The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Spa towns: natural, timeless and back in vogue
From the Beckhams in Baden-Baden to David Hasselhoff in Bath, the rich and famous are as partial to a hot spring as they always were, says Marianna Hunt
What do Victoria Beckham’s toxins, Thomas Jefferson’s rheumatism and Florence Nightingale’s burnout have in common? All were (supposedly) sorted out by a trip to the spa.
Pretty much every single culture since the Romans – and even some before – has had a ritual based around bathing. It was in the 18th and 19th centuries when European spa culture really began to flourish, centred around various towns and cities which boast of their own natural thermal springs. Casinos, theatres, assembly rooms and gardens sprang up around them in turn.
But in the middle of the 20th century the spa industry began to stagnate. Many bath buildings were abandoned, or destroyed during the Second World War and left derelict. Medical science was also progressing rapidly, calling into question the healing powers of the waters. Eventually, spa therapy was excluded from the National Health Service in Britain and from similar schemes abroad, causing many resorts to close their doors.
But in recent years a growing focus on health and wellness has renewed interest in spa culture – with many people looking for cures that go beyond pure medical science. “Recently we had a call from someone wanting to come for three to four weeks to ‘take the cure’ (bathe in the spa waters). This is the first time such a thing has happened in my lifetime,” says Klaus Lorenz, tourism director at Baden bei Wien, a spa city in Austria.
From Baden to Bath, spa cities have rushed to reestablish places where people can bathe in and drink the eggy sulphur water. New luxury hotels, restaurants and attractions have followed like water ripples – as have celebrity sightings, from David Hasselhoff in Bath to David Hockney in Baden-Baden. It’s official: hot springs are hot once more.
Recognising this – and their contribution to culture and medicine over the centuries – last year Unesco collectively placed 11 European spa towns on its World Heritage list. Dotted across seven different countries, they include Baden bei Wien (Austria), Spa (Belgium), Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), Vichy (France), Baden-Baden (Germany), Montecatini Terme (Italy) and Bath (United Kingdom). Follow our guide to four of the best.
BADEN-BADEN
Germany
What’s old Baden-Baden literally translates as Bath-Bath from German; these towns do not shy away from their selling points: see Spa, Bath and Baden bei Wien (Bath by Vienna).
From Queen Victoria to George Clooney, the waters of Baden-Baden have cleansed the bodies of many an ailing A-lister/monarch.
Its famous casino – described by Marlene Dietrich as the most beautiful in the world – was where artists and writers from Gogol to Mark Twain came to squander their earnings. Dostoevsky supposedly came up with the story for The Gambler after losing his shirt there on his second honeymoon.
What’s new Today Baden-Baden is one of Victoria Beckham’s favourite health retreats, with her most recent visit – with husband David last year – meticulously documented on Instagram.
New museums have enhanced the town’s cultural appeal. The Museum Frieder Burda, for example, displays modern art including little-seen works by Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
The glitz and glamour of BadenBaden’s visitors is being reflected in its dining scene. The small town – which has a population around half the size of Bath’s – has nine Michelin-starred restaurants (its UK counterpart has just one). The latest addition is Maltes Hidden Kitchen, which won its first star this March.
Where to stay The place for celeb-spotting is the five-star Brenners Park-Hotel and Spa. Celebrating its 150th birthday this year, Brenners has hosted everyone from the King of Siam to the Obamas via Marlene Dietrich. “Recently a prime minister stayed here for two weeks to bathe in the spa and have health treatments,” says Henning Matthiesen, the managing director. He wouldn’t say which one.
The hotel is superbly equipped for all manner of complaints, with a spa, inhouse nutritionists, its own medical team – even a dentist. The majority of guests come to Baden-Baden to lose weight and so, although the lavish restaurants (of which Brenners has three) serve steaks and foie gras, their chefs will follow to the letter health menus prescribed by the hotel’s doctors.
Victoria Beckham (who favours Brenners during her Baden-Baden visits) most recently had a regime including a bespoke daily IV drip, supplements to detox the body and meals of eggwhite omelettes and avocado. Prices for a night’s stay at Brenners start at £226.
Away from the waters With a music hall larger than London’s Royal Albert Hall, Baden-Baden is heaven for concert-lovers. Its programme includes opera, ballet and classical performances. Just 10 minutes away by car are the hills of the Black Forest. Covering 2,320 square miles, this blanket of firs, oaks and beeches is interrupted only by the occasional waterfall or castle.
BADEN BEI WIEN
Austria
What’s old “I would never have believed I could be as lazy as I am here,” Ludwig van Beethoven wrote to a friend during a prescribed stay in Baden bei Wien (known locally as simply Baden).
Beethoven had been ordered to “take the cure” in Baden to cope with a host of illnesses – from excessive drinking to frequent diarrhoea – and spent 15 summers of his life here.
Despite his laziness, it was between dips in the local baths that he wrote much of his Ninth Symphony – one of his most celebrated. Mozart, too, was a regular – although supposedly was more enamoured by Baden’s excellent wine taverns than its waters – as were Peter the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.
The city was razed during the Soviet occupation; hotels were taken over by soldiers and many of the spa buildings were destroyed.
What’s new It was only in the 1990s, with the construction of the Römertherme (Roman thermal baths), that Baden’s spa culture began to be revived. Visitors can now float under the largest freely suspended glass roof in Europe and sweat out their toxins in an infrared cabin (33C), tepidariums (40-45C), bio-saunas (50-60C), and the Finnish sauna (95C).
Investment continues, with the goal of returning Baden to its 19th-century heyday. Historic hotels have gone under huge transformations – including At The Park and the Hotel Herzoghof. The Sauerhof – one of Europe’s first ever purpose-built grand hotels – has been closed for some time but is now being transformed into a five-star spa with rooms and a medical centre.
In the pretty spa garden in the centre of town, work is under way to fix up the music pavilion where Johann Strauss II conducted hundreds of waltzes, and a new drinking fountain is to be built where members of the public can enjoy Baden’s natural sulphur water.
The Arnulf Rainer Museum (a modern art gallery housed inside a historic bath house) and new Beethoven House are shiny 21st-century additions to the city’s cultural offering.
The food scene has jumped forward
leaps and bounds, too. Baden now has one of the best steakhouses in Austria, El Gaucho (also housed inside an old spa building), and an acclaimed fish restaurant, Marktamt.
Where to stay At The Park has been cleverly updated for the modern traveller. Panoramic glass windows in the lobby-cum-café/bar look out over Kurpark (the 52-hectare spa gardens) and Baden’s casino. The decor is eclectic but comfortable and there is a generous buffet breakfast included in the price (starting from £100 per night).
Away from the waters In the evenings, well-dressed locals and visitors alike congregate at the Congress Casino Baden, one of the largest in the world. The casino also hosts an annual Ball Royale, where debutants foray out into the world and you can spot Austrian celebrities waltzing away in ball gowns.
Baden’s famous Summer Arena is being restored and will reopen for the 2022 season. Visitors will be able to watch performances under the stars thanks to its retractable roof.
MONTECATINI TERME
Italy
What’s old A latecomer to the spa party, Montecatini Terme’s heyday was in the mid-20th century, when it attracted international elites from Katharine and Audrey Hepburn to Prince Rainier of Monaco. It was on a visit to Montecatini Terme in 1957 that Christian Dior died suddenly of a heart attack (NB: healing waters do not work for everyone).
The town has its own Hollywoodstyle Walk of Fame with the names of famous people who’ve stayed here – probably the only place where Marie Curie can rub shoulders with Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson and Robbie Williams. Even today you often find 16-piece orchestras in the belle époque spas serenading you as you promenade and drink your smelly water.
What’s new Today Montecatini attracts a well-heeled clientele – including the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella – and famous Italian footballers.
Rising demand to take the thermal waters has caused new spas to pop up around Montecatini and older ones to get makeovers. The Grotta Giusti – a high-end hotel housed inside a 19thcentury stone mansion – has refurbished its thermal spa and will reopen imminently. The eponymous grotto is an ancient thermal cave that doubles up as a natural steam room. There is also an underground lake, making Grotta Giusti the only hotel in the world where you can scuba-dive in a thermal cave.
The Panteraie – a villa with rooms – is reopening after more than three years. The revamped establishment will have capacity for nearly 1,800 guests and a new restaurant and spa. Its revival was led by twin brothers, well-known Italian leather craftsmen who eventually plan to pump local thermal water into the spa.
There’s also talk of moving some of the treasures from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence to Montecatini Terme – easing overtourism in the former while reviving the artistic heritage of the latter. Where to stay Those looking for history and a central location should head to the five-star Grand Hotel and La Pace Spa. You can sleep in the very room where Prince Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly spent their honeymoon.
Modern-day celebs tend to prefer slightly out-of-town spots such as the Grotta Giusti, whose thermal grotto was described by Giuseppe Verdi, the composer, as “the eighth wonder of the world”. The cave/steam room is divided into three sections – named Paradise, Purgatory and Hell – based on their temperature. There is an excellent dining room and bar, as well as 45 hectares of Tuscan parkland to explore. Nightly rates for a double room start from £280.
Away from the waters Take the artnouveau funicular up to Montecatini Alto, a charming medieval village, for great views. Montecatini Terme is also an excellent base for exploring other parts of Tuscany, with Florence, Lucca and Pisa all within one hour’s drive.
KARLOVY VARY
Czech Republic
‘A prime minister stayed recently for two weeks to bathe in the spa and have health treatments’
What’s old Nestled snugly at the bottom of a primordial river valley, Karlovy Vary has more than 300 springs. In town there are smart neo-baroque buildings in ice-cream shades and a ton of grand old hotels.
Karlovy Vary enjoyed huge popularity in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with visitors including Goethe, Beethoven, Chopin, Gogol and Freud. But the rise of Communism meant the spa and sanatoriums were nationalised in the 1940s and access was mainly restricted to citizens on the east side of the Iron Curtain.
What’s new A-lister interest in Karlovy Vary has been revived thanks to an International Film Festival which, since the fall of Communism, has attracted celebrities from around the world. Among those who have enjoyed the benefits of its spa hotels are Antonio Banderas, Jude Law, Judi Dench and Uma Thurman.
Since 2015 a spate of fancy new hotels have opened, including the Luxury Spa Hotel Olympic Palace (which has its own salt cave) and the Astoria Hotel and Medical Spa.
Where to stay The Grandhotel Pupp is the place to stay and be seen. Since opening in 1701, it has attracted royalty of all kinds, from genuine dynasts (Napoleon Bonaparte) to kings and queens of Hollywood (Sean Bean and Scarlett Johansson).
Pupp even had its own moment in the spotlight, as the hotel in which Daniel Craig and Eva Green stay at in Bond film Casino Royale. The eponymous casino is the Kaiserbad Spa (a former Imperial bath house turned historic monument/exhibition space) just across the street.
The peach-stuccoed Pupp is also rumoured to be the inspiration for Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. A night’s stay costs from £125.
Away from the waters The landscape around Karlovy Vary is spectacular, featuring rare rock formations, tumbling-down castles and a slew of ancient abbeys. Located about six miles away is Loket nad Ohri, a riverside community with a 13th-century castle, pretty gothic churches and a famous brewery.
The best time to visit is in July, when Loket hosts an annual music festival and the Czech National Opera plays in the town’s outdoor amphitheatre. You can cycle there, take the bus or hike. In winter, visitors can access more than 20 resorts in the nearby Ore Mountains for downhill skiing.
The science lab
Brandi Revels is nothing like the chemistry teachers I remember from school.
“This is where boffins are born,” she announces as the class put on their lab coats.
As I peer into my microscope, counting the blue fibres tangled between biological remnants on my sample, my mind never wanders – and I immediately want an A* in microplastics, or at least the approval of Dr Revels.
“Do passengers ever tell you they’ll change their behaviour after your lab sessions?” I ask.
“Always,” says Dr Revels. My sample was picked up around the Falklands and was littered with plastic threads; another was chock-full of plastic-bag fragments. Passenger efforts in the lab help Dr Revels’s work: they act as additional adjudicators, and the information is fed back to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
She also offers a look at the FerryBox, which sucks water in from under the ship and into sensors. It measures a number of parameters, such as temperature and salinity, plus GPS tracking of the ship’s location, and the data is sent to the Norwegian Institute for Water Research.
The mini subs
John and Paul, the fluorescent-yellow submarines (which seat six passengers, plus the pilot), are the stand-out pieces of equipment in the Hangar, an in-ship marina that is in itself a first among expedition vessels. Aled Harries, one of the pilots, explains that they
can venture as deep as 1,000ft, but that “the best stuff to look at” is within about 160ft. Sharks and rarely seen jellyfish were among the creatures encountered during their first season at sea. Passengers are briefed that those who suffer from claustrophobia should probably avoid the dives. This helps to cut down on the high demand: 378 guests and 12 spots per ride mean that some could leave a voyage missing out on the experience. Viking is looking at how to manage expectations on this point. With three staggered, and revolving, seats on either side, and 270-degree spherical windows, I – as someone who doesn’t struggle in tight spaces – found the subs to be spacious.
The polar-tested kayaks
These two-person boats are more sophisticated than usual. As we slice through the water, my kayaking partner keeps us tracking smoothly with a small steering lever: there’s one to the left of each seat. The boats also have underwater fins which mimic the flap of a penguin’s wings. Kayakers can drive these with foot pedals, leaving hands free to take photos or gaze through binoculars at the icy terrain and any nearby wildlife. The seats are high-backed and not dissimilar to ergonomic office chairs. Nicki Bunting, our kayak leader on Octantis, has guided (in different forms of travel) across all seven continents. Passengers are provided with a drysuit for going in the kayaks and waterproof trousers and jacket for other polar excursions.
The weather-balloon launch
The expedition cruise equivalent of a rocket launch, the release of a weather balloon entices about 150 passengers away from their cabins and the well-stocked restaurants and out into the bracing wind on deck, binoculars dangling from neck straps and smartphones primed to catch the countdown. These large, biodegradable latex balloons are kitted out with meteorological apparatus to measure factors such as humidity, pressure and temperature, and are regularly launched from Octantis.
Shortly afterwards,
Sam Mitchell, a geologist, presents the weather data, which arrives in real time on a screen in Expedition Central, an area where the expedition team lingers to hold sessions and chat to passengers.
The balloon launches are part of Viking’s partnership with the NOAA, with the US National Weather Service sanctioning an official station on both of the line’s two expedition vessels. They add to the 102 in operation and are the world’s first civilian ships to have this facility.
The special-operations boats (SOBs)
Twin, military-grade “SOBs” dominate the Hangar (which also contains the fleet of Zodiacs and kayaks). As I perch on one of the suspended seats (an addition that makes for a far smoother ride than you might expect on a rigid inflatable boat), the process of backing out down the slipway provides a spy-film-like moment that continues as the skipper speeds off to the nearest point of interest. Among the features of the SOBs are an ice-strengthened aluminium hull and two 450-horsepower engines. These were put into action during my try-out of the SOB, causing a muchneeded adrenaline boost after a morning of gentle lounging on Octantis.