At the terme in Saturnia hot water spurts out of the ground and tumbles over natural pools on its way into a stream. 800 litres per second of sulfurous water at 37degrees brings people every day to bathe. After having been forgotten for centuries it was rediscovered in the late 1800s when a spa was built.
It is anything but glamourous, but is charming in its own way. It was crowded and hot when we visited on an autumn weekend.
There is a cafe beside the pools, offering coffee, cool drinks and snacks.
There is a particularly nasty squat toilet in a tin shack behind the cafe…..don’t go unless you really need to.
I am going back in winter on a week day when hopefully I will have the place to myself.
The Terme is just outside the town of Saturnia in southern Tuscany, and there is lots of parking. The spa is free of charge…..amazing.