Mountains

Walliser Alpentherme, Leukerbad, Switzerland

There’s been a hot spring in Leukerbad for 2,000 years – with thermal waters flowing down from the Majinghorn and Torrenthorn mountains. There are 30 pools in the town, but the Walliser Alpentherme Spa is rather unusual: there’s a sauna “village”, steam baths with hydro pool, Jacuzzi and four steam rooms, and an indoor/outdoor thermal pool with views. The treatment menu is extensive too, with traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, massage and facials. A mountain spring scrub with local herbs costs £50.
Book it Day passes to the spa £23, treatments from £48, alpentherme.ch
Stay Nearby Hotel Beau Sejour has doubles from £112 B&B, hotel-beau-sejour.ch

Parador de Corias, Asturias, Spain

With mountains above and vineyards below, the history of this understated parador hotel is integral to this Roman town. Nicknamed El Escorial de Asturias, the 11th-century monastery has a surprisingly modern interior. The spa is in the cellars, with vaulted ceilings above the pool, steam room, sauna, hydro-pool, ice fountain and showers. Try the hydrotherapy treatment with a Vichy shower (€45) which uses warm water to give a strong massage.
Book it The Spa and Relax offer includes accommodation in a double room, breakfast and access to the spa from €65pp, parador.es

The Minerva Grand Hotel Resort and Spa, Băile Herculane, Romania

In the Cerna valley, surrounded by mountains, the spa town of Băile Herculane has long been known for its curative mineral-rich hot springs. The Minerva Grand Hotel Resort and Spa is one of the more luxurious places to stay – with large spa for hotel guests only. Facilities include a hydromassage pool, infared and saline saunas, Jacuzzi, hammam and hot and cold Kneipp therapy pools. There are treatments for medical conditions from rheumatism to neuralgia, as well as more pampering body wraps and massages.
Book it Double rooms from £95, half-board, with full use of the spa and baths, hotelminerva.ro

Molitg-les-Bains, French Pyrenees

This thalassotherapy spa in Molitg-les-Bains provides treatments ranging from Decléor wraps (€86) to health packages prescribed as part of the French healthcare system. The building is like a large greenhouse and is on the side of a wooded gorge, so you feel as though you’re swimming in the treetops. As well as the hydrotherapy baths there are white clay baths, a steam room, a mineral mist room and shower cabins where pressurised water massages those tired muscles.
Book it An evening spa pass is €35 (5-7.30pm), chainethermale.fr
Stay The Grand Hotel has doubles from €100 room-only, grandhotelmolitg.com. Résidence Le Catalan in the village has basic studios for two from €34 a night, chainethermale.fr

Alpentherme, Central Austria

The 36,000 sq m resort, in the spa town of Bad Hofgastein in the Gastein valley, is contemporary and colourful with four “water worlds”: family-friendly, relaxation, sauna and a women-only space. There are steam rooms, cool swimming lakes, a lazy river, thermal pools and, of course, mountain views. Don’t miss the Gastein cure, which uses water from a thermal spring that is rich in naturally occurring radon. Soak in a pool of the healing water (from €15) to “restore rhythm to the vegetative nervous system, stimulating the metabolism and cell renewal”.
Book it A pass to the Alpentherme costs €34.50 a day or €28.50 half-day (less for kids), alpentherme.com
Stay The Aurora Apartments and Hotel has apartments sleeping two from €36 room-only, aurora-gastein.com

Hotel Heliopic, Chamonix, France

A modern spa in an Alpine chalet opened in 2014, this hotel is next to the Aiguille du Midi cable car station, which takes tourists to Mont Blanc viewing complex. The basement spa has a swimming pool, ice grotto, Jacuzzi with mountain views, steam room, sauna and relaxation area with hanging pods and a fireplace. Treatments use French brand, Nuxe. Book in for a massage using Huile Prodigieuse products (from €55).
Book it Doubles from €103 B&B, spa treatments start from €55, heliopic-hotel-spa.com

Towns and cities

Szechenyi Baths, Budapest

With more than 100 thermal springs, Budapest is often called the spa capital of Europe. Szechenyi Baths are the largest in the city, with 15 indoor pools and three large outdoor ones. The latter sit in a quad of yellow and white neo-baroque buildings; inside it’s all vaulted ceilings with mosaic tile art, statues and painted windows. Treatments are simple: a massage from £19 – the wine cream massage is a Hungarian speciality – or a pedicure from £9.
Book it A day pass with massage starts at £35, szechenyispabaths.com
Stay The Danubius (which has its own spa pool) has doubles from £82 B&B, danubiushotels.com

Löyly, Helsinki

Combining eco-credentials, spa and minimalist design, Löyly is a public sauna on the waterfront in Helsinki. There are two 20-person saunas, a traditional smoke sauna and a wood-burning sauna, both with direct access to the Gulf of Finland for cooling off between sessions. The wood-slatted terraces protrude over the water, giving the impression of being on the deck of a hip cruise ship. The restaurant has modern takes on Finnish classics, including reindeer, salmon soup and elk.
Book it A two-hour pass to the saunas is €19, loylyhelsinki.fi
Stay Hotel Helka in the city centre has doubles from €115 B&B, hotelhelka.com

Hotel Excelsior, Dubrovnik, Croatia

With views across the Adriatic and old town, Hotel Excelsior is a royal villa turned hotel, with gardens and a private beach. The garden-level spa is decorated in calming neutrals, stone and marble, and has a freshwater swimming pool, Jacuzzis, steam rooms, a sauna and a relaxation zone with heated beds. Treatments use Sisley products (facial from £52), which contain botanical essences to smooth and plump the skin.
Book it Spa treatments from £29, doubles from £120 B&B, adriaticluxuryhotels.com

Castilla Termal, El Burgo de Osma, Spain

This spa hotel is a converted 16th-century monastery – the renaissance cloisters house the reception and restaurant – in the cathedral town of El Burgo de Osma in the northwest region of Castile and León. The subterranean spa uses natural spring water in the modern hydro-pool and thermal circuit, which is inspired by the 11th-century chapel – the warm water pools are surrounded by frescoes and vaulted ceilings. Wellness programmes use the mineral waters, which are said to be anti-ageing, detoxifying and good for joint pains. Other massage treatments include shiatsu (€69), Ayurvedic (€72) and Hawaiian lomi lomi (€65).
Book it A weekend break, including B&B and access to the hydro-pool, costs from €67.50pp, castillatermal.com

Friedrichsbad, Baden-Baden, Germany

Founded by the Romans, who recognised the curative power of its thermal springs, Baden-Baden has been a fashionable wellness resort since the 19th century. The Black Forest setting and grand buildings lend a relaxed, genteel air, and there are many lovely (often expensive) hotels with their own spa. More affordable is Friedrichsbad, a palatial public bath-house dating to 1877, designed to mimic Roman baths with its mosaics and marble halls. The 17-step bathing ritual involves a sequence of saunas, mineral baths and cold showers – with optional scrubs and massages – and it’s all done completely naked.
Book it A three-hour session costs from €25, carasana.de
Stay Hotel Merkur is centrally located, with modern, double rooms from €97 B&B, hotel-merkur.com

Health Spa Resort Hvězda Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic

Mariánské Lázně, one of several historic spa towns in Bohemia, is all about authentic, clinical-style treatments based on mineral-rich thermal springs (there are 100 in the area). Visitors sip water from fountains around town and take the waters at bath-houses, often attached to hotels such as Hvězda. Part of a complex of several interlinked hotels, facilities include pools, salt caves and saunas, with treatments ranging from traditional massages and thermal soaks, to the more unusual, such as dry carbon baths and CO₂ injections.
Book it The Wellness Star package costs €354pp for three nights’ half-board with treatments including a massage, mineral bath and two visits to the salt cave. A medical Comprehensive Spa stay, with doctor checkups and 24 treatments a week, costs €121pp a night full-board (seven nights minimum), danubiushotels.com.

Coastal

Arbatax Park, Sardinia

With hotel, bungalows and spa, the Arbatax Park complex sits in Sardinia’s Blue Zone, which claims to be home to some of the longest-living people in the world. While spa-going may not be one of their secrets, the food, environment and lifestyle they enjoy can be absorbed at this traditionally Mediterranean resort. The Bellavista Spa’s bathing circuits include freshwater and saltwater pools, saunas, steam rooms and a large hydro-pool. Thalassotherapy wraps (from €65) use various algae to minimise fluid retention and smooth the skin.
Book it Hotel Monte Turri, within the park, has spa entrance from €25, treatments from €35, doubles from €106 B&B, arbataxpark.com

Voya Seaweed Baths, near Sligo, Ireland

Next to a surf school on the Wild Atlantic Way, Voya offers a spa experience like no other. The seaweed baths were revived in 1996 by a triathlete who used them to recover after racing. Each session starts with a steam treatment, followed by a hot bath in hand-harvested algae, which are packed with vitamins, fatty acids and antioxidants. The seaweed is said to leave skin feeling soft and plump.
Book it A single bath and use of the steam room costs £25, voyaseaweedbaths.com
Stay In Sligo city, the ultra-modern Glasshouse has doubles from €89 B&B, theglasshouse.ie

The Chedi, Montenegro

This new hotel on Lustica Bay, overlooking the Adriatic, has been built to blend in with local design, with its red pantile roofs and limestone walls. Interiors use white, wood and turquoise accents – the same colour as the sea below. There’s a private pebble beach, an infinity pool and spa with indoor pool, steam room, sauna and yoga classes. The spa takes an eastern approach to massage, including Balinese, Thai, Ayurvedic or shiatsu (all €75 for an hour).
Book it Spa treatments from €40, doubles from €145 B&B, chedilusticabay.com

Eagles Palace, Halkidiki, Greece

At the end of the Mount Athos “finger”, Eagles Palace is a plush resort hotel with a quiet beach, and gardens filled with frangipani and olive trees. The bright, modern spa has an indoor/outdoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, laconium and yoga and Pilates classes. Elemis treatments can be enjoyed inside or in a cabana on the beach: the body nectar nourishing wrap (€90) will cool sunburned skin. The menu at restaurant Kamares by Spondi is designed by two-star Michelin chef Arnaud Bignon.
Book it Spa treatments from £40, doubles from €133 B&B (now shut for winter, the hotel reopens in April 2019), eaglespalace.gr

Country
Secret Lagoon, Flúðir, Iceland

Created in 1891, this geothermal pool 100km from Reykjavík is rural and rugged, but is less crowded and has better views than the more famous Blue Lagoon. There are changing rooms, indoor showers and just one pool, but the volcanic surrounds and snowy plateaux make up for the lack of modern facilities. The pool water stays at 38-40C all year round, with a little geyser that erupts every five minutes. The cafe serves hot drinks and snacks. In the evening (the pool closes at 8pm) there’s a chance of glimpsing the northern lights.
Book it Adult day pass £18, secretlagoon.is
Stay Nearby Icelandair Hotel Fludir has doubles from £104 B&B, icelandairhotels.com

Farnham Estate, County Cavan, Ireland

In 1,300 acres of countryside, Farnham Estate feels away from it all. The indoor/outdoor pool has views over the very green estate, the Water Mint Thermal Suite has steam, sauna, salt inhalation rooms, laconium and an unusual Kniepp walk – where walking through hot and then cold water relaxes then tones the muscles. Treatments use Espa or Yon-Ka products – the Derrygid massage (€95) is inspired by rambles in the local landscape.
Book it Doubles with spa access from €120 B&B, spa treatments from €60, farnhamestate.ie

Energy Eco Spa, Estonia

This rural spa offers organic spa experiences using local, hand-harvested herbs, clay, and plant extracts. In the heart of Estonia, on the Navesti river, the wood-clad resort has hiking, boat trips and spa area with saunas (including a traditional wood-fired option), Jacuzzi and cold plunge barrel – or just chill on the sundeck and swim in the river. The products used in treatments are made to order; you can see the herbs being worked into masks and oils, or strewn into baths.
Book it The Eco Spa package, including half-board in a twin room and one of a choice of spa treatments, starts at £135 for two people, energiatalu.ee

Wieliczka Salt Mine, Near Kraków, Poland

This is an entirely subterranean health complex where guests are invited to “feel the therapeutic power of a salt microclimate”. Dubbed subterraneotherapy, the health resort draws on an ancient belief in the healing powers of salt. Although the resort offers longer medical programmes, you can also book in for the day. Descend 40 metres underground and relax in the salt chambers, get involved with breathing exercise classes and even try a therapeutic massage (from £12).
Book it Day passes from £35.
Stay Guests can stay overnight in the mine on the “healthy sleep” package from £24, health-resort.wieliczka-saltmine.com or, for a more conventional stay, the Hotel Grand Sal has doubles from around £55 B&B, grandsal.com

Caitlin Dalton is editor of the Good Spa Guide website