Traianoupoli Thermal Baths (Loutra Traianoupolis)

What to expect

Loutra Traianoupolis is a hamlet of a few dozen people on the plain east of Alexandroupoli, in the Evros regional unit of Thrace. It exists because of its hot springs. The Roman emperor Trajan founded the city of Traianoupolis here early in the 2nd century AD, on the Via Egnatia, and the springs are one reason the site was chosen. The municipality notes that they have hosted emperors and sultans, and they are still a recognised medicinal spring.

Today there are three things to see, and only one of them is a place to bathe.

• The modern bathhouse, built between 1962 and 1964 and run by TIEDA, the municipal tourism and spa company of Alexandroupoli. It has 15 bathtubs and 7 hydromassage tubs, filled with spring water at 97-99°F36-37°C. Sessions are private, one person or one group to a tub, and are geared to people taking a course of baths. There is no large shared pool.
• The old baths: two domed buildings from the 16th century, each with its own pool and changing room. We found no recent source saying they are open for bathing, so treat them as monuments.
• The ruins: the Roman and Ottoman bath remains mapped as the “four baths”, and the Hana, a large building that the municipality dates to the 4th century and describes as the most important surviving structure of Traianoupolis. The Hana has been used as an open-air concert venue.

The site also has a hotel, a minimarket and a restaurant. The hot water heats the buildings as well as the tubs.

What a casual visitor can do, then, is book a tub session if the bathhouse is open, walk around the domed baths and the Hana, and move on. If you want a hot outdoor pool, this is not the place.

The water

The spring comes out at 124-126°F51-52°C. It is classed as a hyperthermal, weakly radioactive chloride water containing sodium, calcium, potassium, boron and hydrogen sulphide. It is used for bathing and, under medical guidance, for drinking cures.

The municipality says the water is traditionally used for rheumatism, disc problems and liver and kidney complaints, and the regional spa guide adds gynaecological and digestive conditions. We make no health claims; ask your own doctor.

Getting there

The baths are about 14 km (9 miles) east of Alexandroupoli on the old national road toward Feres and the Kipoi border crossing into Turkey. The operator’s address is simply “14th km Alexandroupoli-Feres, Loutra Alexandroupolis”.

• By car from Alexandroupoli: Head east past the airport. Leave the main road at the exit for Loutros and follow the old national road into the hamlet. The bathhouse and ruins are beside the road. Allow about 15 minutes.
• From Thessaloniki or Kavala: Follow the A2 Egnatia motorway east to Alexandroupoli, then continue as above.
• By ferry from Samothraki: Boats land in Alexandroupoli, about 15 minutes’ drive away.

We found no bus timetable for the hamlet online; a taxi from Alexandroupoli is the simple option without a car.

This is a border region. Carry ID and do not photograph military sites.

When to go

TIEDA does not publish its season online, and we found no notice of opening dates for 2025 or 2026. Call first.

• Spring and autumn are the most comfortable times to combine a bath with a walk around the ruins. The plain is very hot in July and August.
• May has seen events at the site: the municipality staged a concert at the Hana on the eve of the feast of Agia Glykeria (12 May).

Floods and recent history

In February 2021 floods in Evros wrecked the municipal recreation park at Loutra, a plane-tree grove known as Platanotopos or Profitis Ilias. A question in Parliament asked for money to restore it; we found no record of the outcome. In March 2020, during the border crisis, the municipality made the bathhouse hotel available to house police officers. We found no closure order for the baths themselves.

Prices and booking

No price list for the tubs is published. Call TIEDA on +30 25510 61215 or +30 25510 61128 to check:

• whether the bathhouse is open and on which days,
• the price of a standard tub and a hydromassage tub,
• whether you need a doctor’s note for a course of baths,
• whether the on-site hotel is taking guests.

Bring a towel and sandals. Expect cash to be useful.

Where to stay nearby

• The on-site hotel at the baths, if it is open to guests. Ask when you call.
• Alexandroupoli, 14 km (9 miles) west, is the obvious base: a port city with seafront hotels, restaurants and the ferry to Samothraki. The municipality also runs a campsite on the seafront.

Safety notes

• Hot source water. The spring rises at over 122°F50°C. Never touch pipes, channels or outlets around the buildings, and do not climb into the old pools.
• Tub sessions. Keep to the time the staff give you, drink water, and get up slowly. If you have heart problems or are pregnant, ask a doctor before a course of baths.
• Ruins. The Ottoman baths and the Hana are old structures. Watch your footing and respect any fences.
• Border area. Follow police instructions, keep ID with you, and stay on public roads near the frontier.

Nearby stops worth adding

The island of Samothraki is under 2 hours by ferry from Alexandroupoli, and its village of Therma has a municipal bathhouse with hot pools and free open-air basins.

Farther west in Kavala, the riverside hot spring at Loutra Eleftheron is on the way to Thessaloniki.

The Evros delta wetlands lie just south of the baths, and the Roman road of the Via Egnatia can still be traced beside the Loutros to Monastiraki road nearby.