Guide
Ekşidere's mountain hot springs, a designated thermal tourism centre, lie 13 km from the centre of Gönen, and the water comes out at 38–46 °C. It is a sulphate-chloride, sodium-calcium, oligometallic water, used both for bathing and for drinking, and there is an indoor pool for cures and a Turkish bath.
Beside the facilities flows a cold, slightly sour spring with a mineral smell, thought to rise from a depth of 900–1000 m. Because it is radioactive it is known as 'gençlik suyu', the water of youth. The provincial directorate lists the hot water for rheumatism, osteoarthritis, nervous and psychological complaints, muscle and vascular problems, fractures, post-operative pain, foot, back and lower-back pain, joint stiffness, slimming and sleep disorders, and says the cold spring is drunk for kidney and urinary complaints, women's diseases, stomach and bowel problems and long-standing childlessness.
Getting there
There are shuttle vehicles running continuously between Gönen and the springs.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Balıkesir as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 4.9 °C in January to 25.7 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in January (87 mm) and lightest in August (5 mm). Long-term means for 1999-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
