand with mineral water; access to the sulphurous or salt-water pools is through the spa hotels, with a stay or a spa ticket
Accessibility
Open all year, medical facilities
Wellness
Therapeutic indications
Kidney and urinary tract conditions as a drinking cure (renal lithiasis outside colic episodes / chronic pyelonephritis outside flare-ups / chronic urinary infections — springs 11, 12, 13, 14, 24), digestive and hepatobiliary conditions (nearly every spring), metabolic conditions (compensated diabetes, hyperuricaemia, gout, dyslipidaemia — springs 3, 5, 19, 24, 30); dermatological and allergic conditions only through parenteral injections from Spring 7 (chronic urticaria, eczema, psoriasis, neurodermatitis, acne) and respiratory conditions through aerosols from the same spring
About Băile Olănești
Olănești is not a place you go to swim. There is no public strand with mineral water anywhere in town, and the water in the ground is 10 to 12 °C, which is drinking temperature rather than bathing temperature. What people come here for is the drinking cure: you are prescribed a spring, a quantity and an hour, and you walk to the pavilion three times a day for two or three weeks.
That distinction changes everything about how you read the rest of this page. Nobody drinks "the water of Olănești" as such. The springs are numbered, and the sanatorium publishes a separate list of indications for each number. Spring 24 is for the urinary tract. Spring 19 is for constipation and lipid disorders. Spring 7 goes into injections. Turning up without a prescription and drinking from whichever tap is closest is how the cure fails.
The town sits at 450 m in a small depression on the Olănești valley, north-west of Râmnicu Vâlcea, and is first mentioned in a deed of 19 July 1527. The first analyses of the water date from 1829 and 1830, and the springs won a gold medal at the Vienna international exhibition of 1873. Romania has resorts with hotter water and resorts with bigger pools. It does not have another one with this many different waters in a few kilometres of valley.
Panoramic view – Băile Olănești
Sulphurous, and cold
- Over 35 hydromineral sources, part natural springs and part boreholes and galleries. Around 15 are captured for the drinking cure, and a much smaller number feed the baths.
- Hydrogen sulphide is what the whole resort is built on. The sanatorium classes the water as mixed sulphurous, which is why the composition varies so much from one spring to the next.
- Concentration runs from oligomineral, under 1 g/l, at springs 11, 12 and 24, through hypotonic at springs 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14 and 19, to isotonic at 7 and 15, and hypertonic at 30.
- Temperature is 10 to 12 °C at Spring 24, which the operator publishes. We used to give 18 to 24 °C and call the water mesothermal. No source supports that, and mesothermal starts at 20 °C. The water in the hotel pools is mineral water that has been heated.
Four profiles, and a fifth by injection
- Urinary and kidney conditions are the profile Olănești is first in the country for: renal lithiasis outside colic episodes, chronic urinary infections, pyelitis, pyelocystitis, chronic pyelonephritis outside flare-ups. Springs 11, 12, 13, 14 and 24.
- Digestive and hepatobiliary conditions run through almost the whole list: chronic gastroduodenitis, non-specific chronic enterocolitis, biliary dyskinesia, post-operative sequelae on the bile ducts, non-lithiasic chronic cholecystitis.
- Metabolic conditions, meaning compensated diabetes, hyperuricaemia and gout, at springs 3, 5, 19, 24 and 30. Spring 19 and Spring 30 also take dyslipidaemia and obesity.
- Allergic and skin conditions are treated by parenteral injection rather than by drinking, and only from Spring 7: chronic urticaria, chronic eczema, psoriasis, neurodermatitis, acne. Aerosols from the same spring cover chronic rhinosinusitis, laryngitis, bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis.
What the sources do not say
- No operator here publishes a contraindication list you can read online. The sanatorium has a page titled indications and contraindications, and it does not serve its content. Treat the absence as a reason to ask the resort doctor, not as a sign there are none.
- Several indications come with a condition attached in the source itself, and the condition is the important half. Renal lithiasis applies outside colic episodes. Pyelonephritis applies outside flare-ups. Intestinal inflammation applies in remission. Diabetes has to be compensated or balanced.
- Dosage is not a detail either. The quantity rises progressively to what the balneologist prescribes, and for Spring 24 the published figure is 100 ml per kilogram of body weight, which for an adult is several litres a day.
- The 100% cure rates for eczema that appear in the operator's own testimonials are patient letters, not clinical results. We are repeating that they exist, not that they are evidence.
Which number is for what
- 3 and 5, sulphurous, chloride, iodide, sodium, hypotonic. Chronic gastroduodenitis, non-specific enterocolitis, conditions needing a choleretic cure. Spring 3 adds uncomplicated diabetes, hyperuricaemia and gout; Spring 5 adds compensated diabetes.
- 7, isotonic, the one that does the most work. Drunk for gastroduodenitis and biliary conditions, injected for polymorphic allergic conditions, inhaled as aerosols for the chronic respiratory list. The sanatorium calls it the only spring indicated for the parenteral treatment.
- 8, 9 and 10, hypotonic. Digestive and biliary work; 9 is specified for hypoacid gastroduodenitis and 10 also takes chronic urinary infections, pyelitis and cystitis.
- 11, 12 and 24, oligomineral, the diuretic group. Renal lithiasis, chronic urinary infections, pyelitis, pyelocystitis. Spring 24 is the one with the documented diuretic effect: 200 to 800 ml a day more out than in, starting on the third day of the cure.
- 13, 14 and 15. Springs 13 and 14 combine the digestive and the urinary lists, and 13 is the one named for chronic pyelonephritis. Spring 15 is isotonic and repeats the profile of Spring 7, injections and aerosols included.
- 19 and 30, the metabolic end. Chronic cholecystitis, functional colon disorders, dyslipidaemia, balanced diabetes, obesity, constipation. Spring 30 is hypertonic, sulphurous, chloride, bromide, sodium, calcium and magnesium, and also covers sequelae after cholecystectomy.
A cure is booked, not dropped in on
- The crenotherapy pavilions hold ten springs between them, seven in pavilion 1 and three in pavilion 2, with a stated capacity of 1,800 procedures a day. The treatment base itself is rated at 1,816 procedures a day.
- The sanatorium gives 18 days for a therapeutic and recovery cure and 12 days for a preventive one. Hotel packages are shorter, from five nights, and check-in tends to be fixed on Sunday or Monday.
- Procedures are prescribed after a consultation with the resort doctor, and packages usually include two to four a day on working days. Beyond crenotherapy the bases run mineral baths, aerosols and inhalations, electrotherapy, physiotherapy, kinesiotherapy, laser and massage.
- We publish no opening hours for this page, because no operator here publishes any that apply to the resort as a whole. Each hotel and each treatment base sets its own.
Per day, with board and treatment
- Hotel President publishes 290 lei per person a day in a double room for 15 March to 27 June and 6 September to 27 November 2026, and 390 lei in the summer window. That covers full board, the medical consultation, two procedures and the mineral water cure.
- Hotel Olănești publishes 300 lei per person a day in a double and 380 lei in a single, from 1 June to 27 December 2026.
- The reduced rates are conditional on a referral letter from your family doctor or a specialist plus your health card. Without them you pay the full rate, and some offers are not available at all.
- There is no entry ticket to buy here, because there is no public mineral-water pool. Access to the sulphurous and salt pools is through the spa hotels, either with a stay or with a spa ticket that each hotel prices itself.
Eighteen kilometres off the Olt valley
- Băile Olănești lies about 18 km north-west of Râmnicu Vâlcea on DN 64A, in a forested valley closed off to the north and west by limestone ridges. The nearest railway station is Râmnicu Vâlcea.
- The climate is the second therapeutic factor the sources name, alongside the water: a sedative, sheltered depression climate at 450 m, which is the reason cures here are prescribed for the whole 18 days rather than a weekend.
- The resort sits inside a cluster worth knowing about. Călimănești-Căciulata is 30 km away with a different water and a different profile, and Băile Govora is about 40 km south, so a family with two different prescriptions has options within an hour.
- Accommodation is entirely in hotels and guesthouses. The treatment bases belong to the hotels, so choosing where you sleep also chooses which base you are treated in.
Where the figures come from
- The spring-by-spring composition and indications, the cure durations and the procedure capacities come from the presentation published by the Olănești balneal sanatorium, SC Olănești Riviera SA.
- The 2026 rates come from the offer pages of Hotel President and Hotel Olănești. Prices change; check the operator before you book.
- The photograph and the general information about the town come from the official gallery of the Băile Olănești city hall.
- This page describes what the operators publish. It is not medical advice, and a balneal cure is prescribed by a doctor after a consultation.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much is the entrance fee at Olănești Baths?
There is no public strand with mineral water; access to the sulphurous or salt-water pools is through the spa hotels, with a stay or a spa ticket. Prices can change, so check the official information before visiting.
What is the water temperature at Olănești Baths?
Cold springs; the operator publishes 10–12 °C for Spring 24. The water in the hotel pools is heated mineral water.
Is Olănești Baths open in winter?
Open all year, medical facilities.
What is the therapeutic profile of Olănești Baths?
Olănești Baths is a balneary resort with a profile covering: Kidney and urinary tract conditions as a drinking cure (renal lithiasis outside colic episodes / chronic pyelonephritis outside flare-ups / chronic urinary infections — springs 11, 12, 13, 14, 24), digestive and hepatobiliary conditions (nearly every spring), metabolic conditions (compensated diabetes, hyperuricaemia, gout, dyslipidaemia — springs 3, 5, 19, 24, 30); dermatological and allergic conditions only through parenteral injections from Spring 7 (chronic urticaria, eczema, psoriasis, neurodermatitis, acne) and respiratory conditions through aerosols from the same spring. Whether a balneary cure is appropriate is a decision to make together with a physician.