Recently I had what many consider a milestone birthday. When my husband asked me what I wanted to do for this milestone birthday,  I told him I had a vision of me standing there like in the Botticelli painting, “Birth of Venus” but  emerging from thermal waters that surround me.  When he asked for clarification, I told him, let’s go to the thermal waters in Tuscany to revive and reset.  And that is exactly what we did.  But then it was up to me to plan the trip.  Therefore, I devised 3 criteria that  I wanted to include in all the thermal baths we visited:

The 3 criteria I wanted to meet:

Number One:  Thermal waters in their natural environment

I wanted to avoid checking into a spa or a facility.  Not that I don’t love or do that but I wanted this trip more about thermal baths in their natural environment. 

If you are wondering what the heck the difference is between thermal waters, hot spring, a thermal bath then you are not alone.  We tend to use these phrases interchangeably.  But to clarify.   A hot spring is a  hydrothermal spring, or a geothermal spring or just a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth.  The baths are what people built around them. I am going to use these words interchangeably today.  But I am not going to use the word spa today because I was not at a spa.  I was in the natural environment.

Criteria number two:   The thermal waters had to be in Tuscany as I was planning my birthday trip only in that region.

And criteria number three – They had to be accessible and interesting

But how did I decide on which ones to go to – after all, Tuscany has many thermal waters.

Notably, the most well-known thermal bath in Tuscany is Saturnia and I immediately ruled that one out.While it looks awesome and instagramable all day long, I skipped it only because I knew it would be very crowded during the summer and I wanted a very chill trip. 
And there are a few others that I considered and then rejected because they didn’t meet my 3 criteria.

In total for the week of my birthday, we visited at total of 3 thermal waters all with very different settings:

1.  The first was  San Casciano dei Bagni.

Now this thermal bath ticks off requirement number three in a big way which is the requirement that it has to be interesting because once you arrive at the thermal bath, you realize something quickly.  More than half the actual baths are behind a fence that is closed off to visitors because it is currently one of the greatest archaeological digs in Italy and to date, the site is the largest deposit of bronze statues from the Etruscan and Roman ages ever discovered in Italy. 
So this is just fascinating to immerse yourself into a thermal bath setting built by the Romans where discoveries are still being made in this active project right behind you.

To get there, we descended down a hill and looked for the  “i vasconi” (big basins)  which are nestled along a rustic path.  

Upon arrival, you realize that these baths are not glamorous, in fact, they are quite rugged.  But they are authentic and you are literally sitting in a very important discovery site.  Also, we met some lovely Tuscans there who told us all about the town. It was not a luxury experience but certainly an interesting way to kick off our thermal bath exploration.

Now If you are in the area and do want a more glamorous experience, head to the Fonteverde 5 star resort nearby.   But for us, we stayed in a lovely hotel in town and walked to the baths and we ate at local restaurants where we met some of the people actually working on the fascinating ongoing excavation.

Let’s take a quick detour and talk about what the heck are actually in thermal waters- why are they good for us?

Thermal waters contain sulfur, calcium and fluorides, and have anti-inflammatory properties which help your muscular system.  And we love anything that is anti-inflammatory because it helps us avoid many more serious health problems later in life!

As you breathe in the thermal waters they are also good for your respiratory system  and provide anti-inflammatory effects.

These waters also regenerate and hydrate your skin.  So your whole body is being worked on while you relax and enjoy – how about that

From San Casciano dei Bagni, we drove to a town  that I had been looking forward to for a while.

2. Our second destination was Bagno Vignoni.

I am going to do a separate video on this little gem of a town but for now, I will focus just on its thermal waters.

First, it boasts a remarkable square – unlike any other main square in italy.  The small village is all gathered around the “Piazza delle Sorgenti”, a magical place and a large rectangular pool. IT dates back to the sixteenth-century.  Here it collects the hot and steaming water of a thermal spring of volcanic origin. The thermal water is made up of calcium carbonate and iron, sodium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium and sodium and it’s great for the treatment of a host of problems with the lungs, heart, joints, etc.  

Lots of historic figures chilled in these waters (although the main square is no longer open to bathing) but before then we had Lorenzo de Medici, Catherine of Siena and Pope Pius the II all relaxing there and reaping its beneficial effects.

If you stay in town, and you walk by all the adorable shops and restaurants, and head towards the edge of town you will arrive at the Parco dei Mulini.  There you will descend through the ruins of former mill buildings (hence the name parco dei mulini) park of the mills –  to the thermal waters just below.

These waters are lovely because they are nestled in the Tuscan hills and you can be there in a matter of moments on foot from the main square.

I am in love with the town.  It has good hotels with their own thermal baths inside.  I was so happy to spend my birthday there and enjoy both the indoor and outdoor thermal waters.

3.  For our third and last thermal bath experience, we did something a bit more adventurous.
This one was still in Val d’orcia and is called Bagni San Fillipo. 

But for these thermal waters, be sure to grab some good hiking shoes with a good grip because you are going to hike 10-15 minutes through a pine forest and wilderness to arrive there.  They call this place La Belana Bianca- the white whale because of its towering limestone hills. 

There are many layers of this magnificent formation nestled into the woods.  As you ascend the water gets hotter, but frankly I found the water just at its base quite hot itself. 

We slathered ourselves in healing thermal muds, waiting until dry, and then rinsed off. It’s great for your skin!  But just be prepared for a more rugged experience!  It’s like nothing I have ever seen before and there were a few brave souls climbing near the top but considering how slippery it could be, we were fine frolicking in the pools down below.

It makes for quite the adventure and even though it was around 95 degrees that day, it was so much cooler in the woods and has a very bohemian vibe to it where people are just spending the day hanging out, picnicking, and totally chilling.

Looking back on the trip, I don’t think I can say I like one thermal water experience over another. Because they were each so uniquely different.  Do your own research but know the type of experience you want before you start planning.

But I really can’t think of a better way to revive and reset on vacation.  Imagine that you are in gorgeous scenery and art during the day along with the cuisine and famous wines and then slipping into some thermal waters that heal you and are good for the body – yes, please.  I highly recommend it.

If you have a favorite thermal bath in Tuscany, let us know. Until then, I am going to grab my epsom salts and dream of the day I am returning. Ciao!