About Covasna
At a glance: Resorts and thermal baths in Covasna, Covasna County. Opening hours: daily open 24 hours. Ticket: Free. Information verified on 29 September 2026.
The spa resort in the town of Covasna, on the south-eastern edge of the Curvature Carpathians, lives off what comes out of the ground: carbon dioxide and mineral water, traces of the old volcanic activity of the Curvature Carpathians. The gas, almost pure, is used in mofettes, rooms where you stand in the layer of gas, while the naturally sparkling water flows from dozens of springs, for drinking or for baths. Thanks to them, Covasna is Romania's resort for heart and circulation conditions.
The resort grew up around the Devil's Pond, a muddy spring in the centre that erupted several times in the 19th century, most violently in 1837, and was opened as a public bath in 1881. The first company to run the baths was set up in 1889, and the local mineral water has been bottled since 1891. Today the resort's profile comes from the "Dr. Benedek Géza" Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Hospital, home to the largest man-made mofette in the world, 100 square metres in size, which can take a hundred patients at once.
What you can see
Entry to the resort is free. In the central park, on Libertății Street, the Devil's Pond bubbles under a metal dome in a stone basin: the yellowish, muddy water fizzes constantly because of the gas. Next to it is the central Elvira spring, with iron-rich water, and around the town there are more springs where locals come to fill their bottles, such as the one by the Hotel Montana or the one by the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor secondary school. On Petőfi Sándor Street, the Bardócz mofette, opened in 1882 in the yard of a house, has kept its wooden rooms, on whose walls patients have been writing their names for more than a century.
At the eastern edge of town begins the Valley of the Fairies (Valea Zânelor), with forest, a small waterfall and, on the hill, the remains of a Dacian fortress. Here stands the lower station of the Inclined Plane, a technical monument built in the late 1880s and inaugurated in 1890: over 1,236 m of track and a 327 m drop, loaded timber wagons rolled down while pulling the empty ones up on a cable, with no other source of power. When it runs, the tourist narrow-gauge train leaves from near the Hotel Clermont and goes to its foot.
Good to know
The Inclined Plane has not worked since 1999, was damaged by a fire in the 1990s and is now overgrown. The county council and the town hall bought it in 2020 together with the narrow-gauge railway to Comandău, but according to the latest public information its restoration, estimated at more than 20 million euros, had not begun.
- The Devil's Pond in the central park, a muddy spring that bubbles constantly under its metal dome.
- A glass of iron-rich water from the Elvira spring, right next to the Devil's Pond.
- The wooden rooms of the Bardócz mofette, where patients have been writing their names on the walls for over a century.
- The lower station of the Inclined Plane in the Valley of the Fairies, where timber wagons came down a 327 m drop on a cable.
- The walk through the forest of the Valley of the Fairies to the small waterfall near the Inclined Plane.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: Covasna is on the DN13E, ~33 km east of Sfântu Gheorghe (~35 minutes) and ~20 km south of Târgu Secuiesc. From Brașov it is ~60 km (~1 hour), from Bucharest ~240 km. The Devil's Pond is in the centre, on Libertății Street; the Valley of the Fairies and the Hotel Clermont are ~3.5 km east, along Mihai Eminescu Street.
Public transport: Covasna station is on the Sfântu Gheorghe – Brețcu line, with Regio Călători and Regiotrans trains to Sfântu Gheorghe, a few of which run through to Brașov.
- Fees & discounts
Walking through the resort, the Devil's Pond and the town's mineral springs are free; you pay at the mofettes and for treatments. At the Turism Covasna treatment centre (the Căprioara, Covasna and Cerbul hotels), a mofette session costs ~15 lei, a sparkling mineral water bath ~40 lei, and the initial medical consultation required before any procedure ~100 lei (rates published on the company's website). We found no published prices for the Bardócz mofette. Admission to the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Hospital requires a referral from a cardiologist.
- Rules
In the mofettes, follow the staff's instructions: you stand with your head above the layer of gas, for a few minutes only, as carbon dioxide at high concentrations is dangerous to breathe. At the Turism Covasna centre, mofette sessions and mineral baths are given after a consultation and on the recommendation of the spa doctor, as the procedures have contraindications. The Devil's Pond is covered by a metal grille and viewed from around the basin. The Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Hospital is for patients, admitted with a referral from a cardiologist, internist or cardiovascular surgeon.
- Facilities
Treatment centres with mofettes at the Căprioara, Covasna and Cerbul hotels and at the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Hospital · drinkable mineral springs in the centre and around town · campsite in the Valley of the Fairies · hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and shops in town · railway station on the Sfântu Gheorghe – Brețcu line
Frequently asked questions about Covasna
- How much is a ticket to Covasna?
- Admission to Covasna is free. Walking through the resort, the Devil's Pond and the town's mineral springs are free; you pay at the mofettes and for treatments. At the Turism Covasna treatment centre (the Căprioara, Covasna and Cerbul hotels), a mofette session costs ~15 lei, a sparkling mineral water bath ~40 lei, and the initial medical consultation required before any procedure ~100 lei (rates published on the company's website). We found no published prices for the Bardócz mofette. Admission to the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Hospital requires a referral from a cardiologist.
- What are the opening hours of Covasna?
- Opening hours at Covasna: daily open 24 hours. The resort, the Devil's Pond and the mineral springs around town are open at all hours and free; only the mofettes and treatment centres have opening times. The privately run Bardócz mofette is open from 1 March to 1 November, Monday to Saturday 9:00–12:00 and 15:00–18:00, Sundays 9:00–12:00, according to the county's tourism portal (information published in 2017, confirm by phone). The mofettes in the hotels and at the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Hospital follow the hours of their treatment centres and are for guests or patients. The narrow-gauge train in the Valley of the Fairies has no up-to-date published timetable: in 2025 it ran during the Covasna Town Days, in early September.
- How do I get to Covasna?
- Covasna is located at Libertății Street, in the central park, at the Devil's Pond, Covasna, Covasna County. By car: Covasna is on the DN13E, ~33 km east of Sfântu Gheorghe (~35 minutes) and ~20 km south of Târgu Secuiesc. From Brașov it is ~60 km (~1 hour), from Bucharest ~240 km. The Devil's Pond is in the centre, on Libertății Street; the Valley of the Fairies and the Hotel Clermont are ~3.5 km east, along Mihai Eminescu Street. Public transport: Covasna station is on the Sfântu Gheorghe – Brețcu line, with Regio Călători and Regiotrans trains to Sfântu Gheorghe, a few of which run through to Brașov.
- When is the best time to visit Covasna?
- The best season for Covasna: All year round (treatments all year round).
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