Thermal baths & spas

Budapest/Hungary

Széchenyi Thermal Bath

Budapest's grand neo-baroque bathing palace, where mineral water fills vast outdoor pools beneath ochre colonnades.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Grindavík/Iceland

Blue Lagoon

Milky, silica-rich geothermal water set in a black lava field on the Reykjanes peninsula.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Hakone/Japan

Hakone Yumoto Onsen

The oldest onsen district in Hakone, where ryokan baths look onto the Sukumo river valley.

Bathing temperature 41°C

Längenfeld/Austria

Aqua Dome Tirol Therme

Sulphur-rich alpine water in bowl-shaped pools under the Ötztal peaks.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Budapest/Hungary

Gellért Thermal Bath

Budapest's most photographed bathing hall: Art Nouveau mosaics, glass roof and mineral water from the Gellért Hill springs.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Bath/United Kingdom

Thermae Bath Spa

Britain's only natural thermal spa, with a rooftop pool over the Georgian rooftops of Bath.

Bathing temperature 33°C

Karlovy Vary/Czechia

Elizabeth Spa

The grandest of Karlovy Vary's bathhouses, still offering classic Bohemian spa treatment.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Budapest/Hungary

Lukács Thermal Bath

The bathers' bath of Budapest, with plaques of thanks on its walls.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Rotorua/New Zealand

Polynesian Spa

Lakeside alkaline and acidic mineral pools on the shore of Lake Rotorua.

Bathing temperature 39°C

Loutra Edipsou/Greece

Thermae Sylla Spa

A Belle Époque spa where hot springs run straight into the Aegean.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Beppu/Japan

Takegawara Onsen

Beppu's 1879 bathhouse, known for its hot sand baths.

Bathing temperature 43°C

Viterbo/Italy

Terme dei Papi

A 2,000 sqm sulphurous pool fed by the Bullicame spring outside Viterbo.

Bathing temperature 55°C

Bad Ragaz/Switzerland

Tamina Therme

A light-filled modern thermal bath fed by the Tamina Gorge spring.

Bathing temperature 36.5°C

Ourense/Spain

Termas de Outariz

Free-flowing riverside hot pools on the Miño, in Japanese-inspired terraces.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Erding/Germany

Therme Erding

Europe's largest thermal complex, built over a 1,900-metre-deep spring.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Hot Springs/United States

Quapaw Baths & Spa

Four communal thermal pools inside a restored 1922 Bathhouse Row building.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Baden-Baden/Germany

Caracalla Therme

Baden-Baden's modern thermal bath, opposite the historic Friedrichsbad.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Merano/Italy

Terme Merano

Twenty-five pools in a glass cube between palms and Alpine peaks.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Spa/Belgium

Thermes de Spa

The town that gave the word "spa" its name, on a hill above the valley.

Bathing temperature 33°C

Bad Blumau/Austria

Rogner Bad Blumau

A Hundertwasser village built over hot volcanic springs in Styria.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Miskolc/Hungary

Miskolctapolca Cave Bath

Warm water flowing through natural limestone caves.

Bathing temperature 30°C

Hévíz/Hungary

Hévíz Thermal Lake

The largest biologically active thermal lake in the world, warm all year.

Bathing temperature 26°C

Bursa/Turkey

Eski Kaplıca

A 14th-century Ottoman bath over Byzantine foundations in Çekirge.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Taipei/Taiwan

Beitou Millennium Hot Spring

Public open-air hot pools in a wooded valley inside Taipei.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Matsuyama/Japan

Dōgo Onsen Honkan

One of Japan's oldest hot springs, in a wooden bathhouse of 1894.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Bath/United Kingdom

The Roman Baths

Britain's only hot spring, enclosed by a Roman bathing complex with a Georgian pump room above it.

Bathing temperature 46°C

Reykjavík/Iceland

Sky Lagoon

An oceanfront geothermal lagoon on the edge of Reykjavík, with an infinity edge to the North Atlantic.

Bathing temperature 39°C

Baden-Baden/Germany

Friedrichsbad

A neo-renaissance Roman-Irish bath from 1877 where the route through seventeen stations is the point.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Vals/Switzerland

7132 Therme

Peter Zumthor's quartzite baths, a modern classic of thermal architecture in the Swiss Alps.

Bathing temperature 32°C

Bormio/Italy

QC Terme Bagni Vecchi

Roman cave baths and a cliff-edge panoramic pool above Bormio.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Rimske Toplice/Slovenia

Rimske Terme

A Habsburg-era spa in a wooded Slovenian valley, thermal water at 38–42°C.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Glenwood Springs/United States

Glenwood Hot Springs Resort

One of the world's largest hot-spring pools, fed by the 50°C Yampah spring in Colorado.

Bathing temperature 32°C

São Pedro do Sul/Portugal

Termas de São Pedro do Sul

Portugal's oldest and busiest thermal spa, with water at almost 69°C.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Coñaripe/Chile

Termas Geométricas

Seventeen slate pools along a fern-filled ravine in the Chilean Andes.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Băile Herculane/Romania

Băile Herculane

Nine thermal springs and imperial bath architecture in the Cerna valley, Romania.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Banff/Canada

Banff Upper Hot Springs

Mineral water at around 40°C in an Art Deco bathhouse under Sulphur Mountain.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Tolantongo/Mexico

Grutas de Tolantongo

Turquoise thermal river and cliff-edge pools in a canyon in Hidalgo, Mexico.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Bukowina Tatrzańska/Poland

Terma Bukovina

Geothermal pools facing the Tatra mountains, water drawn from about 2 km down.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Sukayu/Japan

Sukayu Onsen

A vast hinoki-cypress bathhouse in the Hakkōda mountains, famous for its acidic sulphur water and thousand-person bath.

Bathing temperature 44°C

Laugarvatn/Iceland

Laugarvatn Fontana

Geothermal steam rooms built directly over natural vents on the shore of Lake Laugarvatn, with pools opening onto the water.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Debrecen/Hungary

Nagyerdei Thermal Bath (Aquaticum)

A thermal bath in Debrecen's Great Forest park, drawing on alkaline, iodine-bearing water discovered in the nineteenth century.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Vienna/Austria

Therme Wien

Vienna's sulphur thermal baths at Oberlaa, rebuilt in 2010 beside the city's largest landscaped spa park.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Egerszalók/Hungary

Saliris Resort Egerszalók

A white salt hill built by 65–68°C water, with terraced pools below.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Hamat Gader/Israel

Hamat Gader

Roman thermal baths and open pools in the Yarmouk valley, water to about 50°C.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Tbilisi/Georgia

Abanotubani Sulphur Baths

Domed brick bathhouses over Tbilisi's sulphur springs, in use for centuries.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Maʿin/Jordan

Maʿin Hot Springs

Hot waterfalls falling through a desert gorge below sea level in Jordan.

Bathing temperature 45°C

Chena Hot Springs/United States

Chena Hot Springs Resort

A geothermal rock lake in the Alaskan interior, under the aurora from autumn to spring.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Minamioguni (Kurokawa)/Japan

Kurokawa Onsen

A hot-spring village in the Kumamoto highlands where two dozen inns share their baths with day visitors.

Loutra Pozar/Greece

Loutra Pozar Thermal Baths

Macedonian thermal springs where hot water falls into open-air pools at the foot of Mount Kaimaktsalan.

Čatež ob Savi/Slovenia

Terme Čatež

Slovenia's largest thermal resort, on the Sava river near the Croatian border.

Cajamarca/Peru

Baños del Inca

The hot springs in the northern Peruvian Andes where Atahualpa was camped in 1532.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Piešťany/Slovakia

Spa Piešťany

Slovakia's principal spa, known for sulphurous thermal water and its thick healing mud.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Cacheuta/Argentina

Termas de Cacheuta

Andean hot springs in a mountain gorge an hour from Mendoza city.

Hanmer Springs/New Zealand

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa

Alpine thermal pools in North Canterbury, in use as a public bathing resort since the 1880s.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Beppu/Japan

Hyotan Onsen

A Beppu bathhouse in the Kannawa quarter, known for its cascade baths and sand baths.

Bad Gastein/Austria

Felsentherme Bad Gastein

A thermal bath cut into the rock of a high Alpine valley famous for its radon-bearing water.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Ojo Caliente/United States

Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs

A historic New Mexico spring resort with an unusual combination of four mineral waters.

Bagno Vignoni/Italy

Bagno Vignoni Thermal Village

A Tuscan hamlet built around a 16th-century thermal basin in place of a village square.

Mývatn/Iceland

Mývatn Nature Baths

A geothermal lagoon above Lake Mývatn in northern Iceland, quieter than its southern counterparts.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Obanazawa (Ginzan)/Japan

Ginzan Onsen

A former silver-mining valley in Yamagata lined with Taishō-era wooden ryokan and gas lamps.

Podčetrtek/Slovenia

Terme Olimia

A thermal resort at Podčetrtek in eastern Slovenia, formerly known as Atomske Toplice.

Bathing temperature 35°C

İzmir (Balçova)/Turkey

Balçova Thermal Springs (Agamemnon)

Springs on the edge of İzmir that classical authors linked to the wounded soldiers of Agamemnon.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Aix-les-Bains/France

Thermes de Aix-les-Bains

A Savoyard spa town on Lac du Bourget whose sulphurous springs were exploited by the Romans.

Bad Wildbad/Germany

Palais Thermal

A Moorish-Revival bathing palace in the northern Black Forest, restored to its 19th-century state.

Sirmione/Italy

Aquaria Thermal Spa, Terme di Sirmione

Sulphur-rich thermal water on a peninsula in Lake Garda, at the tip of a Roman resort village.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Scuol/Switzerland

Bogn Engiadina Scuol

A mineral-water bath complex in the Lower Engadine, drawing on Scuol's carbonated springs.

Noboribetsu/Japan

Noboribetsu Onsen

Hokkaido's best-known hot-spring resort, fed by the sulphurous vents of Jigokudani.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Toyooka/Japan

Kinosaki Onsen Sato no Yu

A willow-lined onsen town on the Sea of Japan coast where guests move between seven public bathhouses in yukata and wooden geta.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Arima/Japan

Kin no Yu, Arima Onsen

The public bathhouse at Japan's oldest onsen, where iron-rich "golden water" turns rust-brown on contact with the air.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Wiesbaden/Germany

Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme

An Art Nouveau bathhouse in Wiesbaden built over Roman-era foundations and fed by the town's scalding Kochbrunnen springs.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Moravske Toplice/Slovenia

Terme 3000 Moravske Toplice

The Prekmurje spa built around Slovenia's unusual black thermal water, found by accident during oil drilling.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Dobrna/Slovenia

Terme Dobrna

Slovenia's oldest working spa, first documented in 1403, set in a wooded valley of Styrian parkland and historic bath houses.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Istarske Toplice/Croatia

Istarske Toplice

Sulphur springs beneath an eighty-metre limestone cliff in inland Istria, used since Roman times.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Vrnjačka Banja/Serbia

Vrnjačka Banja

Serbia's best-known spa town, built around mineral springs the Romans knew as Aquae Orcinae.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Yalova/Turkey

Yalova Termal Baths

Roman and Byzantine baths in a wooded valley above the Sea of Marmara, restored under Atatürk in the 1920s.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Loutraki/Greece

Loutraki Thermal Spa

A seafront spa town on the Gulf of Corinth whose mineral springs have been bottled and bathed in since antiquity.

Bathing temperature 31°C

Monchique/Portugal

Caldas de Monchique

A miniature spa village in the Algarve hills, its alkaline springs used since the Roman occupation of Lusitania.

Bathing temperature 32°C

Archena/Spain

Balneario de Archena

A Murcian spa in a palm garden above the Segura river, with hot sulphurous water and a Moorish-revival casino.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Aix-en-Provence/France

Thermes Sextius

A modern thermal spa built over the Roman springs that gave Aix-en-Provence its name.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Ouray/United States

Ouray Hot Springs Pool

An open-air mineral pool ringed by the San Juan Mountains, in a Colorado box canyon town at 2,400 metres.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Lava Hot Springs/United States

Lava Hot Springs

State-run soaking pools on the Portneuf River in southern Idaho, fed by odourless mineral water since 1902.

Bathing temperature 44°C

Radium Hot Springs/Canada

Radium Hot Springs

Odourless mineral pools in a narrow Rocky Mountain canyon, operated by Parks Canada inside Kootenay National Park.

Bathing temperature 39°C

Jiaoxi/Taiwan

Jiaoxi Hot Springs

A rare colourless, odourless bicarbonate spring on the Yilan plain, with public foot baths in the middle of town.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Hajdúszoboszló/Hungary

Hungarospa Hajdúszoboszló

One of Europe's largest thermal complexes, built around Hajdúszoboszló's famous iodine-rich brown water.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Jáchymov/Czechia

Jáchymov Spa (Lázně Jáchymov)

The world's first radon spa, in a silver-mining valley of the Ore Mountains.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bešeňová/Slovakia

Thermal Park Bešeňová

Terraced geothermal pools above the Liptov basin, backed by the Tatra ranges.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Uniejów/Poland

Termy Uniejów

Poland's first certified thermal resort, fed by hot water from beneath a medieval castle town.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Ibusuki/Japan

Ibusuki Sunamushi Onsen Saraku

Japan's signature sand steam bath, where geothermal heat rises through a black volcanic beach.

Bathing temperature 55°C

Nyūtō Onsen/Japan

Tsurunoyu Onsen

The oldest inn of the Nyūtō onsen villages, with milky sulphur water and thatched Edo-era lodgings.

Bathing temperature 43°C

Húsavík/Iceland

GeoSea Sea Baths

Geothermally heated seawater baths on a cliff above the whale-watching harbour of Húsavík.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Flúðir/Iceland

Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin)

Iceland's oldest swimming pool, a steaming natural basin ringed by small geysers.

Bathing temperature 39°C

Thermopolis, Wyoming/United States

State Bath House, Hot Springs State Park

A free public bathhouse at the foot of one of the world's largest mineral hot springs.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Aachen/Germany

Carolus Thermen Bad Aachen

A modern thermal bath drawing on the hottest springs north of the Alps, in Charlemagne's spa city.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bük/Hungary

Bükfürdő Thermal & Spa

A western Hungarian thermal park whose 58°C alkaline water was found in 1957 during another failed search for oil.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Yunomine Onsen/Japan

Tsuboyu, Yunomine Onsen

A tiny wooden hut over a spring in the Kumano mountains — the only bathing place inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Tikitere, Rotorua/New Zealand

Hell's Gate Geothermal Park & Mud Spa

A Māori-owned geothermal reserve at Tikitere with steaming mud pools, sulphur lakes and a warm waterfall.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Chaves/Portugal

Termas de Chaves

The hottest springs in Portugal, rising at over 70°C in a Roman town on the Tâmega.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Cauterets/France

Les Bains du Rocher

A contemporary bathhouse in a Pyrenean valley whose sulphurous springs drew nineteenth-century Europe.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Zurzach/Switzerland

Thermalbad Zurzach

A Swiss thermal bath on the Rhine, fed by 40°C water found in 1955 while prospecting for oil.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Bad Füssing/Germany

Europa Therme Bad Füssing

One of Europe's busiest thermal towns, built on a sulphurous mineral water found by chance during oil drilling in 1938.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Laško/Slovenia

Thermana Laško

A Slovenian spa on the Savinja river, in use since 1854 and known for its warm, mild thermal water.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Rajecké Teplice/Slovakia

Spa Aphrodite Rajecké Teplice

A small Slovak spa town in a wooded valley, with a bathing hall of white colonnades and mirrored water.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Monsummano Terme/Italy

Grotta Giusti

A nineteenth-century thermal cave in Tuscany, discovered by quarry workers and later described by Giuseppe Verdi as the eighth wonder of the world.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Panticosa/Spain

Balneario de Panticosa

A high Pyrenean spa at 1,636 metres, built as a nineteenth-century mountain resort around granite springs.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Karahayıt/Turkey

Karahayıt Red Springs

Iron-rich hot springs a few kilometres above Pamukkale, staining the terraces deep red and ochre.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Berkeley Springs/United States

Berkeley Springs State Park

The oldest spa in the United States — warm mineral springs bathed in by George Washington, still running in a small public park.

Bathing temperature 23°C

Dax/France

Thermes Adour de Dax

France's largest thermal town, known for hot Adour-basin water and its distinctive warm river mud.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Saratoga Springs/United States

Roosevelt Baths & Spa

Naturally carbonated mineral baths in a 1935 New Deal bathhouse inside Saratoga Spa State Park.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Velké Losiny/Czechia

Termály Velké Losiny

A Czech spa in the Jeseníky foothills, in continuous use since 1562 and set beside a Renaissance chateau.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Reichenhall/Germany

RupertusTherme

An Alpine brine bath in a Bavarian salt town, using the same AlpenSole that made Bad Reichenhall's fortune.

Bathing temperature 34°C

San Casciano dei Bagni/Italy

Fonteverde, San Casciano dei Bagni

A Tuscan hill-town spa above dozens of hot springs used continuously since Etruscan and Roman times.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Zaō Onsen/Japan

Zaō Onsen Dai-rotenburo

A large open-air bath built into a mountain stream, fed by some of the most strongly acidic water in Japan.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Loipersdorf bei Fürstenfeld/Austria

Therme Loipersdorf

A large Styrian thermal resort in rolling volcanic hill country, built around water drawn from more than a kilometre below the vineyards.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Comano Terme/Italy

Terme di Comano

Trentino spring water at 27 °C, used for skin conditions since the 15th century.

Bathing temperature 27°C

Minakami/Japan

Hōshi Onsen Chōjūkan

A Meiji-era wooden bathhouse in the Gunma mountains, bathing over its own spring.

Bathing temperature 41°C

Gerês/Portugal

Termas do Gerês

Fluoride-rich bicarbonate springs in a granite village inside Portugal's only national park.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Daruvar/Croatia

Daruvarske Toplice

A Roman-era Croatian spa where 46 °C mineral water still feeds historic bathing halls.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Budapest/Hungary

Palatinus Strand

Margaret Island's grand open-air bathing complex, fed by the island's thermal wells.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Mondariz-Balneario/Spain

Balneario de Mondariz

A Galician spa resort built around the Gándara and Troncoso mineral springs.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Băile Felix/Romania

Băile Felix

Romania's warmest spa resort, where thermal water feeds pools and a rare lotus lake.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Balaruc-les-Bains/France

Les Thermes de Balaruc-les-Bains

France's busiest thermal resort, drawing 49 °C saline water beside the Thau lagoon.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Ems/Germany

Emser Therme

A contemporary thermal bath on the Lahn in one of Germany's classic 19th-century spa towns.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Gero/Japan

Gero Onsen

One of Japan's three great hot springs, with 84 °C alkaline water above the Hida river.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Forio d'Ischia/Italy

Giardini Poseidon Terme

Twenty-plus thermal pools terraced above a bay on the volcanic island of Ischia.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Poprad/Slovakia

AquaCity Poprad

Geothermal pools under the High Tatras, powered by its own renewable energy.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Mszczonów/Poland

Termy Mszczonów

Geothermal water from 1,700 metres, bathed in an hour from Warsaw.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Ptuj/Slovenia

Terme Ptuj

Thermal pools beside the Drava in Slovenia's oldest town.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Orb/Germany

Toskana Therme Bad Orb

A brine thermal bath in Hesse known for its underwater-sound "Liquid Sound" pool.

Bathing temperature 35°C

Bormio/Italy

QC Terme Bagni Nuovi

A grand 1836 bathhouse above Bormio, fed by alpine springs used since Roman times.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Reykholt (Borgarfjörður)/Iceland

Krauma Baths

Baths mixing Europe's most powerful hot spring with cold glacial water in west Iceland.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Istanbul/Turkey

Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı

Mimar Sinan's 1556 double hamam between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Egilsstaðir/Iceland

Vök Baths

Floating geothermal pools set into a lake in the east of Iceland.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Saint-Gervais-les-Bains/France

Thermes de Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc

Alpine thermal baths in a wooded gorge below Mont Blanc, fed by a 39 °C spring.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Budapest/Hungary

Rác Thermal Bath

A Buda bath of Ottoman origin, with an octagonal domed pool rebuilt by Miklós Ybl in the 1860s.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Eger/Hungary

Eger Turkish Bath (Törökfürdő)

An Ottoman bath of the early 1600s, still fed by radon-bearing thermal water in the heart of Eger.

Bathing temperature 30°C

Zalakaros/Hungary

Zalakaros Spa

Highly mineralised water from a 1962 well, reaching 96 °C at the wellhead before cooling for the pools.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bagno di Romagna/Italy

Terme di Sant'Agnese

Sulphate-bicarbonate-alkaline springs in an Apennine village bathed since Roman times.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Montecatini Terme/Italy

Terme Tettuccio

The grandest of Montecatini's drinking-cure halls, rebuilt in 1928 with marble colonnades and painted galleries.

Abano Terme/Italy

Terme Euganee di Abano

Salt-bromine-iodine water rising at around 87 °C, used for pools and for maturing the Euganean fango mud.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Harrogate/United Kingdom

Harrogate Turkish Baths

Victorian Turkish baths of 1897, with Islamic-influenced arches, glazed brick and terrazzo floors.

Bad Kleinkirchheim/Austria

Thermal Römerbad

Carinthian mountain thermae on the St Kathrein spring, which emerges at about 24 °C.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Hofgastein/Austria

Alpentherme Gastein

Radon-bearing Gastein thermal water, piped from springs that surface at up to about 47 °C.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Yverdon-les-Bains/Switzerland

Centre Thermal Yverdon-les-Bains

Sulphurous water drawn from around 500 m depth, arriving at roughly 29 °C.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Lavey-les-Bains/Switzerland

Bains de Lavey

Switzerland's hottest natural spring, emerging at over 60 °C in the Rhône valley.

Bathing temperature 35°C

Tuhelj/Croatia

Terme Tuhelj

Zagorje thermal water at about 33 °C, paired with the region's sulphurous mineral mud.

Bathing temperature 33°C

Varaždinske Toplice/Croatia

Varaždinske Toplice

Roman Aquae Iasae, where sulphurous water surfaces at around 58 °C.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Unzen/Japan

Unzen Onsen

Acidic sulphur springs at 700 m on a volcano, beside the steaming ground of the Unzen jigoku.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Tskaltubo/Georgia

Tskaltubo Balneological Resort

Mildly mineralised water at a constant 33–35 °C, the basis of a vast Soviet-era cure town.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Mosonmagyaróvár/Hungary

Flexum Thermal Bath Mosonmagyaróvár

A modest western-Hungarian thermal complex fed by a deep alkaline hydrogen-carbonate well.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Gyula/Hungary

Gyula Castle Bath

Thermal pools set in a parkland garden around the only surviving brick Gothic castle on the Hungarian plain.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Szeged/Hungary

Anna Thermal Bath Szeged

A late nineteenth-century town bath in Szeged, still fed by the Anna well.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Wörishofen/Germany

Therme Bad Wörishofen

A large Bavarian thermal-water leisure bath in the town that gave the world Kneipp therapy.

Bad Nauheim/Germany

Sprudelhof Bad Nauheim

Europe's most complete Jugendstil bathing complex, built around naturally carbonated saline springs.

Bathing temperature 32°C

Salsomaggiore Terme/Italy

Terme Berzieri

A 1920s Art Deco thermal palace built over one of Europe's strongest iodine-bromine brines.

Bagni San Filippo/Italy

Bagni San Filippo

Free, open-air calcareous cascades in the woods below Monte Amiata.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Caldes de Boí/Spain

Balneari de Caldes de Boí

A high-Pyrenean spa with dozens of separate springs across a wide temperature range.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Alhama de Aragón/Spain

Balneario Termas Pallarés, Alhama de Aragón

A nineteenth-century Aragonese spa built around a large open thermal lake.

Bathing temperature 32°C

Caldas da Rainha/Portugal

Termas de Caldas da Rainha

Portugal's royal sulphurous baths, founded by Queen Leonor in the fifteenth century.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Köyceğiz/Turkey

Sultaniye Hot Springs

Sulphur-rich springs on the shore of Köyceğiz Lake, reached by boat or road.

Bathing temperature 39°C

Shirahone Onsen/Japan

Shirahone Onsen

Milky-white, carbonate-rich mountain onsen in the Japanese Alps.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Yufuin/Japan

Yufuin Onsen

A ryokan town of gentle alkaline springs beneath the twin peaks of Mount Yufu.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Umpqua National Forest/United States

Umpqua Hot Springs

Terraced travertine pools above the North Umpqua River in the Oregon Cascades.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Liard River/Canada

Liard River Hot Springs

British Columbia's second-largest hot spring, in a boreal swamp along the Alaska Highway.

Bathing temperature 42°C

Vichy/France

Thermes Les Dômes Vichy

The Belle Époque capital of French thermalism, still in practice.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Sárvár/Hungary

Sárvár Spa & Wellness Bath

Two wells, one of them very hot, feeding a large western-Hungarian bath.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Harkány/Hungary

Harkány Thermal Bath

Sulphide-rich water at 62 °C, in use since 1823.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Hveragerði/Iceland

Reykjadalur Hot Spring River

A hot river in a steaming valley, reached only on foot.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Nozawa Onsen/Japan

Ōyu Bathhouse, Nozawa Onsen

The finest of Nozawa's thirteen free village bathhouses.

Bathing temperature 44°C

Bad Staffelstein/Germany

Obermain Therme

One of Germany's most strongly mineralised thermal brines, in Franconia.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Bad Kissingen/Germany

KissSalis Therme

Bavarian brine bathing in a light, contemporary therme.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Petriolo/Italy

Terme di Petriolo

Sulphur springs steaming into the Farma river beneath a medieval bath wall.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Luhačovice/Czechia

Lázně Luhačovice

A Moravian drinking-cure spa with Jurkovič's folk-modern architecture.

Bad Ischl/Austria

Salzkammergut-Therme Bad Ischl

Imperial-era salt-town bathing brought up to date in a modern brine therme.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Baños de Montemayor/Spain

Balneario de Baños de Montemayor

Roman vaults still in use above the Vía de la Plata.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Bagnères-de-Luchon/France

Les Thermes de Luchon

Pyrenean sulphur springs and a steam gallery carved into the mountain.

Bathing temperature 34°C

Sovata/Romania

Bear Lake (Lacul Ursu)

The world's largest heliothermic salt lake, warm in layers.

Bathing temperature 32°C

Białka Tatrzańska/Poland

Termy Bania

Deep geothermal water in open-air pools facing the Tatra skyline.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Trenčianske Teplice/Slovakia

Trenčianske Teplice Spa

Sulphurous Slovak thermal water and a Moorish hammam of 1888.

Bathing temperature 38°C

Leukerbad/Switzerland

Leukerbad Thermal Baths

Alpine thermal water at 1,400 metres, with open pools facing the Gemmi cliffs.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Bardejovské Kúpele/Slovakia

Bardejovské Kúpele

Cold mineral springs in a wooded Šariš valley, with an imperial history.

Istanbul/Turkey

Çemberlitaş Hamamı

A 1584 Ottoman hammam attributed to Mimar Sinan, still working as it was built to.

Bathing temperature 40°C

Budapest/Hungary

Rudas Baths

A 16th-century Ottoman bath under an octagonal dome, with a modern rooftop pool over the Danube.

Bathing temperature 36°C

Saturnia/Italy

Terme di Saturnia

Sulphur water at 37.5°C falling through travertine terraces in the Tuscan Maremma.

Bathing temperature 37°C

Kusatsu/Japan

Sainokawara Rotenburo

One of Japan's largest open-air baths, in a valley of steaming acidic springs above Kusatsu.

Bathing temperature 43°C

Pamukkale/Turkey

Cleopatra Antique Pool

Bathing among fallen Roman columns in the thermal pool of ancient Hierapolis.

Bathing temperature 36°C