Spa Aphrodite thermal pools, Rajecké Teplice

Rajecké Teplice is a small spa town in the northern part of the Rajec basin, about 10 km south of Žilina. Hot mineral water rises here, and it feeds the Spa Aphrodite resort, whose thermal pools, saunas and Natural Spa zone are open not only to patients but to anyone with a ticket. The place has character: the pools are framed by stylised classical architecture — columns, a rotunda, statues — while limestone crags rise above the spa.

The settlement is first mentioned in writing in 1376. The powerful Hungarian magnate Juraj Thurzo built the first “bath house” here in 1610 and invited guests to it; the spa flourished again at the end of the 19th century. According to the operator, Rajec water is a natural medicinal, medium-mineralised, hypotonic calcium-magnesium hydrogen-carbonate water at 38 °C. Altogether the spa has 11 pools with this water. A separate spring, Aphrodite, is used for drinking cures: the water is alkaline (pH 7.44), with calcium and magnesium in a 2:1 ratio.

What to see and do

• Indoor mineral thermal pool (37–37.5 °C; age 12+ only) and a rehabilitation pool with massage jets (31.5–32.5 °C).
• Outdoors — a round sitting pool with a classical gazebo (36–38 °C), a 25 m swimming pool (25–27 °C), a Turkish bath with hot (39–41 °C) and cold (12–15 °C) pools, and a family pool under the rock with a waterfall (30–34 °C), where children may use rings and armbands.
• Sauna world in oriental style: tepidarium, Arabic, salt, herbal, menthol and Finnish saunas, a plunge pool and a relaxation room.
• Natural Spa: log saunas, including an octagonal Kelo sauna for about 80 people used for sauna rituals, a biosanarium (65–70 °C), a hot sea-salt pool (39–41 °C), cold and ice pools and a Kneipp path. In autumn 2026 (1 October – 20 December) scheduled sauna rituals take place.
• In summer there is also the Laura open-air pool below the Skalky crags: a swimming pool up to 50 × 20 m (24–27 °C, 0.95–1.6 m deep) and a round children’s pool 15 m across (28–31 °C), plus a volleyball court.

Practical information

Getting there. The I/64 road Žilina – Rajec – Prievidza and the Žilina – Rajec railway run through the town, so it is easy to reach from Žilina by car or by train. The pools are in the Aphrodite spa house in the spa park.

Opening hours (as of October 2026): thermal pools, sauna world and Natural Spa — daily 9:00–22:00. In 2026 the Laura pool opened on 26 June and ran 9:00–19:00, weather permitting.

Tickets (prices from 1 September 2026): thermal pools 2 hours — €28 adult, €16 child under 12; Monday to Thursday — €22 / €14; full day — €50 / €30. Sauna world (including the pools and Natural Spa): 2 hours — €40, 3 hours — €50, full day — €80, the same price for adults and children. The Monday–Thursday discounts do not apply on public holidays, during the summer school holidays, from 24 December 2026 to 6 January 2027 and on 26–29 March 2027. Each extra half hour started costs €2. Towels and bathrobes are not included in the pool ticket; with a full-day ticket you cannot leave and come back.

Rules. Children under 15 only with an adult; children under 12 may not use the indoor medicinal pool or the Turkish bath. After 17:00 the Natural Spa admits only visitors aged 16+, and the Natural Spa saunas are used without swimwear. The hot pools are not recommended for people with cardiovascular conditions.

Nearby

• Strečno Castle above the Váh — beyond Žilina.
• Starý hrad — ruins on a rock above the Strečno gorge.
• Vrátna dolina — the heart of Malá Fatra.
• Jánošíkove diery — gorges with ladders and waterfalls.

Official website: spa.sk

Photos: spa.sk; Vlach Pavel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.