# Thermal getaways Places where the water comes out of the ground hot. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/themes/thermal-getaways · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Países: Spain, Belgium, Austria, Czechia, Hungary ## Destinos de esta zona - [Caldes de Montbui](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/caldes-de-montbui.md): A spa village in the Vallès with a 74 °C fountain in the square, Roman baths and thermal baths from €8 an hour. About 35 minutes from Barcelona by car or bus. - [Ourense](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/galicia/ourense.md): Open-air thermal pools beside the Miño, an old town for eating well and high-speed trains from Madrid in a little over two hours. - [Ricote Valley and the Archena Spa](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/region-of-murcia/ricote-valley.md): Thermal pools at Archena, rafting on the Segura and Morisco villages among lemon trees, half an hour from Murcia. A Sunday or a relaxed weekend. - [Montanejos](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/valencian-community/montanejos.md): The Fuente de los Baños, at 25 °C all year, the Chillapájaros gorge, rafting on the Mijares and waymarked trails, an hour from Castellón and Valencia. - [Spa](https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/spa.md): The Ardennes spa town, a World Heritage Site: the Thermes with views, the Pouhon water, the springs in the forest and the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. - [Baden bei Wien](https://www.geocalia.com/en/austria/lower-austria/baden-bei-wien.md): The Habsburgs' spa town, an hour by tram from the Vienna Opera: sulphur baths, the spa park and, nearby, Heiligenkreuz and Mayerling. - [Karlovy Vary](https://www.geocalia.com/en/czechia/karlovy-vary.md): Bohemia's great spa town, two hours from Prague: colonnades with thermal springs you drink from a cup, an open-air pool with spring water and Moser crystal. - [Mariánské Lázně](https://www.geocalia.com/en/czechia/marianske-lazne.md): Marienbad, the spa town of Edward VII and Goethe: a cast-iron colonnade, forty drinkable springs, Roman Baths from 1896 and spas, two hours from Prague. - [Budapest](https://www.geocalia.com/en/hungary/budapest.md): Hungary's capital on the banks of the Danube: the Parliament, Buda Castle, thermal baths from the 16th and 20th centuries and day trips by train or boat. - [Eger](https://www.geocalia.com/en/hungary/eger.md): A Baroque town two hours from Budapest: the castle that held out against the Ottomans, a minaret, cellars cut into the rock and thermal baths. - [Hévíz](https://www.geocalia.com/en/hungary/heviz.md): A spa town beside Balaton with a natural thermal lake where you can swim outdoors all year round, about two hours fifteen minutes from Budapest. ## What are thermal getaways? It is not a region but a type of trip: going to a place where water comes hot out of the ground and spending a day or a weekend there. Here are the ones that have a page on Geocalia: first those less than two hours from Spanish cities, then the great spas of Europe. The same label covers very different things. There are open-air pools, beside a river, free or almost, where you bathe with just your swimsuit and a towel. There are public or municipal baths, with spring-water pools and entry by the hour. There are classic spa resorts, with mineral-medicinal water treatments and often a hotel. And there are hotel spas that heat ordinary water: they are pleasant, but they are not thermal. Before you book, check where the water comes from and at what temperature. ## How do you choose a thermal destination? First, by distance. If you only have one day, look for one less than an hour and a half from home: you arrive in the morning, bathe without hurrying and are back for dinner. With a weekend you can go further and add an old town or a walking route. Then, by the type of bath. Free pools have no opening hours or ticket office, but no changing rooms either and, in high season, they fill up. Paid baths have showers, lockers and a limited bathing time, and some do not admit children or set a minimum age. Finally, by temperature. Water at 25 °C, like at Montanejos, is for swimming in summer and is less tempting in January. Water at 35 or 38 °C is for sitting still, especially in cold weather. And the hottest springs, like the Font del Lleó in Caldes de Montbui, at 74 °C, are not to be touched: you watch them steam, and the water is cooled for the baths. ## Where is there thermal water near home? From Barcelona, Caldes de Montbui is about 35 minutes by car or bus: a fountain at 74 °C in the square, Roman baths and baths by the hour in the town. From Madrid, the AVE high-speed train gets you to Ourense in about two and a quarter hours; there are hot springs beside the Miño, some free and some paid, although the public pools are closed until spring 2027 because of the state of the river. From Valencia and Castellón, Montanejos is an hour or an hour and a quarter away: the Fuente de los Baños comes out at 25 °C all year in the Mijares river, and in summer it has entry with limited capacity. From Murcia, the Archena spa, in the Ricote Valley, is half an hour away, with thermal pools at about 32 °C among lemon trees. In the Pyrenees, the Tena Valley has the Panticosa Spa at 1,636 metres, at the head of its valley, and across the border Cauterets is a French spa town that also serves as a gateway to the Pyrenees National Park. Without a page yet are the free pools at Arnedillo, beside the Cidacos river, in La Rioja. ## And the great spas of Europe? Hungary is the country of baths. In Budapest, Széchenyi and Rudas combine with a city visit. About two and a quarter hours away, Hévíz has a natural thermal lake where you bathe outdoors all year, and Eger, two hours away, combines baths, a castle and wine cellars. In Bohemia, Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně are about two hours from Prague: colonnades with springs you drink from a cup, free, and paid pools or spas. Near Vienna, Baden bei Wien has sulphur baths a little over an hour away on the Badner Bahn tram from the Opera. In Belgium, Spa, the town that gave its name to all the others, is an hour and a half from Brussels. And in England, Bath is 1 h 20 by train from London: the Roman baths are only for looking at, and you bathe in a modern spa with water from the same spring. ## When is hot water most enjoyable? From October to April. In cold weather, an outdoor bath at 35 or 38 °C is the best part of the trip. In July and August the pools in the south of Spain and the hot baths are less appealing; then it is better to choose warm waters, like Montanejos, or go first thing and at dusk. Spas in central Europe open all year, although some buildings close for works: at Hévíz, the central lake building is closed until 21 March 2027. ## How many days do you need? For the nearby ones, one day is enough: two or three hours in the water, a walk and lunch. If you want to bathe at night, add one. For Budapest allow three or four nights; for Hévíz, Karlovy Vary or Baden, one or two. ## What should you know before you go? Book weekends and bank-holiday weekends: small baths have limited capacity and fill up. Bring a swimsuit, flip-flops and a towel. Check the minimum age if you are going with children, because Bath, Spa or some Budapest baths set one. At free pools there is no lifeguard or changing room, and the stones are slippery: bring water shoes. If you are going to a treatment spa for health reasons, check with your doctor first; Imserso also has a thermal-treatment programme for pensioners with places at Spanish spas. ## Un consejo más ### Bathe midweek or at night Baths and pools near cities fill up on Saturdays and Sundays by mid-morning. On a Tuesday, or in the late evening, the same bath is a different place. ## Cuándo no ir ### A hotel spa with tap water If what you want is thermal water, it is not enough for the place to be called a spa. Check whether the water comes from a spring or is heated: in the second case you will have jets, but not thermal water. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Are there free hot springs near Madrid or Barcelona? The pools at Ourense, about two and a quarter hours by AVE from Madrid, have free areas, although the public ones are closed until spring 2027. Near Barcelona, at Caldes de Montbui, you can see the Font del Lleó for free in the square, but bathing is paid. ### What is the difference between a spa resort, thermal baths and a spa? A spa resort uses mineral-medicinal water from a spring and offers treatments. Thermal baths are thermal-water pools with entry by the hour. A spa can heat ordinary water. ### Can children go to thermal baths? It depends on the place. Free pools and many thermal pools admit them; Bath only lets over-16s bathe, Spa from 15 and some Budapest baths from 14. ### What is the best time of year for a thermal getaway? From October to April, when the contrast between hot water and cold air is greatest. In summer, choose warm waters or bathe first thing and at dusk.