Travel bucket list idea:
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany is full of natural hot springs or terme, many of which date from Roman or even Etruscan times and whose waters, originating from deep within the earth’s crust and emerging at around 35°C-37°C, have long been known to have therapeutic properties.
Each spring has a different combination of minerals and gases, so different terme are said to be beneficial for different conditions. Carbon dioxide boosts the immune system, for example, and sulfur-rich water is believed to benefit muscular and arthritic pain.
Hotels, some with day spas, have been developed around many of these springs, and while some are fairly modest, others have turned into luxury spa resorts offering first-class accommodation and a myriad of treatments (both medicinal and cosmetic) to compliment the thermal waters.
Saturnia, Tuscany, Italy
Experience
If you want to wallow for free, join the locals at this hotspot between the towns of Saturnia and Montemerano. The steaming waters flow down a series of terraces forming natural pools; it’s particularly atmospheric by moonlight.
Good for age: 13+
San Casciano dei Bagni, Tuscany, Italy
Experience
A luxury retreat, in a former Medici villa, with a state-of-the-art spa offering more than a hundred different treatments. There’s a fabulous hot indoor-outdoor ‘bioacqua’ pool with 24 different massage jets to pummel the stiffness from limbs, backs, and shoulders.
Adult price: £350
Good for age: 13+
Bagno Vignoni, Tuscany, Italy
Experience
You can’t bathe in the old ‘vasca’ that occupies the central piazza in tiny medieval Bagno Vignoni these days, but you can wallow in the magnificent pool at the newly-renovated Hotel Posta Marcucci, against the splendid backdrop of the Val d’Orcia.
Adult price: £250
Good for age: 13+
Monsummano, Tuscany, Italy
Experience
The unique feature of the Grotta Giusti spa and hotel in Monsummano Terme is its extraordinary prehistoric underground cave system. An hour spent sweating in the dripping grotta offers relief from rheumatic pain and does wonders for the skin. After your sweat, you will be sluiced down naked in a small cubicle with a strong jet of water.
Adult price: £240
Good for age: 13+
Saturnia, Tuscany, Italy
Experience
The sulphur-rich water (think rotten eggs) in the huge thermal pool at the recently re-vamped Terme di Saturnia Resort bubbles up from the ground at 37.5°C. There is pummeling and pampering too, plus five-star services.
Adult price: £340
Good for age: 13+
San Quirico d'Orcia, Tuscany, Italy
Official star rating:
Of all the thermal spa resorts in Tuscany, the Adler is arguably the best. It’s spa facilities – which include a spectacular indoor-outdoor thermal pool complex – are superb, the design aesthetic stylish and the setting is fabulous.
Excellent food and wine come as part of the package; wine tastings in the Travertine wine cellar is a must, with simpler meals on offer in the cosy osteria.
When not wallowing in the thermal water (heated to a natural 37°), having a massage or sweating it out in one of eight Turkish baths and saunas, guests can use the Adler as a base for exploring the glorious, UNESCO-endorsed Val d’Orcia and its lovely hill towns, Montepulciano, Pienza and San Quirico d’Orcia.
The wine-growing area of Montalcino (famous for its gutsy red Brunello wines) is not far, and Siena is a 45-minute drive.
Average £450
Extra beds
Pool
2+ bedrooms
Beach
Kids menu
Fitness center
Kids club
The Tuscans love to wallow, particularly in cooler weather, and many go to the terme just for the day at the weekend. So Saturdays and Sundays at spas that offer day passes can get very crowded. If you’re staying at one of the more exclusive spa hotels, this is likely to be less of a problem; there is usually an area that is off-limits to non-residents.
There is something wonderful about wallowing in 35°C plus water (especially in an outdoor pool) when it’s cold outside, so winter is high season in spa resorts. In summer, the Italians go to the beach.
