Terme di Saturnia is, I think, the most famous, and most posh, hot spring pool in Tuscany. I have been there many times, but it had been several years since the last time I went, so it was good to go back and see what changes had been made.
Saturnia is in the municipality of Manciano, in the province of Grosseto. Getting there is quite a challenge as you must travel many kilometers over provincial roads. The countryside you will travel through is some of the most beautiful in the world; depending which way you choose to go, you may pass through Monte Amiata, Arcidosso, and Val d'Orcia, land alternating between grape vineyards, pastures, rolling hills of grain, steep mountains, and forests.
Terme di Saturnia is connected to a luxury hotel and resort. It used to be that the public could share the same pool with the hotel guests, and I must say there is something magic about that enormous pool. The bottom is made of pebbles, and the hot water comes up through the bottom at a deliciously hot temperature. It was really something.
Now there are two separate areas - the old pool is still connected to the hotel, for the use of its guests only, whereas a new pool complex has been built for daytime guests.
There is a new parking lot, and a monumental (horrible) entrance to the pools where you pay the entrance fee and go to the changing rooms, which have lockers with keys provided. From there you go to the pools, starting with an indoor/outdoor octagonal pool, from which you go outside to an amazing complex of connecting pools of different depths on various levels, with a myriad of jets, waterfalls, whirlpools, and currents. There are quite shallow areas, perfect for small children, and also an area that is more than 6 feet deep. This is well marked, and only bathers who profess that they are good swimmers may enter the area. The pool is very child-friendly. The temperature of the water varies from area to area, but it is always pleasantly warm. A smell of rotten eggs pervades the entire valley.
The water comes from the spring at a temperature of 37.5°C / 99.5°F and contains sulfur, carbon, sulfate, bicarbonate-alkaline, and earth. The sulfur gives it a strong rotten egg smell. The water is cloudy white. There is a silty residue on the bottom, and mineral build up on the sides of the pool.
Terme di Saturnia
58014 Saturnia (Grosseto)
Phone +39 0564-600111
If you want to enjoy the hot water without paying a fee, you can always go to the waterfall...
One legend, according to the Etruscans and Romans, was that the Terme di Saturnia were formed by lightning bolts, thrown by Jupiter. During a violent quarrel between the two mythological deities, the bolts thrown towards Saturn had missed, causing the formations.
