Overview
About this location
Slănic Moldova (Bacău) is a drinking-cure resort: cold mineral springs with free access in the park, indications published spring by spring by Bacău County, and a state ward with only 40 beds.
Weather – 3 day forecast
Details
General Information
Water temperature
The mineral springs are cold; the resort has no thermal water, no warm mineral lido and no outdoor pools, and the water is used mainly as a drinking cure at the spring and for hydrotherapy and aerosols
Water type
Carbonated, bicarbonate, mildly sulphurous, chloride, sodium, hypertonic, hypotonic and oligomineral waters, with a different chemical profile from spring to spring; spring no. 3, called the king of the mineral springs, is iodide, chloride, sodium, carbonated and hypertonic. The area also has a mofette aureole
Accessibility
Open all year and with a ski slope; altitude 530 m, 17 km from Târgu Ocna, 35 km from Onești and 72 km from Bacău; access to the springs in the park is free and on foot, while treatments are by appointment
Wellness
Therapeutic indications
Per the Bacău county public tourism service: digestive disorders, hepatobiliary conditions, metabolic and nutritional disorders, kidney and urinary conditions; the same source publishes cautions: springs 3 and 14 are used carefully with the elderly, undernourished, exhausted and hypertensive, and springs 6 and 10 only after careful investigation
About Slănic Moldova
A spa resort of national interest since 1974, in Bacău County, at 530 m altitude on the Slănic valley, on the eastern slope of the Eastern Carpathians. The story starts in 1800, when Mihalachi Spiridon found the first mineral spring during a bear hunt; another 22 springs were identified in 1801, and the first spa building went up twenty years later.
What makes it different from almost any other Romanian resort: here the value is the water you drink, not the water you bathe in. There is no thermal water, no warm mineral lido and no outdoor pools. The waters won medals at the international exhibitions in Paris, Vienna and Frankfurt, and the county tourism sources note that specialists once compared them with Karlovy Vary, Vichy and Aix-les-Bains, a comparison worth attributing rather than stating as present-day fact.
Region & access
- Bacău County, altitude 530 m.
- 17 km to Târgu Ocna, 35 km to Onești, 72 km to Bacău.
- Access to the springs in the park is free and on foot. The Târgu Ocna salt mine is less than half an hour away.
Water & minerals
- Carbonated, bicarbonate, mildly sulphurous, chloride, sodium, hypertonic, hypotonic and oligomineral waters, per the Bacău county public tourism service.
- The chemical profile differs from one spring to the next, and each spring has its own published indications.
- A mofette aureole: natural emanations of carbon dioxide with nitrogen and hydrogen, caused by the volcanic tuffs in the area.
Who comes here
- A resort with a profile in: digestive disorders, hepatobiliary conditions, metabolic and nutritional disorders, kidney and urinary conditions, per Bacău County Council.
- Medical rehabilitation for adults and children at the Sanatorial Ward, as inpatients or outpatients.
- Not a bathing destination. Anyone coming for pools should look elsewhere.
What the county publishes
- Spring 1: sulphurous, sodium, chloride, carbonated, bicarbonate, iodide. Spring 1-bis: mildly sulphurous, boric, carbonated, bicarbonate, iodide, hypertonic.
- Spring 3, called the king of the mineral springs: iodide, chloride, sodium, carbonated, bicarbonate, hypertonic.
- Spring 5: oligomineral, ferruginous, carbonated, hypotonic. Springs 6 and 10: iodide, sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, hypertonic.
- Spring 8: bicarbonate, chloride, sodium, carbonated, mildly sulphurous, hypotonic. Spring 14: bromide, iodide, with iron, slightly sulphurous. Spring 15: chloride-sodium, alkaline, iodide, carbonated, mildly sulphurous.
- Ciuget spring: alkaline, weakly chloride, carbonated, hypotonic, described as unique in the country. Borehole 2: pure alkaline, bicarbonate, hypotonic.
Licence & mofette
- On 16 March 2022 the town hall signed the exploitation licence for the springs it administers, valid for 20 years with a possible 5-year extension. The process had started in March 2017, through an agreement between ANRM, the Bucharest Institute of Physical Medicine and Balneology and the town hall, covering 9 of the 11 springs in the resort.
- In August 2019 the therapeutic indications were obtained from the Institute, after repeated physico-chemical, radioactivity and microbiological analyses.
- The mayor states that Slănic Moldova is the first Romanian spa resort to have certified its springs. That claim belongs to the mayor, not to an independent authority.
- The resort has a mofette built in 1985 and commissioned in 1986, capacity 40 people, next to Spring 3 and owned by the town hall. As of 2023 it stood closed, and the town hall announced its intention to bring it back into service. Ask the town hall whether it is running before you come for it.
The treatment base in 2026
- The state facility is the Slănic Moldova Sanatorial Ward, at 10 Aleea Racoviță, part of the National Institute of Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Balneoclimatology, under the Ministry of Health.
- Its profiles: respiratory, hepato-digestive, renal, chronic degenerative rheumatic and circulatory.
- Insured outpatients get a consultation and 4 procedures a day for 10 days; inpatients get a cure of between 10 and 21 days.
- The real limit is capacity: only about 40 beds, with bookings made months in advance.
- The rest of the offer is private: Hotel Perla, Hotel Venus, Complex Cristal and Complex Panoramic all run their own treatment facilities, and agencies still sell 2026 treatment packages in the resort.
The honest picture
- The Racoviță Sanatorium, a landmark building in the middle of the resort, has not operated since 1989 and stands closed. It is not listed as a class A historic monument, which the town hall gives as the reason it cannot expropriate it.
- The Casino, the first in Romania and a class A monument, is closed. It was offered for sale at 1.6 million euro; the town hall offered 400,000 euro through expropriation.
- SC Perla Moldovei SA, the company created when the resort was privatised in the 1990s, is bankrupt. Hotel Perla is a separate company and still operates.
- The mofette was closed, and the new swimming pool had not been opened. Hotel Sindicatului has treatment rooms but closes for three months in winter.
- These findings come from a ProTV documentary with footage dated February 2023, so they are more than three years old. Call the town hall to confirm before you travel for any one of them.
Hours & prices
- There is no entry ticket to the resort. The mineral springs in the park are freely accessible.
- No official opening hours are published, either for the springs or for the Sanatorial Ward, so we do not quote a time interval. Call the ward at 10 Aleea Racoviță before you plan a treatment day.
- No price list is published by the Sanatorial Ward or by the town hall, so we do not quote any figure for 2026. Procedures are paid for or reimbursed, by appointment.
- Water temperature is not published by the town hall, by the National Institute or by any operator. The springs are cold.
Map location
Good to know
- The resort is open all year and has the Nemira ski slope, but some units close in winter.
- Procedures are by appointment only. For reimbursement you need a referral and a health card.
- A drinking cure is a medical indication, not a matter of taste. The county source asks for therapeutic caution with Spring 3 and Spring 14 in the elderly, the undernourished, the exhausted and the hypertensive; Springs 6 and 10 are very concentrated and are used only after careful investigation; Borehole 2 requires caution in debilitated or neurotic people and in those recently operated on the stomach or liver.
- Do not drink at random from whichever spring you happen to reach.
- The closed landmark buildings photograph well but cannot be visited.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the water temperature at Slănic Moldova?
The mineral springs are cold; the resort has no thermal water, no warm mineral lido and no outdoor pools, and the water is used mainly as a drinking cure at the spring and for hydrotherapy and aerosols.
Is Slănic Moldova open in winter?
Open all year and with a ski slope; altitude 530 m, 17 km from Târgu Ocna, 35 km from Onești and 72 km from Bacău; access to the springs in the park is free and on foot, while treatments are by appointment.