10 Best Hot Springs & Saunas (Costs & Tips, 2026)

Mineral-laden water has been building these white terraced pools for thousands of years — 'Pamukkale' literally translates to 'cotton castle,' which undersells it. Entry costs about $20 and covers the terraces plus the nearby Hierapolis ruins; go barefoot on the terraces, shoes aren't allowed on the formations.

Warm sulphur water — a constant 37.5°C year-round — cascades down a series of natural limestone pools, and unlike almost everywhere else on this list, it's completely free, all day, no ticket. Go at sunrise or sunset if you want it without the crowds it's picked up from Instagram in recent years.

One of the largest thermal bath complexes in Europe, and a genuinely public institution rather than a private resort — locals come here as a matter of routine, not tourism. Entry runs about €22, and the outdoor pools stay open (and steaming) even in the middle of winter.

One of Japan's oldest public bathhouses, with roughly 3,000 years of recorded history and a wooden building widely believed to have inspired the bathhouse in Spirited Away. About $5 for the basic bath, genuinely public, no membership or resort booking required — just take your shoes off and go in.

A 45-minute to 1-hour hike through a geothermal valley gets you to a river where hot spring water and a cold stream mix into something swimmable — completely free once you're there, unlike the well-known paid lagoon most visitors default to. Bring a towel and change behind the wooden screens along the bank; there are no facilities beyond that.

An entire town built around one of Japan's most mineral-rich hot spring sources, with free or near-free public foot baths scattered throughout and proper public bathhouses for a few dollars more. The central Yubatake ('hot water field') steams constantly and is worth seeing even before you get in the water yourself.

Completely free, and unlike the resort spas Rotorua is better known for, this is a public park with genuine geothermal pools, mud pots, and steaming craters you can walk right up to. The dedicated foot-bath pools are free to sit in; bring sandals, the ground around some vents is genuinely hot underfoot.

A turquoise hot spring river runs through a narrow canyon, with man-made pools terraced into the cliffside and a cave you can swim directly into. Entry costs around $10 — cheap for what amounts to one of the more dramatic hot spring settings anywhere, though it gets genuinely busy on weekends.

A day pass costs around $15, and in winter the real draw is combining a soak with aurora viewing — the outdoor rock lake stays around 100°F even when the air temperature drops well below freezing, which is a genuinely strange sensation. Book ahead if you want the aurora wake-up call service.

High in the Andes, roughly two hours from Quito, with public thermal pools costing around $10 entry and volcano views on a clear day. The altitude (3,300m) means the contrast between the cold mountain air and hot water hits harder than at almost any other spring on this list.