Termas de Reyes

Termas de Reyes sits at the head of a narrow green gorge west of San Salvador de Jujuy, where thermal springs rise at around fifty degrees and are channelled into open-air pools and private baths beneath steep walls of subtropical forest. The setting is the draw: mist hangs in the trees, a river runs below, and the water arrives naturally hot and rich in minerals, long used by local people and formally developed in the twentieth century around a grand hotel that still anchors the site. Visitors come for a soak of an hour or two, some staying overnight in the hotel, others using the public pools for the day. The drive up the gorge from the city is itself part of the appeal, climbing past cliffs and river bends in half an hour.

What you actually see

• The open-air thermal pools - hot mineral water in a forested gorge setting.
• The historic hotel - the twentieth-century spa building that gave the resort its shape.
• The gorge - steep subtropical walls and the river running below the terraces.
• The private baths - individual tubs fed directly by the springs.

When to go

Year-round, and the springs are most enjoyable in the cool months from May to September when the contrast with the air is greatest. Weekends and holidays are busy with families from the city; weekday mornings are quietest. The road can be affected by summer rains.

Honest expectations

This is a developed resort rather than a wild spring, and the facilities show their age in places. Day-visitor pools can be crowded and noisy at weekends, and the hottest source water is not always available in the public areas. Prices differ sharply between hotel guests and day visitors.

Nearby

San Salvador de Jujuy is half an hour east; the Lagunas de Yala lie in the neighbouring valley.