Tuscany thermal baths: free or paid?

The short answer

If you want a free hot soak and don't mind the smell of sulphur and the lack of facilities, go to the Cascate del Mulino at Saturnia or to Bagni San Filippo, in the Val d'Orcia. If you want changing rooms, a sunbed and controlled water, choose according to where you're staying. From Siena, Rapolano is the best bet and also the cheapest. From the Val di Chiana, Chianciano or Fonteverde work well. From Florence and Lucca there's Grotta Giusti, and for a full day in the Maremma, the Terme di Saturnia. Montecatini is the only spa destination that is easy to reach by train from Florence, but it is more a spa town to visit than a place to swim in hot water.

There's also a misunderstanding to avoid: at Bagno Vignoni, the pool in the square that appears in every photo, you can't bathe.

Thermal baths in Tuscany compared

Prices for one adult, taken from the venues' official websites. Where a website only gives a range, the range is shown.

Free hot springs in Tuscany: what to expect

The free pools are not facilities: nobody supervises or cleans them, and the rules change when the travertine gives way. The basic rules apply everywhere: water shoes, no silver jewellery (the sulphur tarnishes it), head out of the water and soaks of around twenty minutes. Your swimsuit will keep the smell of sulphur for a couple of washes.

Cascate del Mulino, Saturnia

The travertine cascade below the old mill is free and open day and night all year round, with no ticket or booking. The Comune di Manciano gives a temperature of about 37 °C. The 37.5 °C figure often quoted refers to the spring, which lies inside the paid resort about 2 km upstream. On summer weekends it is extremely crowded; at dawn, on weekdays and in winter it is much more pleasant.

Bagni San Filippo

In the Fosso Bianco, below the village, the calcareous, sulphurous water has built up white concretions. The largest is the Balena Bianca (White Whale), about ten minutes' walk from the car park. Entry is free, but not everything is accessible. A long-standing ordinance bans bathing in some spots because of the risk of further collapses, and the separate Bollore area is closed for health reasons. In the past the pools have been closed temporarily after a crack appeared in the Balena, and it could happen again after collapses or storms. The car parks near the village are mostly paid, and the few free spaces fill up early.

Petriolo

These are small basins on the bank of the Farma, beneath the bridge of the Siena–Grosseto road, about half an hour south of Siena. The water, which according to various sources reaches around 43 °C, flows from pool to pool down into the cold river. You park in a lay-by on the old road: watch out for traffic on the main road. There are no facilities at all.

Bagno Grande, San Casciano dei Bagni

The Bagno Grande lies at the foot of the village, a few minutes' walk away. Of the stone pools, only one is open to the public, and it can close for works linked to the excavations: this has already happened for about six weeks. The excavations are those of the sanctuary that yielded the more than twenty Etruscan and Roman bronzes announced in 2022. A museum to house them is being set up in the village: check whether it has opened before you go.

Bagno Vignoni: look, don't bathe

The square at Bagno Vignoni is a 16th-century thermal pool in place of paving, with water at around 38 °C. You can look at it for free at any hour, but bathing is forbidden and a net stops you getting in. Further down, too, at the Parco dei Mulini, where the channels run past mills cut into the rock down to the little white cascades above the Orcia, an ordinance of the Comune di San Quirico d'Orcia bans getting into the pools. Press reports mention fines of €25 to €500. You can only dangle your feet in the channels.

For a proper soak you have to go into the hotels. La Posta Hotel & Thermal Spa, now adults only, opens its indoor spa to day guests at €25: Finnish sauna, Turkish bath, thermal pool and a small hydromassage tub. A swimming cap and a bathrobe cost €5 each. As for the outdoor thermal pools, the website doesn't make clear whether they are open to non-residents, or at what price: ask first. The Adler Thermae sells stays; a day pass, if there is one, has to be requested directly.

The paid thermal baths, one by one

Terme di Saturnia

The complex includes the Parco Termale, with five outdoor pools designed with families in mind too, and the adults-only Club, with the spring pool. The Park opens at 09:30 and closes at 19:00 from April to October, and at 17:00 from November to March. The current price list is on the Day Spa booking site, not on the old price page of the main website, which shows outdated rates. A white bathrobe and towel are compulsory. Rules, the Club and further details are on the page about the Maremma and Saturnia and in our appraisal of the Terme di Saturnia.

Fonteverde, San Casciano dei Bagni

A five-star resort in a Medici villa. The basic thermal package, with the pool and the Bioaquam circuit, costs €59 from Monday to Friday and €70 at weekends and on public holidays. With the Etruscan circuit it goes up to €78 and €95. From October there is also a Saturday evening opening, from 16:30 to 20:30.

Montecatini Terme

Since 2021 it has been a UNESCO site as one of the "Great Spa Towns of Europe", the only Italian town in the group. The Tettuccio, the great Art Nouveau spa building with ceramics by Basilio Cascella, is open and hosts events. The Excelsior, however, is closed, and treatments take place at the Terme Redi. The spa company is going through a reorganisation: opening hours and prices for tourist visits are not reliably published, so ask by phone (+39 0572 7781) before you go. Round off the trip with the historic funicular up to Montecatini Alto, running since 1898 and operating seasonally. All the details are on the Montecatini page.

Chianciano Terme, Theia pools

The indoor and outdoor pools are fed by the Sillene spring, with water between 33 and 36 °C. There is a wellness area for adults and a children's zone. Entry costs €29 for 4 hours on weekdays (€32 at weekends) and €39 for the full day (€45 at weekends). It is closed on Tuesdays. On Saturdays it stays open until midnight, and from 19:30 only over-14s are admitted. There is also a two-hour sunset entry, costing between €16 and €19.

Rapolano Terme

There are two establishments here, the closest paid baths to Siena. The Antica Querciolaia has a 43,000 m² park with six outdoor and two indoor pools, and on Saturdays it stays open until 01:00. Prices range roughly from €15 for a weekday half day to €27 in high season. Terme San Giovanni charges €20 for the day from Monday to Thursday and €25 on Saturdays. Bring your own towel: at the Antica Querciolaia hiring one costs €16.

Grotta Giusti, Monsummano Terme

The star attraction is a natural cave, about 200 metres of tunnels with an underground lake and hot steam. The thermal pool is open every day from 10:00 to 19:00 and costs €36 on weekdays, €29 on weekday afternoons from 14:00 and €49 on public holidays and the days before them. The cave visit is paid separately or as part of a package.

Calidario, Venturina Terme

The draw here is an open-air thermal lake of more than 3,000 m², fed by a spring already known to the Etruscans and Romans. Adult entry costs between €25 and €45 depending on the day and season, plus €2.50 for each extra half hour. It is a good choice if you're on the coast between Livorno and Piombino.

What Tiqets and GetYourGuide sell

For thermal baths, the simplest channel is almost always the venue's own website. GetYourGuide sells some entry tickets, useful if you want to manage everything in a single app, and a few organised trips for those who don't drive. Partner prices change and we check them regularly.

• Saturnia: day entry to the Park costs from €30, the same as on the official website. The white kit is not included.
• Fonteverde: entry starts from €36, below the official €59 package, but it has no reviews yet. Check which pools and circuits it includes.
• La Posta: from €63, against €25 for the indoor spa booked direct. The difference only makes sense if the offer includes the outdoor pools: read the description carefully.
• Calidario: from €42 for 3 hours at the spring with a face mask, within the range of the official price list.
• Montecatini: there is a pool entry ticket with low ratings. Read the reviews before you buy it, and ask the Terme what is open.

If you'd rather not drive all the way to the Maremma, you can take the day trip from Florence to Saturnia, about 7 hours from €250 per person: it's expensive, but it saves you six hours in the car.

See trips to the Saturnia hot springs

How to choose based on where you're staying

• Florence or Lucca, without a car: Montecatini by train, about 50 minutes from Santa Maria Novella. If you have a car, Grotta Giusti is at Monsummano, right next door.
• Siena: Rapolano if you want to spend little. Petriolo if you want free-flowing water. Bagno Vignoni and Bagni San Filippo make good stops on a day in the Val d'Orcia.
• Montepulciano, Chiusi, Val di Chiana: Chianciano, or San Casciano with Fonteverde and the Bagno Grande.
• The Maremma or the coast: Saturnia, whether the falls or the park, or the Calidario.
• Rome: Saturnia is about 2 hours 30 by car along the Aurelia, closer than from Florence (about 3 hours). See also Tuscany from Rome.

Mistakes to avoid

• Arriving at the Cascate del Mulino at 11:00 on a Sunday in August. You'll find crowds and full car parks. Dawn or a weekday is better.
• Turning up at Saturnia without a white bathrobe. They'll make you hire one.
• Going to Chianciano on a Tuesday. The Theia pools are closed.
• Relying on buses for the free pools. Apart from Saturnia, which you can reach by bus with some effort, you need a car or an organised trip.
• Ignoring the bans at Bagni San Filippo. The barriers are there because the travertine really does collapse.

For more ideas for a day out of the city, see day trips and the villages near the springs. If you're also interested in caves, you'll find the ones you can visit on the page about caves and parks.