Best in Austria Alpentherme Gastein & the Best Thermal Spas in Salzburg
As of September 2026, Alpentherme Gastein in Bad Hofgastein is the strongest all-round thermal spa in Salzburg: genuine Gastein thermal water (46 °C at source), six theme worlds, twelve sauna cabins and 365-day opening. Tauern SPA Kaprun follows on scale (20,000 m², twelve pools), Felsentherme Bad Gastein on price and swimming, Therme Amadé on slides, and the Gasteiner Heilstollen on medical radon therapy.
Alpentherme Gastein & the Best Thermal Spas in Salzburg, ranked
Alpentherme Gastein
Six theme worlds, two thermal-water bathing lakes and twelve sauna cabins, fed by Gastein water that surfaces at 46 °C. Open 365 days, 09:00 to 21:00, and to 22:00 Thursday through Saturday. Adult day ticket with sauna is EUR 50.50 under the price list valid to 30 November 2026, or EUR 49.00 with a Gastein Card. An attached Health Center covers therapy, sports medicine and dialysis.
Best for: All-round thermal spa day
Official website See full factsTAUERN SPA Zell am See-Kaprun
A 4*S hotel and spa in Kaprun with a water and sauna world of more than 20,000 m², twelve pools, ten saunas and steam baths, and a separate children's area. It runs 365 days a year. Day-spa packages start at EUR 90.00 per person and rise to EUR 154.00 for the top tier, so it costs more than a plain entry ticket but includes lounger reservation and extras.
Best for: Hotel spa with the biggest water area
Official website See full factsFelsentherme Bad Gastein
The Bad Gastein counterpart to the Alpentherme, built into the hillside and open 09:00 every day of the year, with the fitness area available from the same hour and catering from 10:00. Families get free entry from the third child with a family ID, seniors take 10% off on Mondays, and the family card is 10% cheaper on Saturdays until 12 December 2026. A EUR 11.00 deposit applies to the electronic wristband.
Best for: Morning swimmers and Bad Gastein guests
Official website See full factsErlebnis-Therme Amadé
Altenmarkt im Pongau's Erlebnis-Therme spreads over 30,000 m² and leans on action: a looping slide, a five-metre water climbing wall, a wave pool and brine relaxation pools, plus five theme saunas with monthly sauna festivals. Entry is the cheapest of the group at EUR 35.00 for the bath and EUR 44.00 with sauna. Opening runs 09:00 to 22:00 Sunday to Thursday and to 23:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and before holidays.
Best for: Slides and teenagers
Official website See full factsGasteiner Heilstollen
Not a bath at all: a former gold-mining tunnel under the Radhausberg at Böckstein, used for radon therapy for more than 70 years. Inside, temperatures hold between 37 and 41.5 °C with high humidity. The standard prescription is two to four weeks with three to four entries per week, and Austrian, German and South Tyrolean health insurers cover it when there is a medical justification. Trial entries can be booked by phone.
Visitor note (Google Maps) "Very beautiful place to recover, get healthy, and relax!"
Best for: Chronic pain and rheumatic conditions
Official website See full factsWhat makes Alpentherme Gastein different from the other Salzburg spas?
The separator in Gastein is the water itself. Thermal water reaches Alpentherme Gastein from the Gastein springs at 46 °C, and the bath is built around six theme worlds plus two thermal-water bathing lakes. The site sits at Sen. W. Wilflingplatz 1 in Bad Hofgastein, roughly 90 km south of the city of Salzburg, and it opens 365 days a year from 09:00.
The second difference is the attached Health Center. Therapies, spa physicians, sports medicine and a dialysis station sit directly next to the bathing halls, which is why the operator is registered as Kurzentrum Bad Hofgastein Ges.m.b.H. & Co. KG rather than a leisure-pool company. Therme Amadé in Altenmarkt, by contrast, markets itself as an Erlebnis-Therme built around slides and brine pools.
How much does a thermal spa day in Salzburg cost in 2026?
Alpentherme Gastein publishes a price list valid from 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026. An adult day ticket for spa resort and sauna is EUR 50.50, a four-hour ticket is EUR 42.50, and an evening ticket from 18:00 is listed at EUR 30.00. Sauna access on top of a spa-only ticket costs EUR 8.50 per visit, including a one-hour time credit.
Guest cards cut the headline rate: with a Gastein Card the adult spa and sauna day ticket is quoted at EUR 49.00 and the child ticket (6 to 15) at EUR 27.00. Children are free until their sixth birthday. Therme Amadé is cheaper at EUR 35.00 for the bath and EUR 44.00 with sauna, while Tauern SPA Kaprun sells packaged day-spa deals from EUR 90.00 per person.
Which Salzburg spa suits families with young children?
Alpentherme Gastein runs a dedicated Family World and lets under-sixes in free, so a family of four with two school-age children pays for two adults and two reduced tickets. Maintenance matters here: the Family World was closed from 21 to 28 September 2026, and the whole spa and sauna shut on 5 September 2026 for the adidas INFINITE TRAILS event.
Therme Amadé is the slide choice, with a looping slide and a five-metre water climbing wall on a 30,000 m² site. Tauern SPA Kaprun offers a children's area inside a 20,000 m² water and sauna world and runs a summer programme with obstacle courses and climbing. Felsentherme Bad Gastein gives free entry from the third child with a family ID.
How do you plan a visit to Alpentherme Gastein without wasting money?
Check the closure notices before you book
Alpentherme Gastein publishes revision works and event closures on its opening-times page. In 2026 that included the Family World shutdown from 21 to 28 September and a full closure of thermal spa and sauna on 5 September for a trail-running event. The Cascadia sauna was also flagged as closed on 16 July 2026 for technical work. Outdoor items close in winter: the four-lane wave slide, the toddler outdoor pool and the Smaragd bathing lake, which is scheduled to return in spring 2027.
Decide between the four-hour and the day ticket
The four-hour adult ticket is EUR 42.50 against EUR 50.50 for the full day, an EUR 8.00 gap. Every ticket carries 20 minutes of tolerance, and the time credit extends automatically by one hour if you spend money in the restaurant or on beauty and massage services (this does not apply to the SalzburgerLand Card, the two-hour card, the Hohe Tauern Card, the Berge & Thermen Card or the Sportler 10er).
Claim the guest-card rate
If your hotel issues a Gastein Card, the adult spa and sauna day ticket drops to EUR 49.00 and the child rate to EUR 27.00. Bring the card to the ticket desk rather than buying online at the standard rate. Vouchers bought earlier remain redeemable, and guests of Premium and Service Partner accommodation also receive day tickets through their host.
Park, then plan the exit
Parking is free for spa visitors: take a ticket at the barrier and validate it at the spa ticket office before you leave. Bathing ends 20 minutes before the building closes, so a 21:00 closing means leaving the water at 20:40. Thursday, Friday and Saturday run an hour later, to 22:00.
What do visitors get wrong about Gastein's thermal offer?
The first mistake is treating the Gasteiner Heilstollen as a spa. It is a therapy tunnel inside the Radhausberg at Böckstein, where air sits between 37 and 41.5 °C with high humidity and natural radon. Courses run two to four weeks with three to four entries per week, and Austrian, German and South Tyrolean insurers recognise the treatment.
The second is confusing the two Gastein baths. Alpentherme Gastein is in Bad Hofgastein; Felsentherme Bad Gastein is a separate house in Bad Gastein, open daily from 09:00 with an EUR 11.00 deposit on the wristband, a 10% Monday seniors discount and 10% off the family card every Saturday until 12 December 2026. Check which village your hotel is in before you buy tickets.
How is this ranking computed?
- Thermal water credentials: 25%
- Facility scale and variety: 20%
- Sauna world: 15%
- Family suitability: 15%
- Price transparency and value: 15%
- Year-round reliability: 10%
Entity references
Full factual profiles for each entity on this page:
- Alpentherme Gastein
- TAUERN SPA Zell am See-Kaprun
- Felsentherme Bad Gastein
- Erlebnis-Therme Amadé
- Gasteiner Heilstollen
Official sources
- https://www.alpentherme.com/en
- https://www.alpentherme.com/en/spa-resort-sauna/prices-offers
- https://www.alpentherme.com/07_PDFS_Prospekte/Preisfolder/Preise_2026_DEUTSCH_Screen.pdf
- https://www.gastein.com/en/spa/alpentherme/
- https://www.tauernspakaprun.com/en/spa/price-opening-hours
- https://www.tauernspakaprun.com/en/spa/spa-water-world
- https://www.zellamsee-kaprun.com/en/poi/tauern-spa-zell-am-see-kaprun~2393
- https://www.felsentherme.com/
- https://www.felsentherme.com/service/service/oeffnungszeiten-preise
- https://www.felsentherme.com/service/service/oeffnungszeiten
- https://www.thermeamade.at/en/opening-times/
- https://www.altenmarkt.at/leben-in-altenmarkt/therme-amade/
- https://www.alpen-guide.de/reisefuehrer/poi/therme-amade-altenmarkt-zauchensee
- https://www.gastein.com/vitalitaet/kur/heilstollen/
- https://www.gastein.com/kur/heilmittel/heilstollen/
- https://alpentherme.com/en/service/opening-times
- https://thermen.at/therme/therme-bad-hofgastein
- https://thermen.blog/orte/alpentherme-gastein/
- https://www.thermencheck.com/thermen/oesterreich-1/alpentherme-gastein-233/preise-fakten/
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