If you aren't a member of RCI, you've probably never heard of Endless Vacation, the travel magazine that I write a health column for. But that's O.K., I'm giving you the unexpurgated version of the story I wrote for the March/April issue on a subject dear to my heart: European thermal baths. (The published version had to be drastically cut for space—something I don't have to worry about on this here blog.) Feel free to leave your comments, especially if you've been to any of these and want to weigh in with your own experiences.
But here's the "On Location" I wrote about our recent visit to the Engadin Bad Scuol in Switzerland.
THE WATER CURE
by hannah wallace
In America, spas are typically high-end affairs. You go for one or two (expensive) treatments, and only then do you gain access to the sauna, steam room, and whirlpool (there’s usually only one of each). Europe’s classic thermal spas are a breed unto themselves. Enormous complexes that you can get lost in, they have mazes of indoor mineral pools—hot and cold, with fountains and jets—circuits of steam rooms, saunas (of varying temperatures and styles), foot baths, and cold plunge pools that you cycle through until your body is flushed and wrinkled. There are even "relaxation chairs" where you can nap after the exhausting activity of taking the waters.
The Romans were bathing fanatics—recognizing the healing properties of mineral water, they built their towns around springs and founded elaborate bathing complexes. “Taking the cure” became fashionable again in the 19th and early 20th centuries when soaking in thermal waters was prescribed for everything from arthritis and rheumatism to sterility and gastrointestinal ailments, but fell out of favor after the second World War, with advances in medicine. But now that the link between stress and disease has been established, wellness is a priority again and thermal baths are no longer the domain of elderly pensioners who’ve come to convalesce. These days, Europe’s classic baths attract a mix of fit young couples, athletes, and even families who come to lose themselves in a timeless ritual and relax with a range of treatments, from aromatherapy massages and mud packs to colonics and drinking cures (imbibing mineral water).
Traditions vary from country to country, but generally, you should allow two to three hours for steaming, soaking, and plunging. The circuit goes something like this: 20 minutes in a steam room or sauna followed by a cold plunge, followed by another steaming session or soak in a thermal pool, followed by another cold plunge. At any point you can sit and rest or read a book in the “relaxing room” (a concept American spas should make note of), where you drink copious amounts of mineral water to replenish your fluids. Showering before entering the baths is compulsory. Rules about nudity vary—in the German and Swiss traditions, nudity is strictly enforced in the sauna areas (though not in the baths themselves), whereas in England and Turkey, you must wear bathing suits (or in the case of Turkey, tea towels) at all times. (See “etiquette” for specific customs, below.)
Austria
Therme Rogner Bad Blumau, Styria(43/0) 3383-5100-0; www.blumau.com; Day rate $54 [37€]) (Double room at the hotel are $366 [250€] and include unlimited spa access and two meals.)
This colorful spa hotel, designed by the Austrian artist/ecologist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, looks like something out of a fairy-tale orchestrated by Gustav Klimt. There are no right angles—Hundertwasser was famous for his rejection of the straight line—and the curvy, multi-hued buildings sprout grass from their roofs. The thermal baths are magical, too: indoor and outdoor pools, heated to a lukewarm 97 degrees, are connected by a swimmable tunnel and encircled by whimsical bridges and terraces. Even hotter and more healing is Vulkania lake, which draws from volcanic springs 9,000 feet below the earth’s surface. Soaking in this piping hot 230-degree water, which is high in salt and mineral content, speeds up metabolism, promotes blood circulation, and firms and smoothes the skin. Though you can order a medical consultation, the focus here is on wellness through stress management: in addition to flower essence massages, acupuncture, and sound therapy, you can take Tai Chi and yoga classes as well as aerobics and Masai MBT walking. (Guests at the 312-room hotel get unlimited access to the hot springs as breakfast and dinner at one of 9 on-site restaurants.)
Etiquette: Swim suits are required everywhere except for the sauna area, which is a nude zone.
Czech Republic
Marienbad (Mariánské Lazné) (www.marienbad.cz; Day spa packages start at $113 [77€], but any single treatment at the spa includes entrance to the baths; A classical spa stay, with room at Nove Lazne (the best hotel in town) is $183 [125 €] and includes two medical exams, full board, unlimited access to the baths, and a customized cure plan that includes 3-4 spa treatment a day.
In its heyday in the 1850's, this spa town attracted 20,000 visitors a year—including Goethe, Frédéric Chopin, Thomas Edison, and King Edward VII. Treatments range from the spa-like (dry brush massage, peat wraps) to the medical (acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, gas therapy)—you can even get an EKG ($22 [15€]) or a urine analysis ($3 [2€]). Yet the focus here is on the “drinking cure”: imbibing large quanitities of mineral water each day to stimulate the kidneys, improve digestion and increase absorption of minerals from food. (Marienbad has six different springs, each with its own mineral composition, each targeting a different ailment.) Though the on-site doctors will treat any condition, the focus here is on kidney and urinary tract disorders as well as infertility and sexual dysfunction. (Gas therapy, in case you were wondering, helps men who have recently had prostate surgery “improve their manhood.”)
Etiquette: the Czech bathing culture takes its cue from the German tradition: swim suits are verboten in the steam rooms and saunas. Though they are optional in the mineral pools, suits are required in the swimming pool.
England
Thermae Bath Spa, Bath (44-01225-33-1234; www.thermaebathspa.com; Day rate $108 [£52])
Health tourists have flocked to Bath since at least AD 70, when the Romans built Aquae Sulis here, a sophisticated bathing complex dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva. Fed by mineral-rich springs, the roman baths were said to cure everything from rheumatic and muscular disorders to skin ailments and respiratory problems. These days, after a $48 million [£23] upgrade, Thermae Bath Spa attracts a new breed of wellness-seeker: those for whom a caviar facial is just as healing as “taking the waters” in a 114.8-degree springs. The New Royal Bath, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw’s strikingly modern glass box, contains two thermal baths—one an open-air rooftop pool with views of the city—and four steam rooms, each infused with a different aromatherapy oil: lavender, mountain pine, eucalyptus mint, or jasmine. For an extra charge, you can also soak in two historic baths, the intimate Cross Bath ($27 [£13] for 90 minutes) and the Hot Bath (reserved for Watsu massage treatments). Though there are no week-long programs here, you can sign up for individual spa treatments or a day-long package such as the “Thermae Top to Toe”: a 4-hour spa session, followed by a 2-course meal, use of the Kraxen Stove (a steam room with alpine hay), a full-body massage, and a facial. (Cost: $261 [£125])
Etiquette: Swimming costumes (as the Brits put it) are required in all baths, steam rooms, and pools.
Germany
Baden-Baden (www.carasana.de) Day rate (4 hours) $23 [16 €] for Caracalla Spa and $43 [29 € 3.5 hours, including brush massage] for Friedrichsbad)
“I fully believe I left my rheumatism in Baden-Baden,” Mark Twain wrote in A Tramp Abroad. The pure waters here, which spurt from a depth of 6,500 feet, haven’t changed much since Twain’s visit in the 1880’s: they’re still touted for healing rheumatism and other chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. (German doctors also prescribe visits for patients with spinal and locomotive disorders, degenerative spine disease, and broken bones.) There are two equally seductive complexes: the grande, marble-columned, 32,000 square-foot Caracalla Spa, with its multitude of pools and grottos and recently renovated sauna area (which includes the space-age “blue space” relaxation room and two log cabin saunas); or the neo-classical Roman-Irish Friedrichsbad, with its momentous Beaux Arts dome, where bathers follow a traditional 17-step ritual that includes steaming, soaking, and an invigorating scrub-brush massage (it’s good for the circulation). For an extra charge, you can work out at the ArenaVita fitness center or get a Lomi-lomi massage or anti-aging facial at the CaraVitalis spa.
Etiquette: Nudity strictly enforced at Friedrichsbad (though linen towels are provided for stages 1-5); bathing suits are worn in the bathing area of Caracalla, but not in the saunas and steam rooms, where they are verboten. (Friedrichsbad has single-sex days; however, men and women still meet up for several stages of the circuit.)
Hungary
Saint Gellért Medicinal Bath and Pools, Budapest (36-1-452-4500;
www.gellertfurdo.hu; Day rate $18 [3,100 florin])
Though Budapest didn’t earn the nickname “City of Spas” until the 1930’s, it has been known for its thermal springs since the Romans colonized the area west of the River Danube, calling it Aquincum (abundant in water). Today, of the fifteen baths still in use, the most famous is the Art Nouveau Saint Gellért Baths, with nine medicinal pools, five saunas, a solarium, an indoor effervescent pool (with underwater jets), and an open-air wave pool. The opulent facilities (currently undergoing an extensive renovation) evoke the early 20th century when the spa was built: there are domed ceilings, marble pillars, bronze statues, and colorful mosaic floors. The mineral waters—rich in calcium, magnesium, sodium, and fluoride ions—are used to treat everything from migraines and sports-related injuries to arthritis and osteoporosis. In addition to massages, pedicures, and mud packs, you can order up medicinal treatments such as an underwater beam massage, inhalation therapy (for those who suffer from asthma or chronic bronchitis), and even dental surgery (there is an on-site dental clinic). Top the whole experience off by sunbathing on the roof terrace.
Etiquette: bathing suits required in baths and saunas. (This may change after the renovation in late 2008.)
Italy
Adler Thermae, Tuscany (39 0577 889 001; www.adler-thermae.com; Doubles from $315 [215€], includes unlimited use of the baths and sauna area. Day rate $161 [110€], includes access to pools, sauna park and 1 massage; Weekly stays start at 1,862 [1270€])
The ancient Etruscans and then the Romans venerated the healing thermal waters of Bagno Vignoni. The Adler, a classic terme (Italian for mineral spring) at a lavish hotel, draws on these same springs today, providing guests with a mix of sulphate, bicarbonate, calcium and magnesium that’s good for the bones, joints, and skin. In addition to soaking in the enormous, curving outdoor pool (heated to 96.8 degrees), you can make the rounds from an herbal-infused steam room to a Finnish sauna (made of olive tree wood, which emits oils that are good for the skin), to a seductive salt water grotto, and the “Grotta del Filosofa” (a steambath in a candle-lit cave). Resident doctor Thomas Platzer can give you a medical check-up, test you for food allergies, and treat you with herbs and bach flower remedies.
Etiquette: No suits in the sauna park or steam rooms (though towels can be worn); suits are worn in the thermal pools, but not the the salt water grotto.
Switzerland
Bon Engadina Scuol, Scuol, (41-81-861-20-00;
www.scuol.ch/de/navpage-BognEngiadinaSCUOL.html; 3 hours from $22 [25SF]; entrance to the Roman-Irish bath (includes use of regular bath + sauna area) is $59 [66SF]
The highlight of this complex, located in Switzerland’s Lower Engadine Valley, is the Roman-Irish bath. Like the Friedrichsbad at Baden-baden, it’s an ordered circuit of steaming, relaxing, bathing, and scrubbing where you lose track of time; however, here, you can reserve it for two to four people, meaning you get complete privacy. The regular bathing area isn’t bad either: the steamy outdoor pool, with jets and waterfalls to pummel your sore muscles, has views of the Dolomite mountains. The indoor pool, surrounded by jacuzzis of varying temperatures, a steam room, and relaxation chairs, is ideal for families. Utterly peaceful is the adults-only sauna area, which has an outdoor Finnish sauna (203 degrees F [95 C]), a cold plunge pool, foot baths, and a quiet relaxation room. You’re also encouraged to drink the water here, which is rich in calcium, magnesium, and carbon dioxide and is good for the stomach and digestive system. Spa treatments—everything from underwater massages to Fango treatments—and medical examinations are also available for an extra charge.
Etiquette: Bathing suits required in the thermal pools; you must shed them for the sauna area and the Roman-Irish bath.
