Salt mine therapy in Romania: what the operators say, how long to stay, which mines have a treatment base
You can do a cure in all five salt mines open in 2026, but only one publishes the indications and contraindications of the treatment and has a separate treatment base: Turda Salt Mine, with the Staționar (treatment ward) in the Ghizela mine. The Salrom salt mines, that is Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna and Cacica, sell 5-day passes and describe the underground microclimate, but do not publish a list of conditions for which the cure is indicated.
This guide gives no medical advice. It says what the operators write on their websites, with the source: what they list under indications and contraindications, how long they recommend a cure to last, where you can sit or lie down, what the pass costs and what documents they ask for. Whether a cure is right for you or your child is for the doctor treating you to decide. The description of the salt mines, with depths and history, is in the guide to Romania's salt mines.
In short
- Turda Salt Mine is the only one that publishes the indications and contraindications of the speleotherapy cure and has a fitted-out treatment base, the Staționar in the Ghizela mine (32 lei per visit, October 2026).
- Among the indications published by Turda Salt Mine are allergic rhinitis, recurrent respiratory infections, mild and moderate bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis and COPD; severe asthma, tuberculosis and serious cardiovascular disease are among the contraindications.
- Turda Salt Mine recommends a cure of 14–18 days for adults and 7–10 days for children, preferably between 9:00 and 14:00, and two cures a year.
- The Salrom salt mines (Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna, Cacica) publish no indications or contraindications; their websites only describe the microclimate and the underground rest or exercise areas.
- An adult pass costs 65 lei a day at Turda (minimum 7 days), 50 lei a day at Slănic, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna (5 entries in 7 days) and 33 lei a day at Cacica (minimum 5 days), at October 2026 prices.
- At Turda, people with heart conditions go in only with a medical recommendation, and children under 3 and people over 65 with a doctor's approval.
Salt mines for therapy: what each one offers
Turda has a whole page, “Salina Balneară” (the spa salt mine), with indications, contraindications and recommendations for the cure, and mentions the company's medical staff. Salrom has no page about treatment: on its salt mine pages it only says that the microclimate is suitable for ‘relaxation, leisure and treatment’ (Ocnele Mari), ‘relaxation, leisure and health’ (Târgu Ocna) or that the salt aerosols have ‘therapeutic effects’ (Cacica).
The table sets side by side what each operator writes, where you can sit or lie down and what a day's pass costs for an adult.
| Salt mine | What it publishes on treatment | Where you stay | Adult pass | What the operator asks for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turda Salt Mine | indications, contraindications, length of the cure | the Staționar in the Ghizela mine, then the Rudolf mine | 65 lei/day, minimum 7 days; Ghizela 32 lei | medical recommendation for heart conditions; doctor's approval under 3 and over 65 |
| Slănic Prahova Salt Mine | the microclimate; an area for people with respiratory conditions | a separate area with loungers, beds, tables | 50 lei/day, 5 entries in 7 days | doctor's recommendation or the adult's responsibility, under 3 |
| Târgu Ocna Salt Mine | the microclimate (salt aerosols, no draughts) | an exercise area, a first-aid point | 50 lei/day, 5 entries in 7 days | doctor's recommendation or the adult's responsibility, under 3 |
| Ocnele Mari Salt Mine | the microclimate; ‘relaxation, leisure and treatment’ | areas for relaxation and exercise | 50 lei/day, 5 entries in 7 days | doctor's recommendation or the adult's responsibility, under 3 |
| Cacica Salt Mine | salt aerosols ‘with therapeutic effects’ | no rest area is published | 33 lei/day, minimum 5 days | doctor's recommendation or the adult's responsibility, under 3 |
What is written on salinaturda.eu (the “Salina Balneară”, “Acces” and “Vizitare și tarife” pages) and on the salrom.ro page of each salt mine, checked on 28 October 2026; prices valid in October 2026. Praid Salt Mine, which had a treatment base until 2025, has been closed since May 2025.
Top 20
Top 100
Top 100
What is speleotherapy in a salt mine
Speleotherapy, which the Turda Salt Mine website also calls ‘salinotherapy’, means repeated stays, a few hours a day, in the air of a salt mine's underground. The operators justify it by the microclimate, which they describe with figures:
- Turda: 11–12 °C at every point measured, 73–80% humidity in the halls, practically no air movement (0.02 m/s in the Rudolf mine), salt aerosols in the form of solid particles, allergens ‘practically zero’, radioactivity below the detection threshold.
- Slănic Prahova: 12–13 °C, 50–60% humidity, atmospheric pressure 18 mmHg higher than at the surface, a high concentration of salt aerosols, no plant allergens.
- Târgu Ocna: 12 °C, humidity of about 50%, no draughts, with salt aerosols.
- Ocnele Mari: 13–15 °C and humidity of roughly 50%.
- Cacica: about 14 °C and salt aerosols.
The figures are the operators'. What they mean for a particular illness is for a doctor to say.
Turda Salt Mine for asthma and lungs: the published indications
The “Salina Balneară” page of Turda Salt Mine has a list of therapeutic indications for the speleotherapy cure. The operator lists there allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, recurrent respiratory infections (tonsillitis, pharyngitis, tracheobronchitis, a history of pneumonia), allergic and non-allergic bronchial asthma, ‘asymptomatic or mildly and moderately symptomatic forms’, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and, among skin conditions, eczema and atopic dermatitis.
Note the nuance for asthma: the mild and moderate forms are among the indications, but severe persistent bronchial asthma, status asthmaticus and the complications of an attack are among the contraindications. That is why anyone looking into ‘Turda Salt Mine asthma treatment’ first needs the opinion of a doctor who knows the form of the illness.
The cure takes place in Turda Salt Mine, in the Staționar in the Ghizela mine, a room fitted out for treatment in 1992 by joining two of the mine's technical chambers, with a separate ticket of 32 lei.
Top 20Who should not do speleotherapy: the contraindications
Turda Salt Mine also publishes the contraindications of the speleotherapy cure, a long list. In short, the operator lists there:
- age under 3 and over 65 (access allowed with a doctor's approval);
- severe persistent asthma, complications of COPD, tuberculosis of any site, lung cancer and acute ENT conditions;
- advanced cardiovascular disease (stage III hypertension, recent myocardial infarction, angina with frequent attacks) and grade II–III heart failure;
- acute digestive and kidney conditions, decompensated diabetes, rheumatic diseases during a flare-up, a number of neurological diseases, including epilepsy and multiple sclerosis;
- the third trimester of pregnancy, anxiety-depressive syndrome, claustrophobia and the first 1–2 months after surgery.
The access page adds that people with heart conditions enter the salt mine only with a medical recommendation. The full list is on the official website, linked in the sources; take it with you to the doctor. Salrom publishes no contraindications for its salt mines.
How long a salt mine cure lasts and how long you stay each day
The only published recommendations on length are those of Turda Salt Mine: sessions take place ‘preferably’ between 9:00 and 14:00, over 14–18 days for adults and 7–10 days for children. The operator writes that the effects last 2–3 months after the cure and recommends two cures a year. A session combines time in the Ghizela Staționar with time spent in the Rudolf mine, with more in Ghizela in the first and last days of the cure.
Salrom publishes no length for a cure, but its pass has a fixed rule: 5 entries within at most 7 consecutive days. The opening hours also limit the time spent underground: at Slănic Prahova the first minibus goes down at 09:15 and the last one comes up at 16:30; at Târgu Ocna, in October and November 2026, the salt mine is open 08:00–16:00, with the last transport underground at 15:00.
Check the month's opening hours for the whole period of the pass. In November 2026, for example, Ocnele Mari Salt Mine is open only Friday–Sunday, so the 5 entries do not fit into 7 days.
Therapy at Slănic Prahova Salt Mine
Salrom writes on the page of Slănic Prahova Salt Mine that in the Unirea mine there is ‘a separate area’, with loungers, beds, chairs and tables, where visitors with respiratory conditions can spend a few quiet hours. It publishes no list of indications, contraindications or a recommended length.
The pass is 5 entries in 7 consecutive days and costs per day 50 lei for adults, 35 lei for children and pupils aged 3–18, 45 lei for students and 40 lei for seniors. You go down only in the salt mine's minibuses, to 208 m. In October and November 2026 the salt mine is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, except for the holiday of 26 October – 1 November and the days of 30 November and 1 December: the pass fits exactly into the Wednesday–Sunday stretch.
Top 100Therapy at Târgu Ocna Salt Mine
For Târgu Ocna Salt Mine, Salrom describes air at a constant 12 °C, without draughts and with salt aerosols, and says that the mine's voids have become places for ‘relaxation, leisure and health’. At 240 m deep there are an exercise area and a first-aid point; in summer, at the surface, next to the salt-water outdoor pool, there is a medical office. Here too, no indications or contraindications are published.
The pass has the same rules and prices as at Slănic: 5 entries in 7 days, 50 lei a day for adults, 35 lei for children, 45 lei for students, 40 lei for seniors, with the bus underground included. The advantage for a cure is the opening hours: in October and November 2026 the salt mine is open every day, 08:00–16:00.
Therapy at Ocnele Mari Salt Mine
Salrom writes that Ocnele Mari Salt Mine ‘offers optimal conditions for relaxation, leisure and treatment’ and that the tourist base has ‘areas for relaxation and exercise, to enhance the therapeutic effects’. The air is 13–15 °C, with humidity of roughly 50%. The list of indications is missing here too.
The pass is again 5 entries in 7 consecutive days: 50 lei a day for adults, 35 lei for children and pupils, 45 lei for students, 40 lei for seniors. You reach the underground only by the salt mine's bus, every 30 minutes. If you come by car, parking costs 10 lei a day for pass holders, compared with the standard 15 lei. The opening hours change often: between 19 October and 1 November 2026 it is open daily, in November only Friday–Sunday.
Top 100Therapy at Cacica Salt Mine
At Cacica Salt Mine, Salrom mentions ‘salt aerosols with therapeutic effects’ and a temperature of about 14 °C, but recommends the salt mine ‘for relaxation and leisure’. The page does not describe a rest area for those who come for treatment.
It is the cheapest pass: minimum 5 days, 33 lei a day for adults, 20 lei for children and pupils, 28 lei for students and 25 lei for seniors. Worth remembering for a cure over several days: there is no lift, and you go down and up a wooden staircase of 192 steps on every visit. In October 2026 the salt mine is closed on Mondays, in November on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Praid and Ocna Dej salt mines: where there is no therapy now
Praid Salt Mine had, 120 m underground, a leisure base and a base for treating respiratory conditions, with benches for resting. Since 27–30 May 2025, when the Corund stream flooded all levels of the mine, the salt mine has been closed, and at the end of October 2026 there is no official reopening date; the details are in the section on Praid in the salt mines guide.
Ocna Dej Salt Mine is a working mine where Salrom does not admit visitors and publishes no opening hours or prices. For a cure in Transylvania that leaves Turda, and in Moldavia, Târgu Ocna or Cacica.
Top 100Which is the best salt mine in Romania for therapy?
No operator and no official source ranks them, so the answer depends on what you are looking for:
- A written protocol and medical staff: only Turda publishes indications, contraindications and the length of the cure, with the treatment base in the Ghizela mine.
- Somewhere to lie down: Slănic Prahova, with loungers and beds in the separate area.
- Daily opening in the off-season: Târgu Ocna, open every day in October and November 2026.
- The lowest price: Cacica, 33 lei a day for adults, but with 192 steps on every visit.
- No steps: Slănic, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna, where the salt mine's minibuses or buses take you down.
- Close to home: a pass means travelling every day, so distance matters; the table by city is in the guide to the nearest salt mine.
For a choice based on visiting rather than on a cure, see the ‘Which salt mine to choose’ section.
Salt mine therapy for children
Turda Salt Mine is the only one that publishes cure recommendations by age. For children under 1 it writes that it does not recommend speleotherapy; between 1 and 2 years it recommends a doctor's approval before the cure, at most 1–1.5 hours a day, for a maximum of 7 days; over 2 years, 2–3 hours a day, for 7–10 days, with advice from the salt mine's medical staff on the child's age and conditions. The child pass (3–18 years) costs 37 lei a day at Turda, 35 lei at Slănic, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna and 20 lei at Cacica.
The access rules for children under 3, what the salt mines say about asthma in children and how to choose a salt mine for a family are in the guide to salt mines with children.
Salt mine, salt room or salt baths for therapy?
Many searches for ‘salt mine therapy’ lead to salt rooms, sometimes called ‘artificial salt mines’: rooms in towns lined with salt, with no connection to a mine. Others lead to salt baths, where you do not go underground but bathe in lakes or pools of salt water. The difference, in short, is in the salt mines guide, and the salt-water lakes and lidos are covered one by one in the guide to salt baths and salt lakes. This guide deals only with the cure in the galleries of a salt mine.
Before a salt mine cure: what the operator asks for
- A doctor's recommendation: at Turda, compulsory for heart conditions; a doctor's approval for children under 3 and people over 65. At Salrom, children under 3 go in with a recommendation from the family doctor or paediatrician or on the adult's responsibility.
- Documents for the reduced pass: a validated pupil's or student's card, an identity document for seniors; at Turda, a birth certificate, passport or pupil's card for children.
- Your responsibility: Turda Salt Mine writes that anyone who does not follow the recommendations of its medical staff assumes any negative effects on their health.
- Monthly opening hours: Salrom changes them from one month to the next; check the whole month of the pass and call the branch, the phone numbers are on each salt mine's page.
Clothing, temperature and the length of an ordinary visit are in the ‘Before you go down’ section of the salt mines guide.
Frequently asked questions
- Which salt mine in Romania has a treatment base?
- Turda Salt Mine, with the Staționar in the Ghizela mine (32 lei per visit, October 2026). The Salrom salt mines have underground rest or exercise areas: Slănic Prahova an area with loungers and beds for people with respiratory conditions, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna areas for relaxation and exercise.
- Is a salt mine good for asthma?
- Turda Salt Mine lists mild and moderate bronchial asthma among the indications for the speleotherapy cure, and the severe persistent form among the contraindications. Salrom publishes no indications for its salt mines. Whether a cure is right for you is for the doctor treating you to decide.
- Which conditions does Turda Salt Mine list as indications for the treatment?
- Allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, recurrent respiratory infections, mild and moderate bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, COPD, eczema and atopic dermatitis (the “Salina Balneară” page, October 2026).
- How long does a speleotherapy cure last?
- Turda Salt Mine recommends 14–18 days for adults and 7–10 days for children, preferably between 9:00 and 14:00, and two cures a year. The Salrom pass is 5 entries in 7 consecutive days.
- How much does a salt mine pass cost?
- For an adult, per day: 65 lei at Turda (minimum 7 days), 50 lei at Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna (5 entries in 7 days), 33 lei at Cacica (minimum 5 days). Children pay 37, 35 and 20 lei a day respectively. Official prices, October 2026.
- Who should not have salt mine therapy?
- Turda Salt Mine lists among the contraindications, among others, severe asthma, tuberculosis, lung cancer, acute ENT conditions, advanced cardiovascular disease, the third trimester of pregnancy and claustrophobia. People with heart conditions go in only with a medical recommendation.
- Can young children have salt mine therapy?
- Turda Salt Mine does not recommend speleotherapy under 1 year; between 1 and 2 years it recommends a doctor's approval and at most 1–1.5 hours a day, for 7 days; over 2 years, 2–3 hours a day, for 7–10 days. The decision for your child is for the doctor treating them.
- Does Praid Salt Mine still offer treatment?
- No. The leisure and treatment base of Praid Salt Mine has been closed since the flood of May 2025, and at the end of October 2026 there is no official reopening date.
Sources
- Turda Salt Mine, official website: Salina Balneară (indications, contraindications, cure recommendations)
- Turda Salt Mine, official website: Staționar Ghizela
- Turda Salt Mine, official website: access and important information
- Turda Salt Mine, official website: visiting and prices
- Salrom: Slănic Prahova Salt Mine
- Salrom: Târgu Ocna Salt Mine
- Salrom: Ocnele Mari Salt Mine
- Salrom: Cacica Salt Mine
- Salrom: Praid Salt Mine
- Salrom: Ocna Dej Salt Mine
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