by Alexia Brue
Georgia
This former Soviet republic has a long tradition of banya and miner-water bathing.
Tbilisis's Sulfur Baths. A handful of eighteenth-century bathhouses line a square in the Old Town. These naturally fed sulfur baths are a Tbilisi institution that inspired Alexandre Dumas to comment after a visit in 1858, "A great sense of freedom and well-being permeated me. All my tiredness had gone and I felt strong enough to lift a mountain." Favorites include the King Irakli Baths and the Blue Baths.
Germany
Germany has a vibrant badkultur with everything from 'liquid sound' bath experiences to traditional hamams to the gracious continuation of nineteenth-century spa culture. These are some of Germany's best-known baths.
Caracalla Therme. Römerplatz 1, Baden-Baden. Tel: 49.7221.275940. www.carasana.de.
The atmosphere at this large complex is more water park than intimate public bath, but it's a great option if you want to bathe as a family or if you want to keep your swimsuit on. With opportunities to swim indoors or outdoors, Caracalla also offers lots of water stations, grottos, underwater jets, and a variety of saunas and steam rooms.
Friedrichsbad. Römerplatz 1, 76530 Baden-Baden. Tel: 49.7221.275920. www.carasana.de.
This 'Roman-Irish' bath just next door to Caracalla was built in 1875 and inspired Mark Twain to say, 'Here at Baden-Baden's Friedrichsbad you lose track of time in 10 minutes and track of the world in 20.' The Germanic approach to bathing divides the experience into sixteen carefully regimented stations. After steaming, sweating, and getting scrubbed for a prescribed number of minutes, male and female patrons are merged in the Romanesque pools. This being Germany and the home of Free Body Culture, herren and frauen bathe together au naturel.
Toskana Therme. Bad Sulza. D—99518 Bad Sulza, WunderwaldstraBe 2a. Tel: 49.36461.91080. www.toskana-therme.de.
'Bathe in sound, colour and light' at Toskana Therme, where there are seven cascading saline pools, four whirlpools, myriad saunas and steam rooms, and a variety of spa treatments.
Thermen am Europa-Center. Nürnberger Str. 7, Berlin. Tel: 49.40.25760.
www.thermen-aktuell.de.
This rooftop complex has five Finnish saunas, three steam rooms a swimming pool, outdoor sunbathing terrace and restaurant. Aside from the restaurant, in which one must wear a robe, this is an FKK (free body culture) bath, so no need to pack a swimsuit, and remember, it's also mixed gender.
Sultan Hamam. Bülowstr. 57, 10783 Tempelhof-Schoneberg, Berlin. Tel: 49.30.2175.3375.
This mixed-gender bath is Germany's largest Turkish bath, with over 10,000 square feet of marbled interiors. In addition to the steam rooms, there are also eight pools and traditional Turkish massagte and exfoliation treatments.
Hungary
Bathing has been a popular pastime in Budapest ever since the Romans arrived in 100 A.D. and christened the area Aquincum, from the Latin aqua quinque, or 'five waters.' The Turks arrived in the sixteenth century and built domed hamam-style buildings for palatial soaking. Hungarians today continue to take advantage of the city's abundant thermal waters at the beautiful, if slightly run-down, Ottoman and art nouveau bathing establishments.
The Gellért Baths. 2-4 Kelenhegyi ut, District XI, Budapest. Tel: 36.1.466.6166.
The most famous and spectacular of Budapest's many baths, the Gellért opened in 1918 as part of the Hotel Gellért. Swimming pools, including the one featured on the cover of this book, are mixed gender, while the thermal pools are separate. With a wave pool and sundecks outside, as well as mosaic thermal baths and hearty mineral oil massages available inside, you can easily make a day of it at the Gellért.
Király Baths. 82-84 Föutca, District II, Budapest. Tel: 36.1.202.3688. Built by the Turks in the sixteenth century, Király is arguably Budapest's most architecturally important bath.
Rudas Baths. 9 Döbrentei tér, District 1, Budapest. Tel: 36.1.358.1322. This bathhouse dates back to the Turkish occupation in the sixteenth century. The thermal baths are for men only, but the lovely neoclassical pool is mixed gender and in recent years has hosted some legendary Cinetrip parties where silent cinema, music, dancing, and splashing around meet poolside at these all-night parties.
Széchenyi Baths. 11 Állatkerti körut, District XIV, Budapest. Tel: 36.1.321.0310.
Second only to the Gellért in popularity, the Széchenyi Baths in Budapest's City Park are simply massive. The huge outdoor bathing complex, where old men concentrate on chess and young families whiz around a pool with centrifugal force, recalls Roman times in its size and grandeur. Inside there are separate-gender Turkish-style steam facilities and thermal pools.
Iceland
Iceland, with its volcanic landscape offering an abundance of thermal water, is a bather's Elysian Fields, albeit in lava. Between the Blue Lagoon and Reykavik's hot pots, there's enough to keep a soaking aficionado occupied for weeks. Also, in the summertime, you can take excursions further afield to Mytvan and other more remote pools in the northern countryside.
Arbaejarlaug. Fylkisvegur 110, Reykjavik. Tel: 354.567.3933. www.spacity.is.
The newest of Reykjavik's thermal complexes, the spic and span Arbaejarlaug has a long row of outdoor hot pots, big indoor and outdoor pools, and enough water amusements to make kids feel like they are at an Icelandic Six Flags. Other facilities include a thermal steam bath, sauna, and sun lamps.
The Blue Lagoon. 240 Grindavik, Reykjavik. Tel: 354.420.8800. www.bluelagoon.is.
The waters of the Blue Lagoon have been curing psoriasis and eczema patients for generations. Since the early 1990s the Blue Lagoon has become a full-fledged tourist destination, with large changing quarters, a café, spa boutique, etc. Despite its popularity, the Blue Lagoon remains an eerie, mystical destination. The lagoon is a massive amoebic pool and gusts of steam envelop bathers. The mushy clay bottom and the surrounding black lava fields all add to the surreal bathing experience.
Breidholtslaug at Austurberg, Reykjavik. Tel. 354.557.5547. www.spacity.is.
If you want an unpretentious place to soak with the locals, Breidholtslaung is a good bet. With an outdoor and indoor pool, thermal steam bath, sauna, and 'muscle-tenderizing' pot, this pool complex is popular with local people and offers excellent walking and jogging routes nearby.
Grafarvogslaug at Dalshús, Reykjavik. Tel: 354.510.4600. www.spacity.is.
Near the coastline, this thermal establishment offers hot pots, thermal steam bath, and Jacuzzi. Also, with walking routes, a golf course, trout fishing, and horse rental nearby, this area is a veritable country club.
Laugardalslaug. Sundlaugarvegur 105, Reykjavik. Tel: 354.553.4039.
www.spacity.is.
Reykjavik's largest thermal establishment is about ten minutes from downtown. Laugardalslaug offers prime soaking for young families and twenty-something couples. In addition to the usual array of hot pots, a thermal steam room and sauna are on offer. Laugardalslaug also is the only one of Reykjavik's thermal establishments to offer massage.
Sundhöllinn at Barónstígur, Reykjavik. Tel: 354.551.4059. www.spacity.is.
This art deco pool complex is in the heart of downtown, such that after window-shopping the length of Laugavegur, you could pop in for a swim, soak, and steam at Sundhöllinn's indoor pool, outdoor Jacuzzi, and hot pots overlooking the downtown area.
Italy
Italy has over 150 spas, or terme, supervised by doctors; these aren't public baths but rather medicinal treatment centers with a pleasurable component.
Hammam Delia Rosa. Viale Abruzzi, 15, 20131 Milan. Tel: 39.02.2941.1653. www.hammamdellarosa.com.
A women-only hamam on the outskirts of Milan. The rooms —tepidarium, caldarium, frigidarium — follow the Roman model, but the interiors are Turkish inspired.
Montecatini Terme. Viale Verdi, 41, 51016 Montecatini Terme, Pistoia. Tel: 39.0572.7781. www.termemontecatini.it.
One of the most famous bathing locales in Italy, today Montecatini is a genteel resort town where people still
occasionally take the waters. There are eight terme, or spa centers, where you can take a medically supervised bath.
Terme di Saturnia. Hotel Terme di Saturnia, 58050 Saturnia (Grosseto). Tel: 39.0564.600.800. www.termedisaturnia.it.
Whether you take the waters in one of the seven thermal pools at the Hotel Terme di Saturnia or head to the all-natural pools in the nearby countryside, the sulfurous, alkaline waters that gush out of the earth at a constant 98.6 degrees are sure to invigorate.
Japan
Japan has 2,500 hot spring resorts called onsen, as well as thousands of sento, city bathhouses. If you want to do some serious onsen-hopping, there are two excellent guidebooks to this country's amazing baths:
A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs, by Anne Hotta with Yoko Ishiguro. Kodansha International, 1986.
Japan's Hidden Hot Springs, by Robert Neff. Charles E. Tuttle Co, 1995.
Tokyo
Azabujuban Onsen & Koshi-No-Yu Sento. 1—5 Azabu Juban. Tel.: 81.3.3404.2610.
In the heart of Tokyo, this unusual onsen and sento complex has baths with tea-colored onsen waters upstairs and a less expensive sento facility downstairs.
Asakusa Kannon Onsen. 2-7-26 Asakusa.
Next door to Senso-ji, one of old Edo's biggest attractions. A convenient and traditional first sento experience (whether or not the waters qualify as an onsen is up for debate) with a few soaking tubs in a pleasant, light-filled room.
Daikoku-yu. 32-6, Senju-kotobukicho, Adachi-ku. Tel: 81.3.3881.3001 The temple-like structure is a big draw, as are the landscapes painted on the ceilings.
Green Plaza Ladies Sauna. 1-29-3 Kabuki-cho. Tel: 81.3.3207.4921.
This women's bathhouse is open twenty-four hours a day. In addition to tubs for soaking, there is massage offered at all hours, a café, and a large room with reclining chairs where legions of women sleep before catching early-morning trains at the nearby Shinjuku station.
Finlando Sauna. In the basement of the Joypak Building, Kabuki-cho Koma-mae. Tel: 81.3.3232.8310.
This twenty-four-hour bath is the men's version of the Green Plaza Ladies Sauna and is also located in the bustling Shinjuku neighborhood.
Nijuseiki Yokujo. 1-34-1, Nohonzutsumi, Taitou-ku. Tel: 81.3.3873.8409.
This sento, built in 1926, still relies on firewood to heat the water. It's known for its Taisho-Showa architecture and stunning painting of Mt Fuji.
Rokuryu Sento & Onsen. 3-4-20 Ikenohata. Tel: 81.3.3821.3826.
In northern Tokyo, just a few minutes' walk from Ueno station. A traditional sento that is very popular with locals and that offers purplish onsen waters said to help skin conditions.
Kyoto
Shomen-yu. South of Gojo-dori and east of Kamo-gawa.
Shomen-yu is a huge three-story sento compound with an elevator to shuttle bathers naked from washing room to rooftop outdoor bath. The sauna has a glassed-in television where the women like watching baseball games.
Funaoka Onsen. Kuramaguchi-dori. Tel: 81.75.441.3735. Head west from the Kuramaguchi/Horiikawa intersection; Funaoka Onsen is on the left shortly past the Lawson convenience store and is marked by large rocks at the entrance.
Many believe this large indoor and outdoor bath is the finest in Kyoto, which says a lot for a city that's retained its vibrant bathing culture. Funaoka Onsen has cypress tubs, a sauna, an herbal bath, and an electric bath.
Kurama Onsen. Take the subway from Kyoto to Kurama station (about twenty minutes) and then walk up the main road for ten minutes. The only serene countryside onsen within easy reach of Kyoto. You can soak in a large rectangular cypress pool while meditating on the tree-covered mountainside in front of you.
Countryside
Tenzan Onsen. Yumoto Chaya 208, Hakone. Tel: 81.0460.6.4126.
A short shuttle bus ride away from the Hakone-Yumoto train station, this is where stressed-out Tokyoites come for a quick dose of rest and relaxation. Since Hakone is just an hour by train from Tokyo, many come for the day to enjoy the restaurants, gardens, tatami relaxation room, massages, and of course the stunning outdoor baths and sauna. Tenzan Onsen has been in operation since the seventeenth century.
Takaragawa. Located in the northern Gumma Prefecture; it takes approximately two and a half hours to get here from Tokyo. From Ueno station in Tokyo, take a train to Jomo Kogen station and then find a bus to Takaragawa.
The most photogenic of all of Japan's onsen, this onsen has appeared on the cover of numerous books and magazines. Breathtaking in any season — cherry blossoms to winter snow — it has four pools; two mixed gender, one men only, and a very large and lovely women's-only pool. Two ryokans (traditional Japanese inns), including Osenkaku Ryokan, are a short walk away.
Kii-Katsuura. On the eastern coast of the Kii peninsula in the Wakayama Prefecture.
Take the JR train to Kii-Katsuura and then go to the quay, Kanko Sanbashi, to catch a water ferry to one of the two island hotels: the Urashima Hotel or the Hotel Nakanoshima. Both hotels have superb and diverse bathing facilities from grottos overlooking the Pacific Ocean to mountaintop jungle baths.'
Kazakhstan
As an Islamic country, Kazakhstan has a bathing tradition that is a local variation on the hamam, though many of the older baths are no longer functioning.
Arasan Baths. 78 Tulebaeva St., corner Aiteke Bi, Almaty. Tel: 7.3272.692598
This Soviet-era bath is Almaty's most popular. Built in the late 1970s, the five-story complex has three self-contained areas - a Turkish steam bath, a Russian banya, and a Finnish sauna each requiring its own ticket for entry and each with its own tea room and relaxation area.
Korea
Similar to the sentos of Japan, South Korean moyoktang are public baths where people congregate after work to relax in the steam and warm water. Korea also has hot springs resorts similar in style to Japan's onsen.
Choksan Hot Springs. Tel: 82.392.636.4000.
A popular resort for middle-class Koreans that offers fantastic hot springs at low prices.
The Osaek Green Yard Hotel. Tel: 82.392.636.7540.
In the same national park as Choksan, this hotel is a sprawling resort complex tucked into the mountains near Osaek Hot Springs. There are a variety of accommodations available in the main building and the Green Yard's bath complex is larger and more luxurious than the Choksan's, with a wonderfully hot sauna scented with fragrant wild mountain herbs.
Russia
For the uninitiated, the banya is like a wayward sauna — the air is more humid, making the heat feel more extreme, leaves and branches from a veynik cover the floor, and there's often vodka involved. The banya has been a Russian institution for almost a thousand years and people still make weekly trips to the local banya for both health and beauty.
St Petersburg
Banya #11 (a.k.a. Tchayskovsky banii). Ulitsa Tchayskovsky. Tel: 7.812.272.0911. Near the Bolshoy dom, off Liteyniy prospect. A vibrant neighborhood banya located on the top floor of a large municipal-style building. Once you find it, you'll be rewarded with locals who share their veyniks and banya advice.
Banya #50. Ulitsa Malaya Posadskaya 28 (Metro Gorkovskaya). Tel: 7.812.233.5092.
A basic banya that is simple, pleasant, and clean.
Banya #51. Gavanskaya ulitsa 5. Tel: 7.812.356.6300.
Like many banyas, Banya #57 has both a regular section and a deluxe section. There is also the option of renting out part of the banya for your own private party.
Mytninskie Banii. Ulitsa Mytninskaya 17/19 (trolleybus 10). Tel: 271.71.19. One of the few city banyas still heated with wood.
Yamskie Banii. Ulitsa Dostoevkovo 9 (Metro Vladimirskaya). Tel: 7.812.312.5836.
A favorite among local banya-goers, Yamskie is well maintained and the heat is addictive.
Kruglye Banii. Ulitsa Karbysheva 29A (Metro Ploshchad). Tel: 7.812.550.0985.
Supposedly this banya used to be a favorite among KGB workers, since their headquarters were nearby. There is a very nice deluxe section available for privat
e rentals.
Moscow
Bani Na Presnye. Stolyarny Pereulok 7 (Metro Ulitsa 1905 Goda). Tel: 7.95.255.0115.
This modern banya is for serious heat lovers willing to heed the instructions of an exacting Mistress of Steam who likes her parilka hot and steamy.
Sandunovskye Banii. Ulitsa Neglinnaya 14 (Metro Kuznetsky Most). Tel: 7.95.925.4631.
The Sandunovskye has it all - history, great architecture, popularity, and fame. It even had a cameo in the movie Gorky Park. This is Moscow's fanciest banya (you'll see black SUVs and snoozing drivers lining the street out front) and its most expensive. If you're going to try one banya in Moscow, it should be the one-hundred-year-old Sandunovskye.
Seleznovskye Bani. Ulitsa Selznovskaya 15 (Metro Seleznovskaya Ulitsa). Tel: 7.95.978.8491.
For the hard-core banya lover, the parilka is always extra hot and the cold pool freezing cold.
Krasnopresnensky. Stolyarny pereulok 7 (Metro Ulitsa 1905 Goda). Tel: 7.95.253.8690.
A good representation of a Soviet-style banya, the facilities, which include a gym, pool, and solarium, are still in good shape.
Sweden
Sweden shares a love of the sauna and bathing with Finland, which you'll see reflected in these baths.
Centralbadet. Drottninggatan 88, Norrmalm. Tel: 46.8.242.402. www.centralbadet.se.
This earthy, friendly bath was designed in 1904 and is set back from the street with a pleasant garden. Customers are attracted by the art nouveau interiors, the reasonably priced café, and, of course, the pool, Jacuzzi, multiple saunas, and Swedish massage.
Hasseludden Yasuragi. Hamndalsvagen 6, Saltsjo-Boo. Tel: 46.8.747.6100. www.hasseludden.com.
This is a Japanese spa hotel with a pool, outdoor hot bath, sauna, and restaurant. Beauty treatments are available. It's located in the Stockholm archipelago and serves as a recuperative day trip.
Sturebadet. Sturegallerian, Stureplan, Ostermalm. Tel: 46.8.5450.1510. www.sturebadet.se.
This place is a hoity-toity members-only club that also offers day memberships. Opened in 1885, it's where Stockholm's beautiful people work out and steam. The bath offerings include a Turkish bath for twenty and an art nouveau pool.