Wellness in Florence

Wellness around Florence means leaving Florence, because the hot water is not in the city. Tuscany's thermal towns lie west and south. Montecatini Terme, 65 km west, is the grand one: Liberty-era spa buildings, parks and a habit of taking cures that goes back to the 18th century. A few kilometres on, Grotta Giusti at Monsummano Terme is a natural cave quarrymen found in 1849, where warm steam keeps the chambers at roughly 28 to 34C. Saturnia, about 195 km south and three hours from Florence, has the free open-air pools at Cascate del Mulino, near 37C at the source. That is a long day and is not part of what is run from the city.

Both formats are private, for up to three people, and both include a night. The two-day programme drives from Florence to Montecatini in about an hour, with a spa session some 500 m from the hotel on the second morning. The three-day one keeps a Montecatini session on the first day, adds a spa day at Grotta Giusti on the second and returns to Florence for the last. Private transfers, hotel nights and breakfasts are part of the package. Nothing here is a same-day dip.

Practical. On the two-day programme arrive before 5 pm and leave after 6 pm on the last day; on the three-day one, arrive before 10 am. A thermal day is the same all year, but cave steam suits January, around 11C by day in Florence, better than a July afternoon near 32C. City tax is paid at the hotel. Cancellation is the full price inside 72 hours, unused services are not refunded, and packages cannot be split.