Fierce

 

Sascha seems to know no soaking stop.

Hot on the heels of his Georgian quest for a good soak, he now focuses his attention to the southwestern Romanian town of Băile Herculane.

There are quite a few soaks to catch up with here. 
Let's just see what we can find on Băile Herculane and it's hot springs.
Starting off with Wikipedia: 

'Băile Herculane  is a town in Romanian Banat, in Caraș-Severin County, situated in the valley of the Cerna River, between the Mehedinți Mountains to the east and the Cerna Mountains to the west, elevation 168 meters. Its current population is approximately 5,000.  
... 
Legend has it that the weary Hercules stopped in the valley to bathe and rest. Unearthed stone carvings show that visiting Roman aristocrats turned the town into a Roman leisure center.  
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In modern times, the spa town has been visited for its supposedly natural healing properties: hot springs with sulfur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium and other minerals, as well as negatively ionized air. Before World War II, when the first modern hotel was built (i.e. H Cerna, 1930) it remained a popular destination with Western Europeans. During the Communist rule, mass tourismfacilities were built, such as the 8- to 12-storied concrete hotels Roman, Hercules A, Hercules B, Afrodita, Minerva, Diana, UGSR, etc. which dominate the skyline. It was visited by all kinds of people, but was especially popular with employees and retirees, who would spend their state-allotted vacation vouchers there, hoping to improve their health. Today, they share the town with a younger crowd. New privately owned pensions and hotels appeared after 1989, along the Cerna/Tiena river banks, spread from the train station to the end of the hydroelectrical dam. Some of the Austro-Hungarian era buildings are derelict for the time being, including many of the baths, because of post-communism property related issues'.

From the website roman-thermal-spas.eu:

'Baile Herculane is blessed with 16 thermal springs with different mineral characteristics.
...
Around the statue of Hercules Baile Herculane’s imperial historical center offers a range of beautiful buildings like the imperial pavilions. Also see the railway station from 1878, which is one of Romania’s most beautiful stations. In imperial times, the Austrian empress Elizabeth – known as Sissi – came to Baile Herculane five times. For her the town was “the most beautiful spa resort on the continent”.

Amazingromania has a deeper look at the architecture of Băile Herculane.

Wikivoyage:

'At present, 16 natural springs wait thermal mineral water, scattered along the Cerna for about 4 km, are known in the neighbourhoud of the resort Baile Herculane'.

Crazy tourist - 15 places best to visit in Romania:

'Archaeological digs confirm that humans have inhabited the area of modern day Baile Herculane since the Palaeolithic period. You can visit Pestera Hotilor (The Cave of Thieves) to see proof for yourself. The town is now famous for its luxurious thermal springs. Legend holds that Hercules himself once stopped here to bathe and rest. The city is so fond of its famous visitor that no less than six statues of him have been discovered here. Since WWII, people have come for the healing properties of the hot springs. Baile Herculane is a funny mix of senior citizens enjoying their retirement and the university crowd, looking for a great holiday'.

Travelguideromania has an extensive entry on Băile Herculane with some very good info:

'It was first documented in 153 AD. The first name of the resort was Ad Aquas Herculi Sacras Ad Mediam. It was given by the Romans, meaning the holy waters of Hercules from Ad Mediam.
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All the springs are emanating a smell of sulfur, some stronger, some weaker.
The source of the spring waters seems to be in fact the surface water.
The water seeps underground and penetrate to depths between 1,000 and 2,000 meters. It heats up considerably (up to 190 ° C). After it rise to surface where it breaks in the form of springs.
The whole chemical process, which begins with the water infiltration into the underground and ends the day out as thermal springs, it can take decades and even thousands of years.
The water temperature is generally 35 ° -45 ° C, but in some cases up to 62 ° C. Water has a high degree of mineralization – as the result of the action of the hot water on the rocks crossed the way back to the surface.
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Under the administration in Vienna were rediscovered the Roman baths and the resort started to develop.
Bathrooms were built and people were coming to treatment throughout the empire. Visiting the baths in 1852, the Emperor Franz Joseph I said that “now in the Cerna Valley is the most beautiful resort on the continent“.
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Herculane Baths Resort nowadays: although it is a very important architectural heritage, the historic center suffers a fierce degradation. Even so, the historical buildings are outstanding beauties and worth visiting'.

A very extensive and informative article, a great source of information if visiting here.

Smarthealthtourism has more details:

'The waters in Baile Herculane are extremely beneficial to the health and come in a wide array of mineralization degrees and temperatures. There are chlorosodic, bicarbonated and slightly sulfurous mineral thermal waters, with a mineralization of 0.5 – 2.6 g/L and a temperature of 38 – 53 °C, chlorosodic, bicarbonate and calcic waters, with a mineralization of 0.6 – 3.5 g/L and a temperature of 46 – 56 °C and chlorosodic, sulfurous and iodized waters, with a temperature that reaches 62 °C and a mineralization of 3.85 – 8 g/L.
The springs available in Baile Herculane are similar to those available in Vichy and Le Mont-Dore, their main characteristic being the high concentration, of around 60 mg/L, of sulfurous hydrogen. More than 15 springs are known, the most important being Neptun, Diana, Hebe, Ileana, Iosif, Hercules and Hygeea, with waters that have temperatures between 41 and 67 °C. Baile Herculane is also well known for its natural aeroionisation. The aeroions are beneficial for the human body by lowering blood pressure and calming endocrine ailments, headaches and insomnia'.

So in general, the springs are well covered on internet.

Hospitable
Let's look at how Sascha approaches Băile Herculane:

'The pictures that I saw before of Băile Herculane were often not too inspiring. But the impression was wrong; I really appreciated the town and the hot springs. In addition, Băile Herculane is a good starting point for beautiful hikes in the Cernei / Domogled National Park that is part of the UNESCO heritage. In autumn with sunshine it is just wonderful. 

The best map for the national park is published by muntii-nostri.ro, that map also helps to find the hot springs, although they are all close by the main street on the river and easy to find.

Băile Herculane is easy to reach; from Timisoara it is about 180 km, I took a rental car, but there is also a (slow) train that goes from Timisoara to Băile Herculane. 

However, some hot springs require a long hike on the main street or a taxi. Because, the best hiking trails are a bit more inside the national park, a rental car is certainly a good idea. 

It is also advisable, to spend 1 day in Timisoara, the town is in a good shape (in comparison to other Romanian cities). 

Direct flights to Timisoara exist from Frankfurt Hahn and Brussels Charleroi with WizzAir.

It is easy to imagine how beautiful the city of Băile Herculane must have been in the past, when Sissy [of Austrian empire fame] stayed several times in her house close by the river. 

Today, most houses are run down, the thermal complex is closed and also a number of (communist) hotel complex. It is like the city felt asleep and waits for complete face lift. 

It is better to know that before travelling to Băile Herculane in order to avoid being disappointed. It’s part of the Romanian reality.

I travelled to Băile Herculane in October [2018] and there was no need to make a reservation before, which permits to negotiate the hotel prices. Some hotels also have pools with thermal water, and some few of them have the pool outside, which is quite nice in the evening after a long hike. 

Do not expect too many young people; the average age should be around 60+. One reason is that retired persons in Romania get vouchers that permits to pay only 50% of the regular hotel price for a period of 60 days per year. Another reason seems to be that Romania does not have too much thermal towns, and Băile Herculane is the most known.

During my travels in Georgia I met a Romanian couple and they shared my point of view, that Georgians were not as friendly to tourists as we expected. “You should go to Romania and you will feel real hospitality” he said. Well, as most of my friends I had not a real idea of Romanian hospitality. After Băile Herculane and Timisoara, I have to admit they are really friendly and helpful. In each hot spring I found somebody who spoke a bit English or German, each soak ended in a discussions and translations for the other soakers. I had the impression, that in Romania, soaking is much more a social activity than e.g. in the Pyrénées / France where the impression was that everyone is soaking on his own'.

Murky 

Sascha has visited nearly half what is officially listed as hot springs belonging to 
Băile Herculane, but not the 16 mentioned above.
This post introduces Băile Venera.
Sascha:

'The hot springs are described in a geographical order. Coming from the main road from Timisoara, you enter first in the town of Baile Herculane and the first hot spring to visit is Băile Venera.

Băile Venera is located in the town of Băile Herculane. There are inside bathrooms (entrance fee 7 Lei for adults) and an outdoor pool which was empty at the time of my visit. This complex was first built in 1838 during the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor. To find the free concrete pool, it is advisable to check the situation from the other side of the river, as the entrance is not directly visible. It looks that you are crossing private ground, but in reality it is the path to the pool. When you enter into the official Băile Venera ground you are on the wrong way.

The pool itself is 38°C warm; warm enough for a long soak. The water is somewhat green-murky, but seems to be normal and natural (the thermal water in the hotel had the same color). According to the hotel owner it is slightly radioactive, but the intensity is so low, that even children are admitted to soak as long as they want'.

The hot spring of Băile Venera has it's own Facebook page and it does seem that there's a more official part to this hot spring. In the photo above tou can see a sign above a lower building.

What Sascha has been looking at is the more rambling part, probably the citizens bath ...?

Furthermore from the website Barepockets.com it has the following:

'Băile Venera (“Venera Baths”) in the Old Historical Center is one of the very few surviving Roman baths in the resort. Not long ago, almost every hotel had its own baths, and there were several public ones to choose from. Now, they’ve all been left to rot, sad reminders of a golden age long gone. Băile Venera bears testimony to Roman-bath architecture, with high vaulted ceilings echoing and amplifying each sound'.

Finally, there's a video: