Heiltherme Bad Waltersdorf

The Heiltherme stands at Thermenstraße 111 in Bad Waltersdorf, in the Thermen- und Vulkanland corner of eastern Styria. Its spring was a mistake: drilling for oil in 1975 brought up 62 °C healing water instead, with a yield of up to 17 litres per second. The town turned the find into infrastructure before it turned it into a spa - a geothermal heating system went into service here in 1981, warming schools and the open-air pool with waste heat from the thermal water. The bath itself, a small, largely wooden building, went into operation in December 1984 and was formally opened the following year, taking the name Heiltherme at a time when the word Therme was barely current in Austria. A second borehole was tied into the supply in 1998, raising delivery to as much as 22 litres per second.

The water comes from between 1,200 and 1,400 metres down and reaches the surface at 62 °C, about 1.9 million litres a day; it is recognised as a healing spring and is served to the pools at around 36 °C. Seven thermal basins make up the bath. Indoors are the Urquell, the Sprudelquelle and the Lichtquelle, all at roughly 36 °C. Outdoors there are a gymnastics pool with massage jets and a water mushroom and a massage pool with bubble beds, a massage circuit and a cascade shower, both at about 36 °C, plus two cooler basins at around 29 °C: a 16-metre swimming pool and a 25-metre sport pool fitted with counter-current units and underwater exercise bikes.

The sauna world is counted by the house at ten cabins. The operator names a Finnish sauna, the recently rebuilt Steirer-Sauna and a garden sauna at 85 to 95 °C, a herbal brine sauna at 50 to 60 °C, a bio-sauna at 55 to 60 °C, brine and herbal steam baths at 42 to 45 °C, and infrared cabins at 35 to 45 °C. A new infusion sauna seats up to 60 guests, and the infusion programme has been expanded. Between rounds there is a sauna garden, and the bath keeps a large collection of themed quiet rooms, many of which can be reserved in advance.

The bath opens at 08.30 daily, closing at 22.00 from Monday to Thursday and on Saturday, at 23.00 on Friday and at 21.00 on Sunday, and admits guests from 14 years upward. The bathing ticket does not include the sauna. A pool lift in the Urquell basin, and step-free access to all the sanitary facilities, restaurants and quiet rooms, are stated by the operator. The Heiltherme is linked by a corridor to the Quellenhotel, whose separate Quellenoase spa adds further thermal pools and a natural bathing pond.