Sovata and Lake Ursu

Lake Ursu formed in 1875 when a salt sinkhole flooded, and it turned out to have an unusual property: fresh water from streams floats on the dense salt water beneath, and that surface layer acts like the glass of a greenhouse, letting sunlight through and trapping the heat in the salt layer below. The result is heliothermal stratification, with temperatures in the middle layers rising well above the air temperature in summer, sometimes to the low forties, while the surface stays cooler. The lake has been used for treatment since the nineteenth century, particularly for gynaecological and rheumatic conditions, and Sovata grew into a resort of wooden villas and hotels around it. Bathing is regulated to protect the stratification, with limited time in the water and restrictions on stirring it up. Two smaller salt lakes nearby are also open, and the forested hills around are good for walking.

What you actually see

• Lake Ursu - the heliothermal salt lake with its warm middle layers.
• The bathing beaches - regulated access with timed sessions in season.
• Wooden spa villas - nineteenth and early twentieth-century resort architecture.
• Smaller salt lakes - Aluniș and others in the same complex.

When to go

June to September; the heliothermal effect needs summer sun and the lake beaches close outside the season. July and August are busy and the timed bathing slots fill. Spring and autumn are pleasant for the villas and walks but the lake is shut.

Honest expectations

Bathing time is limited by regulation, usually to short sessions, which surprises people expecting a day at the lake. Salt water stings eyes and cuts and must be showered off. The resort has an uneven mix of restored villas and neglected buildings. Facilities charge separately for beach, lockers and treatments.

Nearby

Praid salt mine and Corund are south; Târgu Mureș lies west.