Saliris Thermal & Spa

What to expect

Egerszalók is a village in the hills just west of Eger, and its landmark is the salt hill (Sódomb): a slope of white, scalloped travertine on the south side of the village, built up by hot mineral water running down from the spring. Sources disagree on its size, but it is still growing. The spa calls it unique in Europe, and it is often compared with Pamukkale in Turkey.

Saliris Thermal & Spa sits right beside it. It is the spa of the Hunguest Saliris hotel, built between 2004 and 2007, and day visitors are welcome. Inside, the spa has 1,900 square metres of water in 17 year-round indoor and outdoor pools, according to the operator: medicinal sitting pools, adventure pools, a cave-like medicinal pool, children’s pools and a slide.

Next to the big car park is the Nosztalgia bath, also run by Saliris. It is a simple open-air bath with three medicinal pools, open late into the night and much cheaper than the main spa.

The pools

Saliris lists these temperatures for the main spa:

• Medicinal pools: indoor and outdoor pools at 95°F35°C, an indoor cave pool at 100°F38°C, and two outdoor round pools at 95-100°F35°C and 38°C, mostly about 0.9 m deep.
• Adventure pools: indoor (0.2-2.1 m deep) and outdoor (1.1-1.4 m), both 91°F33°C, plus indoor and outdoor bubble pools at 91°F33°C.
• Weight bath: 97°F36°C, 0.95-1.8 m deep.
• Children’s pools: indoor and outdoor paddling pools at 93°F34°C, 0.3-0.6 m deep.
• Plunge pools and Kneipp walks: 57°F14°C plunges and Kneipp channels at 54°F and 93°F12°C and 34°C.

The Nosztalgia bath has three outdoor medicinal pools at 97-99°F36-37°C, 99-100°F37-38°C and 97-102°F38-39°C.

The water comes from the Mária and Vendel wells; Hungarian Wikipedia puts the source about 410 m down. It reaches the surface at 149-154°F65-68°C and is cooled for bathing. The Health Ministry classed it as medicinal water in 1992. It is a calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate water with notable sulphur, and a 2007 laboratory test found 1,602 mg/L of dissolved minerals. The spa says the medicinal pools are refilled with fresh water every day.

Getting there

Egerszalók is in Heves County, about 6 km (4 miles) west of central Eger in a straight line. The spa and hotel are on Forrás utca on the south side of the village.

• By car from Budapest: take the M3 motorway east toward Miskolc, then the M25 to Eger, and follow signs to Egerszalók. Budapest is roughly 105 km (65 miles) away in a straight line.
• By bus from Eger: intercity buses stop at Egerszalók-Gyógyfürdő bejárati út, at the spa’s access road.
• Parking: HUF 1,400 a day in the 120-space lot about 50 m from the spa entrance, or HUF 1,100 a day in the 250-space lot by the Nosztalgia bath, about 150 m away. There are two 22 kW Type 2 EV chargers.

When to go

The spa is open all year, and winter is a good time to sit in the outdoor medicinal pools in cold air. Weekends are busier and dearer. The Nosztalgia bath is open until 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, which makes it the place for an evening soak.

Christmas hours differ: for day guests the spa closes at 4 p.m. on December 24 and at 5 p.m. on December 31, and the Nosztalgia bath is closed on December 24.

Prices and booking

Saliris posted these prices in October 2026 (Monday to Thursday / Friday to Sunday):

• Adult full day: HUF 10,700 / 11,900.
• Senior (65+): HUF 8,800 / 9,900.
• Child (3-13): HUF 8,300 / 9,200.
• Families: two adults and one child HUF 25,200 / 28,200; two adults and two children HUF 32,400 / 36,300.
• 3 hours (adult): HUF 8,500 / 9,500, then HUF 1,100-1,200 per extra half hour.
• From 5 p.m. (adult): HUF 4,300 / 4,700.
• Sauna ticket: HUF 4,600 for unlimited use that day.
• Rentals: safe HUF 500, towel HUF 3,000, bathrobe HUF 5,000.

Nosztalgia bath: adult HUF 2,400, seniors over 65 HUF 2,000, with sauna use included (prices valid since April 1, 2024). Egerszalók residents pay less.

Hotel guests get the spa in the room rate, with half board, and pay the Sauna World supplement. The tourist tax is HUF 600 per person per night for guests over 18.

Bathing culture

The pools are swimsuit areas. The Sauna World, with seven saunas including Finnish, steam, aroma and panorama rooms, is used without swimwear: wrap up in a sauna sheet, robe or towel, and sit on it. The log-built outdoor saunas share their garden with a naturist sunbathing lawn. The sauna master runs sessions several times a day.

Hungarian Government Decree 510/2023 is posted at the entrance: no children under 14 in medicinal pools or pools above 95°F35°C, and no children under 6 in whirlpools or bubble pools. With children, plan on the 91-93°F33-34°C adventure and children’s pools.

Where to stay nearby

The Hunguest Saliris hotel is connected to the spa, with balcony rooms and half board. It takes a small number of pets by arrangement and has three accessible rooms. Eger, a few minutes’ drive east, has many more hotels and guesthouses, plus the castle, the old town and the wine cellars of the Valley of the Beautiful Women (Szépasszony-völgy).

Other baths nearby: the Demjén Cascade Cave Bath is about 2 km (1.2 miles) south in a straight line, Bogács is about 16 km (10 miles) to the north-east in a straight line, and the Miskolctapolca Cave Bath is near Miskolc, north-east of Eger.

Safety notes

• Heat: keep soaks in the 100-102°F38-39°C pools short and drink water between them.
• Health: the spa lists high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, infectious skin disease and open wounds as reasons not to use the medicinal water.
• Salt hill: stay off the travertine. It is wet, slippery and easily damaged.
• Plunge pools: do not jump straight from a hot sauna into the 57°F14°C plunge.