Băile Herculane

The hot springs here were used by the Romans, who left altars to Hercules, and the resort took its present shape in the nineteenth century when the Habsburgs built a spa town in the gorge: bath houses, a casino, hotels and colonnades in Austrian style, squeezed onto the narrow floor of the Cerna valley with forested cliffs above. It was among the most fashionable spas in the empire. The twentieth century added concrete sanatoria at the edges, and after 1990 the historic core fell into severe decline, with the Neptun baths and several grand buildings standing empty and decaying for decades. Restoration has begun, funded partly by campaigns that drew national attention, and some buildings have been stabilised. The result is an unusual place to visit: genuinely beautiful bones, visible decay, working modern baths, and free thermal pools in the river gorge itself.

What you actually see

• The Habsburg core - nineteenth-century bath houses, casino and hotels.
• The Neptun baths - the grand derelict bath house under slow restoration.
• Free thermal pools - hot water in and beside the Cerna river.
• The gorge setting - cliffs and forest rising directly above the town.

When to go

April to October for walking in the surrounding national park; the baths work year-round and winter steam in the gorge is atmospheric. Summer weekends bring Romanian visitors in numbers. Spring is best for the flowers on the limestone slopes.

Honest expectations

The decay is real and confronting: fine buildings stand roofless and fenced, and parts of the centre look abandoned. Modern hotel stock is mixed and some sanatoria are grim. The free river pools are informal, sometimes crowded and not always clean. Come for the atmosphere and the setting rather than for a polished spa break.

Nearby

Domogled national park trails start in the town; the Iron Gates gorge is south.