Spa and Wellness

Some of these are the reason to come

The Alps have a genuine wellness tradition, older than skiing: thermal springs used since Roman times, sanatoria that shaped modern medicine, and a sauna culture in the eastern Alps that visitors from other countries routinely underestimate. Alongside it sits a large amount of marketing, where a small room with a sauna and a fridge of infused water is described as a spa.

This section separates the two. We cover thermal destinations where the water is the point, hotels whose spas justify a stay on their own, the medical wellness properties that run real programmes, and the practical details nobody mentions — textile rules that surprise foreign guests, whether children are admitted and when, and how busy a spa gets on a snowy afternoon.

By destination: Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Slovenia.