Ax-les-Thermes

Ax-les-Thermes is a vibrant and historically significant spa town in the Ariège department of Occitanie, nestled in the high Pyrenees at the confluence of three mountain rivers and at the foot of the road and ski route toward Andorra. Its sulfurous mineral springs, among the most abundant in the French Pyrenees with over 80 individual spring sources, have been used therapeutically since at least the 13th century when the town's Saint Louis Thermal Basins were established for soldiers wounded in the Crusades. Today, the spa town combines its centuries-old tradition of therapeutic bathing for rheumatic, dermatological, and respiratory conditions with a dynamic mountain leisure culture: skiing at the Ax-3 Domaines resort, cross-country skiing, hiking, and cycling in the surrounding Pyrenean landscape. Ax-les-Thermes offers a genuinely complete Pyrenean spa experience — where the thermal heritage of medieval Occitanie meets the natural grandeur of the high mountain environment.