An Everyday Holiday in Bucharest

What is Therme?

Therme is the largest spa and wellness centre in Europe and Bucharest’s newest attraction. Located close to Bucharest’s main airport, Therme is a brand new build on a spacious piece of land with plenty of room for further expanding and development.

Despite only opening at the start of this year, I’ve already been to Therme on three separate occasions and spent close to the full day there each time, if that isn’t a testament to the quality of the place then I don’t know what is.

As their tagline says, Therme – An Everyday Holiday.

The Galaxy Zone

The first of three zones in Bucharest’s biggest spa is the Galaxy Zone, where all the fun happens; don’t let the little kids running around fool you into thinking that the slides will be disappointing. There are 16 slides in total, 9 of which are just for adults and they would fit in just fine at any water park we’ve ever been to.

This section is also home to the wave pool which seems to be running all the time at the moment, unlike most others we have seen before.

The Galaxy zone is the only section within Therme where children between the ages of 3-6 are allowed, which means once you’ve had your fun with the slides you can head across to the next two zones for a more peaceful experience or, if this doesn’t sound like your thing you can avoid it completely by only paying for the sections you want.

Entering the main pool in The Palm Zone

The Palm Zone

Moving through to The Palm Zone you can immediately feel the shift in atmosphere, gone are the gleeful screams and now you’re able to slip into total relaxation mode. Here (unsurprisingly) is where most of the 500 palm trees are located and this is where I always secure a bed to use as my base (and nap area, all this relaxing takes it out of you).

In the back of this area you’ll find three pools all with different explanations, for those of you who’s Romanian is somewhat lacking (like ours) here’s a little guide to them.

Salt From the Dead Sea – Good for the immune system and improves the skin.

Lithium – Helps you to feel relaxed (not hard in this place) and reduces stress.

Calcium and Magnesium – Good for your bones and relaxing your muscles.

The main attraction in The Palm Zone however, is the massive pool, kept at a steady 33 degrees Celsius, it’s the perfect temperature to slip into at any point during the day. Around the edge of the pool, you’ll also find a variety of jacuzzis to try out throughout the day, there’s also a stream room slightly hidden by the furthest entrance to the changing rooms on the left.

The pool also has it’s own very impressive swim up bar, here you can order wine or beer for 6 lei (£1) and cocktails for 16 Lei (£2.50) and a selection of non-alcoholic drinks. Thankfully the bar has been very well planned so you won’t find yourself getting up close and personal with strangers in swimwear while waiting for your drinks.

The bar has also been extended to include outside, so should you go in the summer, you’ll also have the option to grab a drink out there too. The outdoor pool is also heated to 33 degrees regardless of the temperature outside and thankfully linked to the indoor pool so you don’t even have to leave the water.

The heated outdoor pool

The Elysium Zone

Here is where you’ll find 6 saunas ranging in temperature from 40 – 90°C.

While I’m not much of a sauna person, I have found myself spending a lot of time in one of them in particular. The Hollywood Sauna allows you watch the big screen as you sweat and last time I was there, they were showing David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet. A very good watch but a little tough when you’re sitting in a sauna and so very hot.

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a sauna like this and I love it. Usually, I can’t be in a sauna more than 5 minutes and even then I’m counting the seconds. In the Hollywood sauna however, I can happily sit there for 10/15 minutes before going across the corridor and hurling myself under a huge waterfall of ice-cold water to recover.

There are six saunas in total all offering different conditions and this area also includes another smaller pool with a bar and more importantly for me, it’s also where you can get a massage.

A massage at Therme costs between 50-80 lei depending on the style and duration. I enjoyed mine a lot but regretted not getting booked in when I first arrived as I had to wait until quite late in the day before getting seen.

Cool facts

Therme has the biggest indoor garden in Romania with over 800,000 varieties of plants and over 500 palm tress, this creates a very refreshing and relaxing environment, exactly like a spa should be.

The pools are filled with thermal water sourced from 3,100 metres below ground and Therme are claiming that this water is the second best thermal water in the world after Rome, although what exactly that means I have no idea.

Therme is home to the largest wave pool in Romania and has over 1,500m of water slides.

The view over the main pool at night 

Food and Drink

There is a no food and drink policy at Therme although I have taken a bottle of water though on a couple of occasions with no problem but this may become harder to do as the staff become more aware.

The food and drink are very reasonably priced so it doesn’t make sense to bring in too much anyway. You can pick up water for 2 lei, a sandwich for 15 lei, a slice of cake for 10 lei while a main meal will cost your around 20 lei.

Your three eating options in Therme:

–        Pizza can be bought from the restaurant in the Galaxy Zone

–        A larger selection is available in the Palm Zone in a sort of buffet style.

–        A more traditional style restaurant in the Elysium Zone

You’re probably wondering how you’re supposed to pay for all your food and drinks throughout the day. The same wristband that gives you access to all the different areas, also works as your payment device. Whenever you order something throughout the day, your wristband is scanned and you receive a final bill when you return it to the front desk at the end of the day. This means you don’t have to worry about having cash in your bag or swimming shorts, a great idea and somewhat dangerous considering just how tasty those cocktails are.

Cost

Currently, the prices for Therme are very cheap especially given the high standard of the place. Unlimited access to all three zones for the full day is only 83 Lei (£14) on weekdays and 92 Lei (£16) at the weekends.

As mentioned above it is possible to pay for the zones separately based on what you want, for a full break down of the prices you can visit the Therme tariffs page.

It does seem to be local opinion that the prices may increase greatly in the future once a reputation has been established. So keep an eye on the prices in the above page and if you’ve been meaning to visit Therme recently, maybe head there this weekend while it’s still such good value for money.

Have you been to Therme Bucharest or somewhere similar? How was it?