Accommodation
Spa and thermal stays
Montecatini on the train line, the quiet pool-square at Bagno Vignoni, and the hot springs of the south.
Montecatini Terme was a stop on my line. It is a proper spa town, with parks, the old bath buildings, and the funicular up to Montecatini Alto. If you want treatment rooms and a comfortable hotel, start there.
For something smaller, Bagno Vignoni in the Val d’Orcia has a square that is itself a steaming sixteenth-century pool. You look, you do not swim in the square, and you stay in the little village or nearby. Bagni San Filippo, under Monte Amiata, has white limestone terraces in the woods. Saturnia is the famous Maremma one: a paid spa, and free falls at the Cascate del Mulino that get very busy. Petriolo, near Monticiano, is a free spring beside the river, which I have written about separately.
Bagni di Lucca, San Giuliano Terme, Chianciano and Rapolano are other old spa towns, each with its own pace. I would match the stay to the sort of day you want, rather than chasing the hottest water.
Bagno Vignoni
A tiny Val d’Orcia village whose square is a thermal pool, in use since Roman times.
Show on the mapPhoto: Spike, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
Bagni San Filippo
A spa hamlet on Monte Amiata, where the springs have built white terraces in the woods.
Show on the mapPhoto: LigaDue, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
You can also browse the spa towns in my accommodation directory, already filtered to spa and thermal stays, and open Booking.com from a town that looks right.
Ad: Booking.com affiliate link. The search opens Booking.com in a new tab, with the filter already set. If you book through it, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep this site going.
The button uses Booking.com’s spa and wellness-centre filter. For the springs themselves, see Thermal spas. The Cascate del Mulino at Saturnia are not a step-free visit.