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Therme - the more natural, the better near Florence or ...

Hello

for brevity, the key Q is near the bottom - below the 2nd line. My setup is:

Four adults, in our 60s, are planning a trip to Italy during the first week of October.
I'm the only one that has a "bucket list" item of visiting a thermal bath - the more natural, the better.
In planning our 2020 trip, which was cancelled due to lockdowns, We were going to stay near Florence for several days, then I had two nights lodging near Terme San Filippo with the plans of visiting (using!) it.
Our same group is planning this trip. Since I'm the only person that really wants to do this, I'm looking for other options.
Saturnia looks even further away from our path.
Three others I've got listed are:
1 - Terme di Petriolo

2 - Bagno Vignoni

3 - Chianciano Terme - - - this is the one I'm trying to find out more about
This article has a photo in it of a beautiful mineral-water falls
https://www.engelvoelkers.com/en-it/siena/blog/stop-for-a-moment-in-chianciano-terme/
When I look for info in the Chianciano Terme region, I can't find anything which ties to that photo.
Can you help me find it? and the "enjoyment" of it!
Thanks

My apology for the odd formatting of the text. I don't know why it happened

Posted by
417 posts

20 years ago my parents had an Italian friend who went there annually for his liver. We went once to visit him, and frankly I found it rather dreary. All the hotels seemed to be geared towards people with liver problems and the food in the hotels was very plain and uninspired. It felt a bit like a nice old age home and we left quite quickly - it wasn’t what we went to Italy for. I do vaguely remember the area as being pretty, though we didn’t see the gardens etc, in your article.

Posted by
395 posts

Hi Evan, This is something I'm interested in. I love the idea but not the swimming pool version of it but it's not easy to find somewhere satisfactory: that is beautiful, clean, safe unless you go to the official spa establishments.
Anyway the photo on the engelvoelkers website is not Chianciano Terme, it's Bagni San Filippo. I've never been to Chianciano but I think the comment just above sums it up. Nothing inspiring.
Bagno Vignoni: the pool in all the pictures in the middle of the hamlet can't be used. The water continues down the Valle dei mulini. I've never been . There's more info here:
https://www.discovertuscany.com/it/valdorcia/bagno-vignoni.html
The link is in Italian then use the Google option to translate it, the English version of the website doesn't include that article.
The only place in Tuscany I've actually been in the water was Bagni San Filippo but that's about 15 years ago and there were few people and it was quite clean and natural. I'm not so sure nowadays. We went to Saturnia more recently but it was so packed with people it was totally off-putting. Unfortunately anywhere 'natural' depends on how civilised users are, also be careful about not leaving anything valuable in parked cars etc.
Sorry not to be very encouraging!
Probably not anywhere near your planned itinerary but the Bagni Vecchi (not Nuovi) of Bormio are the only place I know of that combines magic with hygiene!
Have a look on Trip Advisor reading the reviews in Italian for anywhere you are considering to avoid disappointment.....

Posted by
399 posts

Tinac
I have a friend who married a Swiss fellow. They live in the Zurich area and we go to visit them.
He grew up in the mountains near the Matterhorn - he takes us into the Saas valley to visit family.

Your recommended spa would fit into one of those visits (if the predators in charge of the EU don't screw the world up much more!)

Thank you.

Posted by
395 posts

Near to Bormio there's Tirano where there's the start of the Trenino Rosso or Bernina Express which goes through the mountains from Tirano to St Moritz with fantastic views, especially in autumn

Posted by
4105 posts

Everything you want to know about Bangi San Filippo. (White Whale Falls).

https://travelconnectexperience.net/bagni-san-filippo-hot-springs-tuscany-italy/

Two spots to visit 25 minutes away.
Radicofani E-Borgia village, massive fort. and San Salvatore Abbey.

Bango Vignoni. There is a small hot spring down a twisted pathway. It can be slick. Not my favorite.

Cascade del Mulino (Saturina). This is a picture perfect location , but can be very crowded. Recommend going early.

https://wearetravelgirls.com/cascate-del-mulino/

Located between the last two, Castiglione d’Orcia.