Therme Beuren: My favorite German spa

A German spa is a therapeutic bathing experience and Therme Beuren is one of the most beautiful in southern Germany. Inside every pool there is thermal water at different temperatures. Some of the pools are full of cool water extracted from deep beneath the Earth and other pools are what we call "pots" because they bubble and boil away and I can't stay in a hot pot for more than 5 minutes, it's too much for me. The temperature can reach above 40 degrees Celsius.

The roots of the German spa experience are Roman. But in Germany, public baths are still almost as popular as they were thousands of years ago and German spas, like Baden Baden, are famous.

Above all spas are for couples. They are fashionable places to visit, especially in the evening. Older people usually go there to enjoy the warm, massaging, swirling water. At the weekend you see more families, but the Spa isn't really an attractive place for children. There is no special play area for them and they have to be quiet because this is a place meant for relaxation. Typically, people stay at the spa for anything from two and a half hours to four hours.

Therme Beuren has saunas and hot grottoes complete with stalactites and stalagmites. It offers water gymnastics and has steam rooms that are there to help clear your respiratory tract. You are supposed to breathe more easily after a steam bath, but it is not easy to cope with the wet heat if you are not used to it.

Therme Bueren is popular in winter. The water is warm and cosy and the spa looks especially beautiful when you swim outside in the pools and everywhere around you is the cold, and the land is white with snow. From the outside pools you also have nice views of the ruins of castle Hohen Neuffen. I have not seen any tourists at the spa. I don't know why. Perhaps it's because it's not close to any famous sights, but people usually do speak a some English.

You should definitiely go there. It's a wonderful experience. I promise you will feel rested: relaxed and recovered by the time you leave. I feel really sleepy afterwards, but good too.

By Raphaele Lober