I’m looking at a week in Germany (area to be determined) next March. Thermal baths and saunas will be my primary interest. Any suggestions on where to focus that will give me access to different spas? I’ll be relying on public transit!
EDIT: Looking for more classic spas and saunas, no water slides if possible and a more adult than children atmosphere.
there are many in most parts of the country.
classic with routines or modern? More interested in the heat or the water? Waterslides or Kneipp treatments?
There are so many choices, and most are accessible easily by train and/or bus.
My personal two favourites - completely different from each other - are the municipal Keidel Mineral-Thermalbad Freiburg (Freiburg im Breisgau), frequent and fast bus from the Hbf, inexpensive but has everything we want http://www.keideltherme.de/ and the family oriented Therme Erding in Erding northeast of Munich, station just down the road, bus to the door, last stop on S-Bahn line from the Hbf, with everything anybody from 3 to 100 could wish for https://www.therme-erding.de/
Of course, they are nowhere near each other....
Maybe you want to consider the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme in WIesbaden (close to Frankfurt)?
Also around FRA is the Kur-Royal Day Spa in Bad Homburg - an old thermal town.
A renowned thermal spa town is Bad Kisingen. The today's KissSalis Thermal Spa is in modern style.
when will you have an idea of which region(s) you will be in. There are many good answers.
Last month we visited Emser Thermae, in Bad Ems. A nice sized thermal bath and sauna, and Bad Ems is a pleasant town in itself, just outside Koblenz.
We also made it to the Obermain Therme, in Bad Staffelstein, outside of Bamberg. They have salt water baths, and the sauna complex is huge, maybe 10 saunas, an outdoor pond for swimming, and more.
In the past, I have also been to the sauna in Tegernsee, outside of Munich, monte Mare Seesauna, it is specifically a suana complex, but on the shore of the lake with great views and a nice array of facilities, great if you fancy skinny dipping in the lake.
Of course Baden-Baden has a couple baths, and as others said, if you look, you are not too far from a bath.
As for kids and waterslides, there are more family centric water parks you want to avoid, but in most places advertised as a therme, during the school week, there rarely would be kids there. Avoid holidays, not only for kids, but crowds.
Avoid holidays, not only for kids, but crowds.
and for avoiding the higher prices, both on weekends and during holidays, at most places
re: 'Looking for more classic spas and saunas'
UNESO's The Great Spa Towns of Europe
Three (best spa towns, not spas) are in Germany - Bad Ems, Baden-Baden, & Bad Kissingen,
I’d love to find a central spot out from which I could explore as many spas as I could. I’ve found decent flights into Stuttgart, and could go south and west from there, or back east toward Munich. I’m open to suggestions. It’s my first trip to Germany so it will all be new to me.
That is helpful to know. Thanks.
A suburb of Stuttgart is Cannstatt which has a very good Therme, the Sole Bad - https://www.stuttgarterbaeder.de/solebadcannstatt
You can get there easily by various types of public transport. It is closed the last two weeks of this month but will be going full blast by March.
Also in Cannstatt is the Cannstatter Volksfest https://www.cannstatter-volksfest.de/en/landing-page/ , nearly as large as Oktoberfest in Munich.
Also in Stuttgart are a couple of car places to visit, and my favourite carwash by a mile, Mr Wash.
Nearby is the factory for Ritter Sport chocolates and an expansive shop and other yummy things.
Hauptbahnhof is a bit of a mess while it is rebuilt while still in use, but functional.
I’ve found decent flights into Stuttgart
@Markk has excellent suggestions if you base out of Frankfurt.
Regarding Stuttgart, really like the city itself. I found Das Leuze therme to be very family focused, yet it does have a excellent adult section.
Looks like it’s roughly the same price for Frankfurt and Stuttgart, so I’m weighing options not only for baths but other sights. I doubt I’ll want to stay in a spa for an entire week!
Around Frankfurt, you could head to Bad Homburg and Wiesbaden as well as Bad Nauheim and Bad Soden.
Here is a “gift” (free) link from a very recent NY Times:
