In the hot water
The ground north of Rome is still volcanic, and in a dozen places the water comes out of it hot.
36 days out14 placesthe nearest is a 41 min drive from Rome
Two different days, both on this page. One is a free open-air pool where sulphur water runs over rock and there is nothing there but the water. The other is a spa: several pools, a changing room, a restaurant, a booking.
Best in the cold months, which nobody expects — a clear winter day with the steam coming off the surface.
Close enough that the drive is not the day.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the hot waterThree hours in a spa set in a cave, reserved for one party at a time, in the old centre of Ariccia.
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In the hot waterA day pass to the thermal spa fed by the sulphurous Acque Albule springs on the road between Rome and Tivoli.
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In the hot waterSix pools at a steady 23°C, and the station is right behind the park.
€16 per person
Books on termediroma.org
See the dayOut after breakfast, back with the evening still yours.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the hot waterSulphur pools open till 18:30, and the operator publishes the train to get there.
€12 per person
Books on Terme Sabine di Cretone
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In the hot waterThree large sulphur-water pools, one of them for children, continuously fed with fresh water, in the countryside of Palombara Sabina about 30 km from Rome.
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In the hot waterThe medical side of the Ferentino thermal centre: inhalation cures for the respiratory system, treatments for the locomotor system and rehabilitation, using the sulphurous water…
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In the hot waterA thermal day spa at Ferentino built on a sulphurous hot spring.
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In the hot waterA wellness session in an apiary set inside the beech forest of the Simbruini park, built on apitherapy practices: bee humming, api-aromatherapy and api-sound.
See the dayCommit to one of these rather than two.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the hot waterA three-hour late-afternoon slot in the Stigliano thermal park, from 17:00 to 20:00, that combines the pools and thermal lakes with an aperitivo.
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In the hot waterA full day, 10:00 to 20:00, with access to the whole spa and the outdoor thermal park.
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In the hot waterDay access to the outdoor thermal park at Stigliano, in the countryside of Canale Monterano about 50 km from Rome.
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In the hot waterA five-hour morning slot, 10:00 to 15:00, with the sauna, salt room, infrared rooms, cold chamber, sensory showers, the heated indoor pool, the thermal basin and the outdoor the…
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In the hot waterFive hours in a thermal park, and cold weather is the reason to go.
€25 per person
Books on termedistigliano.it
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In the hot waterThe second thermal park at Fiuggi, also called Fonte Nova, laid out among sequoias, chestnut trees, small bridges, ponds and flower beds.
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In the hot waterThe thermal park in the middle of Fiuggi, built around the Bonifacio VIII spring in buildings designed by Luigi Moretti with curved volumes and open porticoes.
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In the hot water58°C out of the ground, free, 209 metres from the bus stop, and no changing room.
Free — nothing to pay
Booked by phone
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In the hot waterA hyperthermal spring two and a half kilometres out of Viterbo, feeding two open-air pools that nobody owns and nobody charges for.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the hot waterThe thermal spa of the Salus Terme hotel on the edge of Viterbo, bookable for the day without staying overnight.
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In the hot waterTwo hyperthermal springs on Strada Terme, running into a string of pools that are open at any hour because there is nothing to close.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up — open air, any hour
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In the hot waterA night ticket to the open-air thermal pool of Terme dei Papi, valid from 21:00 to 01:00.
See the dayA full day, out and back, and worth the drive.
Closest to Rome first. Never by who pays us.
In the hot waterTwo open-air thermal pools at different temperatures, fed by the Suio springs: the panoramic Relax pool at a natural 25 degrees from the Bagno Fresco source, and the Smart pool …
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In the hot waterA one-day pass to the two thermal pools at Terme Vescine, in the Garigliano valley an hour and a quarter from Rome.
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In the hot waterTerme Vescine opens the Relax pool in the evening, three nights a week, for people who would rather swim under the stars than in the sun.
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In the hot waterNatural limestone basins carved by the Gorello, the thermal stream that leaves the spa, where the sulphurous water pools around an old mill.
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In the hot waterThe spa's own park, with outdoor thermal pools fed by the spring, whirlpool jets, vascular walks, sauna and an argillarium.
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In the hot waterA thermal park in the tufo country between Sorano and Pitigliano, six kilometres from Pitigliano and ten from Sovana - a real alternative to the crowds at Saturnia.
See the dayThe islands, and the few places whose position we have not pinned down yet.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
In the hot waterThe water leaves the ground at 58°C, and on Saturday you can still be in it at 1am.
€12 per person
Books on termedeipapi.it
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In the hot waterFive hours in thermal water up to 58°C and nothing else to plan that day.
€12 per person
Books on tusciaterme.it
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In the hot waterA cave cut into the rock where hyperthermal water surfaces at 58 degrees and fills the room with steam, used as a natural Turkish bath.
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In the hot waterA twenty-minute walk through alternating cold and hot hyperthermal water, meant to stimulate circulation in the legs.
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In the hot waterA twenty-minute session in a sensory pool for a maximum of five people at a time, with colour therapy, hydromassage and music heard with the ears just under the water while lyin…
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In the hot waterA day ticket to the large open-air thermal pool fed by the Bullicame spring, the historic spa of Viterbo.
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In the hot waterA private thermal tub sold for two people at a time.
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In the hot waterA wellness centre at the foot of Montecassino with two heated outdoor hydromassage tubs, two Turkish baths, two saunas, two emotional showers, a massage area and a large relaxat…
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In the hot waterEvery Saturday the spa sells a formula that pairs dinner in one of its three restaurants with a night swim in the monumental thermal pool.
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In the hot waterA thermal park on the Cassia south of Viterbo with sulphurous pools fed by a natural spring.
See the dayDriving time from the middle of Rome, on the road network and without traffic. It tells you whether the day stands up; it is not a timetable.
Getting there
The day stays yours: you leave when you want, stop where you want, and come back when the light goes.
Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Localrent, and anything about that booking goes through them.
See prices on LocalrentYou come out of the water warm and slow, which is a bad state to drive back in.
Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Welcome Pickups, and anything about that booking goes through them.
See prices on Welcome PickupsLinks marked affiliate pay us a commission — you pay the operator's own price and we never take your money. How we rank