Terme Bagni di Casciana - March 2, 2012

Terme Bagni di Casciana

Today I went to the hot spring pool in the town of Casciana Terme, in the province of Pisa. I went by myself, and that was just fine, except the I do better with a human navigator when I'm driving. I confess I got lost a couple of times both coming and going!

To get to Casciana Terme from Florence, you take the "Superstrada" (tollfree highway) called "FI PI LI". FI PI LI stands for "Florence Pisa Livorno", which are the major towns it serves. Exit the superstrada at Pontedera, and take the highway SS13 towards Ponsacco, which you pass through, continuing until you arrive in Casciana Terme. In town there are indications for the pool, and there is a free parking lot just before you arrive, on the right side.

As always, part of the fun of trying new hot spring pools is exploring the Tuscan countryside. When you leave the FI PI LI, you drive through a land where agriculture reigns over industry, and grapevines and olive groves, solar panels and wind farms, replace parking lots and shopping centers.

The entrance to the hot spring pool is a modern building. To get to the pool, you have to walk through a clinic area, and the directions are indicated by signs saying "Piscina Esterna" (Outdoor Pool) and an arrow. You finally arrive to an desk where you pay your fee. You will be given a key for a locker with an elastic band so you can wear it on your wrist while in the pool; you must leave a document as a deposit for the key. The dressing rooms are very comfortable, with lockers, benches, bathrooms and showers. You enter the pool from indoors to avoid the cold, leaving your robe and flipflops in the hallway.

The pool is large and quite shallow, about 3 deep feet all over. There are all kinds of jets and water falls, and even an area with a strong current. I particularly enjoyed a waterfall which was perfect for shoulders and back.

The temperature is a warm 33°C/91°F, but not hot. The water has a green minerally hue to it. There is no strong smell or taste.

There is a small garden and terraces, which would be enjoyable in good weather - I was there in the winter, and it was better to stay in the water! I think it would be fun for a family outing, as kids would love the pool and garden.

The waters are rich in salts and carbon dioxide, and are 35.7°C/95°F at the source. They do not add chlorine to this pool.

On the way home, you can enjoy some more Tuscan countryside:

BAGNI DI CASCIANA S.r.l.
Piazza Garibaldi, 9
56034 Casciana Terme (PI)
Tel. +39 0587 64461 +39 0587 64461
Fax +39 0587 644629

Hot Springs / Thermal Pools in Tuscany

Hot Springs / Thermal Pools in Tuscany, a set on Flickr.

Monsummano Terme - December 27, 2011

Monsummano Terme - Grotta Giusti Spa

My fourth trip to a hot spring swimming pool brings me to Monsummano Terme, where the establishment is called Grotta Giusti. My sister accompanied me again - funny how no one minds doing research with me! We were lucky - it was a gorgeous day for late December, and we bathed in the sun while we enjoyed the warm thermal waters. I think our little group of researchers may grow...

To get to Monsummano Terme from Florence, you take the A11 Autostrada (also known as the Firenze-Mare, or "Florence-Sea") and exit at Montecatini. As soon as you exit the tollway you will find indications for Monsummano Terme, and Grotta Giusti Spa.  

While Grotta Giusti has been a thermal station for a many years, featuring a grotto famed for its healthful vapors, the swimming pool was opened just 7 years ago and is quite modern. From the well-maintained parking lot you arrive to the entrance where you pay the fee at the reception. When we went there was a special deal if you used the pool from 1pm-3pm only.

Pool Entrance

You are given a token to be used to access the dressing rooms, which are vast, and a ticket you will need to show to the lifeguard on the pool deck. To use the lockers you need a 1 euro coin. There are very nice showers and hair dryers in the dressing room.

From the dressing room you can enter the pool either through a tunnel where you can hang your bathrobe and leave your slippers, without going outside (if it's cold), or get directly onto the pool deck where you can leave your things on one of the many lounge chairs.

The pool is outdoors and very large. On one end there are 4 areas with whirlpools and jets. The rest is just the right depth for the average person to stand up comfortably. The jets run for about 10 minutes at a time, and then turn off for 10 minutes, during which time the bathers are supposed to leave the whirlpool area... therefore they all walk around the pool. As soon as the jets start up again, they return to that area. There are stone benches placed along the sides of the pool, nice to sit on and chat.

Whirlpools

The temperature of the water is 35°C/95°F.  It is constantly fed by hot spring water containing bicarbonate, sulphur, calcium and magnesium. They do not add chlorine to the water as the flow is strong enough to avoid it. Being a fairly new pool, there is only a bit of mineral buildup on the sides of the pool - you can see the crystals forming. The water is clear, and doesn't have a particular smell or taste to it. It is wonderful for floating in!



Grotta Giusti Natural Spa Resort
Via Grottagiusti, 1411
51015 - Monsummano Terme
Tel. +39 0572 90771

Porretta Terme - December 17, 2011

PORRETTA TERME


My third stop on this tour of the hot spring pools of Tuscany brings me to Porretta Terme. Porretta Terme is actually in the province of Bologna, which is part of the region of Emilia Romagna, but just by a few meters, so I'll include it in my list of hot spring pools in Tuscany.

Porretta Terme

Once again I find that hot spring pools differ greatly from one to another, and that is why I'm doing this tour, so that I can do the "inspection", describe the pool, and you can decide which is the best for you.
Porretta Terme is in the mountains between Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, and is easily reached on the SS64 highway from both Florence and Bologna. There is also a train station in town; it's a pleasant ten minute walk to the pool, along the Reno River.
The building where the thermal baths are located is a depressing 1970's structure, badly in need of some remodelling. It has obviously be given little care in the past few years. However, I understand that the property has changed hands, and some work is being done. For now, it looks like this:

Entrance to the spa

The Building

Inside the building is quite nice. At the reception you pay your entrance fee (14.50 euros the day we went) and then are told that you must have an interview with a doctor before you enter the pool. My my - that was a first! The doctor asks you if you have any medical problems, take any medication, and takes your blood pressure. A quick and pleasant visit, so I figure that with the entrance fee you get a free blood pressure measurement... not bad.

You then go back to the reception, get your ticket, and go downstairs to the pool area where you give the ticket to a lifeguard. He explains the pool layout to you and shows you to the changing rooms where there are lockers and showers.



The pool is indoors, a good size, with various depths. There are jets along one wall which are fantastic for massaging shoulders and back. There are lots of floatation devices around, and  people like to float around, relaxing in the warm water. There are also vascular treatment pools where you walk first in warm water then in cold water on smooth river stones. In addition, there is a very nice Finnish sauna. There are deck chairs distributed on the deck for resting between baths.

The temperature of the water in the pool is a warm 36°C/96.8°F, and the room is kept at 31°C/87°F. The water contains salt, bromine, and iodine. The lifeguard told me that it is similar to sea water. They treat this pool with clorine.

This is a popular ski area, near the slopes of Corno alle Scale. I imagine that it would be super to soak yourself in this pool after a day on the slopes!

Terme di Porretta

Hotel delle Acque & Natural SPA 
Via Roma 5 
40046 Porretta Terme (BO)
Tel   0534/22062 

Terme Bagni di Lucca - November 16, 2011

Terme Bagni di Lucca

Well, this just goes to show that hot spring pools vary incredibly from one to another.

I got my sister to come along with me to Bagni di Lucca on a Wednesday morning in mid November. I told her along the way that I thought it was a smaller pool than the others, and she said that was ok, she was game for a drive in the countryside and a soak in hot water.  I realized that she was right when we turned off the A11  tollway at Capannori (near Lucca) and drove into the hills along the Serchio River on the state highway SS12. It is a  beautiful, steep valley with scenery like this:

Il Ponte della Maddelena, also known as the Ponte del Diavolo - the Devil's Bridge

And this:

The town of Bagni di Lucca

SS12 passes directly through the town of Bagni di Lucca on its way from Lucca to Modena. It takes about an hour and a half to drive there from Florence.  You arrive in the town, low down in the valley, dark and a little oppressive, then cross a bridge, and enter a piazza where you must take a left turn which heads up the hill. The road is windy and narrow, and climbs out of the gloom and up the hillside. After about a mile you arrive in the upper part of the town where you can park either in the piazza, or in the parking lot of the hotel where the pool is located.

The piazza of the upper part of Bagni di Lucca, where the pool is located.

The pool is located inside the hotel Antico Albergo Terme, and you pay your ticket at the front desk. The dressing room is very small, with lockers and a shower. If you want to bring anything onto the pool deck, you'll have to walk back through the reception area of the hotel, so this is a good reason to have your bathrobe and flip flops with you. Otherwise you can leave everything in the dressing room, and enter the pool directly.

The pool itself is indoors and quite small. My sister and I had it all to ourselves for the hour we were there, which was nice. The water is 89.6° Fahrenheit; warm, not hot. There is one spot where the water enters the pool, and it is warmer there. The water is clear with no distinctive mineral odor. There is only a bit of mineral build up on the sides of the pool. There are sprays and jets for massage. There are windows on 2 sides, and decks with chairs on them outside.

The pool



All in all it was quite pleasant, but not as spectacular as the larger complexes. It didn't give me that "I'm coming back!" feeling, but who knows, I may just return someday, if I'm in the area and need a soak.

The streams of Bagni di Lucca are sulfuric-bicarbonate-calcium rich waters.  The "Doccione" spring exits the ground at 129° Fahrenheit.

Bagni di Lucca

Terme Bagni di Lucca
Piazza San Martino, 11  

55021 Bagni di Lucca - LU
Tel: +39 0583 87221

www.termebagnidilucca.it

San Giovanni Terme Rapolano (Siena) - October 30, 2011

San Giovanni Terme Rapolano
This is where it all started... that is, my idea to visit all the hot springs in Tuscany and write a blog about them. My boyfriend and I went there on the spur of the moment on the Sunday of the All Saints holiday weekend. It was very crowded, but it was wonderful, and I kept saying to him, "I'm coming back!"

I had been to some other hot springs before: Bagno Vignoni, Calidario, and Saturnia, but I had never even heard of Rapolano Terme! Poor me... well, now I know, and I will certainly go back, but first I have to visit all the other hot springs in Tuscany!

The town of Rapolano Terme is on the state highway SS73, between Siena and Arezzo, and easily reached from both towns. It is about an hour and a half drive from Florence.

There are two thermal pools in the town, and so far I have only visited San Giovanni, but I will go to the Terme Antica Querciolaia sometime too.  

San Giovanni is a very big complex. There are plenty of road indications and it is easy to find. There is a large dirt parking lot.  At the entrance  where you pay your ticket you can rent locks, towels and bathrobes. There are very large dressing rooms with lockers, restrooms and showers. On the same level there is a snack bar.

There are 3 different pools: 

•  an indoor pool, which is the hottest. You can enter directly into this one without going outside, which would probably be nice on cold days! The source of the water is a waterfall which people stand under to massage shoulders. There is a tunnel to pass directly from this pool to the next one;
• the first outdoor pool is quite large and is warmest near where the water comes out from the indoor pool. There is a white mineral sediment on the bottom which is pleasant to spread on the skin, however, it's quite a challenge to get to the bottom of the pool, given that the mineral-rich water makes you more bouyant than usual;
• there are then waterfalls that go through 2 small pools. The water in the pools is progressively cooler. Again, people like to sit under the waterfalls to massage their shoulders;
• the last pool is the largest and the coolest. Some people even swim in this pool. I think it would be very nice on a hot day, but a bit cold when the weather outside is cool. The water finally falls over a large waterfall into its streambed.

The swim decks and lawns are covered with deck chairs for sunbathing. There are also indoor rooms with lounge chairs for resting quietly after bathing in the waters.

There is a hotel connected to the complex which has its own hot spring pool.
The water is a milky white, it is so full of minerals. There is a chalky buildup on the walls of the pools. Swimcaps are not required, given the strong flow and therefore continuous exchange of water.

The waters flow from the spring at a temperature of 102° Fahrenheit.  They are mainly composed of sulphur, and calcium bicarbonate. They definitely have that rotten egg smell!

San Giovanni Terme Rapolano

Via Terme San Giovanni, 52
53040 - Rapolano Terme (SI)
Tel. +39 - 0577.72 40 30
www.termesangiovanni.it

What Exactly is a Hot Spring?

So, what is a hot spring?

I took a look on this Wikipedia page and found out that there is "no universally accepted definition of a hot spring."

OK! That's fine. We don't need to be universal.... we'll just use the term to describe what it is we're looking for here. So, back to Wikipedia:

"A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth."

Ahhh that's good and scientific. We can work with that.

Now, what I'm looking for is hot water that you bathe in. There are a lot of spas where you go to drink the waters, but I'm not into that. I am into floating in warm water with a good flow, super full of minerals, and if it's kind of smelly that's good too.

Back to Wiki:
 
"Therapeutic uses:
Because heated water can hold more dissolved solids, warm and especially hot springs also often have a very high mineral content, containing everything from simple calcium to lithium, and even radium. Because of both the folklore and the claimed medical value some of these springs have, they are often popular tourist destinations, and locations for rehabilitation clinics for those with disabilities."
 
Ah, that's perfect. We're ready to go!