Great Spa Towns of Europe

Baden bei Wien

Although I've been trying to travel around UNESCO sites for several years (but not exclusively), I've only now decided to write my first review. And just at the time when I have the nicest travel restrictions - an 11 month old son - so my travel is not as frequent as it used to be. So I'll do my best in this and the next review to follow the issue of accessibility with a small child.

On our way to our first family holiday to the seaside, in Grado, Italy, we needed some sort of stopover for about 2 hours. So the spa town of Baden bei Wien was ideal. From this serial entry, I have already visited Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně in the Czech Republic and very briefly Montecatini Terme in Italy (and I plan to spend a few days in Františkovy Lázně in autumn 2025). So I have the opportunity to compare.

The town is easily accessible, close to the motorway from Vienna to the south, and there is plenty of parking in the parking houses. Unlike other parking houses in German-speaking countries, it is also easy to pay by credit card here.

And now to the review of Baden itself. The city is very pleasant, easily accessible, without any steps, with a stroller ideally passable and very compact. There are plenty of places to have a snack or go to a café. A spa park adjoins the development to the north. …

As a resident of Germany, I decided to grant myself this check only after I made it to all 3 German components. And that day is finally here! Here is a collection of my experiences and thoughts: 

Baden-Baden:
I got here the Spring after inscription and we had absolutely perfect weather with the first flowers of Spring everywhere. Unfortunately the historical spa house was closed for renovations, but the other inscribes buildings around the river were open and I found the whole setting very pleasant. During our stay we walked along the river to the Lichtental monastery, which made for a great daytime experience. On another evening we took the Merkurbergbahn up for the view and watched the sunset. It was a lovely and very active city, but not too big. 

Bad Ems:
We went here last year right as Autumn was starting and were surprised at how small, quiet, and fairly rustic this town is. The surrounding area is quite pretty, there were multiple trails up into the hills I unfortunately didn't have time for. The famous 4-Towered house had only recently burned partially down, so there was a large cordon area filled with burned refuse. Thankfully the UNESCO-inscribed building had not been affected. The park was small but lovely, as were the theater and performance hall accessible for a small fee. 
Unfortunately, while I found the place very aesthetically pleasing, it was what some people would refer to as a dead/dying town, with many buildings and …

Bad Ems

I spent a few hours in Bad Ems on a Friday afternoon in August.

The original Kurhaus, which is now Häcker's Grand Hotel (upper photo), is the most prominent feature of Bad Ems. It has a few drinking fountains on the ground floor, Römerquelle (lower left photo) in front of the hotel and the most importantly a 300-years-old ornate indoor swimming pool, the first swimming pool in Bad Ems. In comparison Ensana Nové Lázně Hotel that dominates the Kurpark in Mariánské Lázně has swimming pools from 1896. These swimming pools are accessible only if you stay at the hotels. 

The Kursaal (See Els' photo below), just west of Kurhaus, accommodates the Spielbank (casino) and two theaters, the Marble Hall (lower middle photo) and the smaller Kurtheatre. The former reminded me of the Great/Golden Hall at the Musikverein in Vienna, the home concert hall of the Vienna Philharmonic. In front of this Kursaal is the Walk of Fame with plaques embedded in the sidewalk with names of luminaries associated with Bad Ems. I noticed one of them was for Jacques Offenbach, who seems to be the composer most associated with Bad Ems. But of course this Walk of Fame must be fairly new. 

Between Kurhaus and Kursaal is a minor colonnade / arcade.

There is a reconstructed Limes only 500 m uphill from Häcker´s Grand Hotel. I'm guessing it has to be part of the other WHS associated with Bad Ems, Frontiers of the …

Bad Kissingen

I had my bathing suit with me just in case, even though I was visiting Bad Kissingen only for 3 hours between trains around noon in late August. 

The first thing you might want to know about Bad Kissingen is that it is located in the state of Bavaria, under whose auspices this town has developed. 

From the train station I walked north and first came across Wandelhalle. The main feature of this structure is the 90 meter long space (See Hubert's left photo), part of which also dabbles as a concert hall. To the side of this space in Wandelhalle is Brunnenhalle, with Rakoczy Spring, a spa water drinking facility.

To the directly north of this Wandelhalle is a rather small Kurgarten, where outdoor concert can also be held.

To the west of Kurgarten is Arkadenbau, which is also interconnected with Wandelhalle to the south and Regentenbau to the north. Arkadenbau is the oldest structure of the three, seit 1838, and today houses a large info center where I found a free, round souvenir badge (lower right photo). I was happy to find this and put it on my shoulder bag. It proclaims "Great Spas of Europe, We are World Heritage! Bad Kissingen," and also lists all names of the other 10 great spa towns. Arkadenbau also houses a concert hall called Rossini Saal. Rossini seems to be the best known composer associated with Bad Kissingen.

Today Regentenbau is accessible to …

There is a funny story re Aachen: Technically, it should be called Bad Aachen. "Bad" is the indicator of a town being a Bad (= spa). If you look at the German components of the site (Baden Baden, Bad Kissingen) you see this naming convention at work.

Eventually, Aachen figured that being first in an alphabetically sorted list of German cities would come in handy and dropped the prefix. To this day, though, town signs advertise that Aachen is a "Bad" and a "Kurort". While Bad translates nicely to spa, "Kurort" (Kur town) doesn't really have a proper English translation. The term "Kur" (cure, roughly treatment) is key to understanding the German and Czech spa sites.

A Kur is a preventive or rehabilitation treatment where you work on your health, by diet, via treatments and exercise. It always includes a social component. You are supposed to enjoy your time and relax: healthy mind equals healthy body. Nowadays, with German health insurance still footing the bill every few years, it has become a way to get a paid for vacation.

To achieve these goals a Bad and Kurort has several parts and most are found in a Bad like Aachen:

• The town has a spring: Aachen's spring was the reason Charlemagne settled in town.
• The town has a Grand Hotel: the Quellenhof (Quelle = Spring).
• The town has a Casino: see above.
• The town has a Kurpark to go on relaxing …

The German part of this tentative site was reduced from the original six locations to three in the final nomination. And rightly so in my opinion. The remaining ones are: Bad Kissingen, Baden Baden and Bad Ems. I agree with Els that Bad Ems is not really impressive. So my review will focus on the other two German sites.

As in most of the other spa towns, the hot springs in Baden Baden were already used by the Romans. The remains of the Roman baths can be visited below the market square. The boom in the 19th century is closely linked to the granting of the casino licence. In summer, the high society frequented Baden Baden: Europe’s nobility, but also artists, composers and writers. Especially the Russians. Dostoyevsky fell out with Turgenev here. And Nikolai Gogol wrote about Baden Baden: "I only wanted to stay three days, but for three weeks now I can't break away. No one here is seriously ill. Everyone comes here to amuse themselves."
The most important spa buildings are the Kurhaus with the casino in the right wing and the Trinkhalle (pump room), both in neo-classical style with Corinthian columns. This is also where the Lichtentaler Allee begins, a two-kilometer-long footpath through an English garden along the river Oos. It is the usual promenade of the spa guests, you walk along typical examples of 19th century architecture: luxury hotels, museums and the theatre. A stroll through the villa district on the slopes above the …

The story of this transnational nomination began in 2008 when "The Spa of Luhačovice" was deferred by the WHC. The ABE evaluation was clear: no OUV for Luhačovice alone, but ICOMOS recommended a thematic study on European spa towns. Initially, a total of 16 spa towns from seven countries were included in the tentative list. In 2016, the number was reduced to eleven. Interestingly, Luhačovice did not make it to the final nomination.The nomination website Great Spas of Europe provides photos and brief summaries of each spa, and links to their official websites. The nomination focuses on the development of European spa tradition between the 18th and early 20th centuries with its heyday in the 19th century. It only consists of spa towns with hot and mineral springs, seaside resorts are not included.

I visited the three sites of the Bohemian Spa Triangle on Easter weekend 2018.

Karlovy Vary is the largest and most famous of the three towns, and it was also the liveliest. Although the peak season had not started in April, the city centre was quite full with tourists and locals. The historic spa centre is located in the narrow valley of the river Teplá. I started my walk at the Grandhotel Pupp in the south and ended it after 2.5 kilometres in the north, where the narrow valley opens and the Teplá flows into the Ohře. All main spa facilities - spa hotels and mineral springs (Pramen in Czech) - are located along …

The Great Spas of Europe will be discussed at the 2020 WHC meeting, whenever it will be rescheduled. I had ‘ticked’ it already in 2014 with a visit to Spa in Belgium and of course, like 553 others on this website, had been to the future double-nominated City of Bath in the UK as well. But with a serial transnational nomination such as this, it is always interesting to visit locations in other countries. Germany has 3 Spas left in the line-up for the 2020 nomination: Baden-Baden, Bad Kissingen and Bad Ems (Bad Homburg, Wiesbaden and Bad Pyrmont have been dropped). On my way back home from Worms I stopped for a few hours in Bad Ems, where they were eagerly awaiting the decision.

Bad Ems lies in the vicinity of Koblenz, close to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley WHS but on the river Lahn instead of the Rhine. The town with about 9,000 inhabitants extends on both river banks. It is therefore nice to walk along the waterfront and as many as four bridges allow you to get to that other side: two only for pedestrians and two also for motorized traffic. One actually has the best views of the buildings from across the wide river.

In the 19th century Bad Ems attracted visitors from all over the world to enjoy its spa facilities. Among them the Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II from Russia and the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, who had summer residences here. They were …

Vichy

As a Japanese who grew up taking a hot bath every evening (like everybody else does in Japan even today), I have a predilection for spas, although, living in Europe, I hardly get to soak in "hot" water. 

11 spa towns from 7 countries in Europe are joining forces to become one WHS, and Vichy is solely representing France. I was staying for 2 nights in Clermont-Ferrand in February 2020, and one afternoon I took a train for 30 min. to visit Vichy. 

I first walked to the Hall des Sources in the Parc des Sources for "tasting" of the spa waters. The hall is not attended, but you can taste several different kinds of water as much as you want for free, and the most locals bring their own bottles. The water called "Celectine," with the least taste, had the best taste. 

Then I walked around the Parc that included a quite beautiful former casino / current congress hall and a working opera house. 

Then headed to the grandiose Thermes Les Dômes (Photo). This is where you can actually soak in water in a historic (but somewhat dilapidated) setting for 15 Euros. But at 15:00 I was told that the facility was full and was not taking in anymore guests that day. They suggested that I go to the nearby Celestins Thermal Spa. 

There I went to find out that it was a modern facility where you can enter for 30 Euros. …

I have been to several of the nominated towns and while I find the topic very interesting and most towns worth a visit I feel that the nomination is to big and includes too many towns with hardly any OUV. I think it would make more sense to nominate the best example(s) and not so many candidates. A good candidate from what I can see without having been there is the Czech triangle as a separate nomination. I feel the French, Belgian and Italian candidates have very little to offer and could be left out altogether. In Germany I have been to Bad Homburg, Wiesbaden and Baden Baden. All are beautiful and a nice visit but Baden Baden sticks clearly out for me: It was the most famous of the German Spa towns and had the most famous guests. The town center is, other then Wiesbaden, clearly centered around the spas and laid out in the most beautiful way along a park. It is still an active spa town and well renovated and exudes still the air of luxury and style. It even has a splendid casino, good museums and a few castles to complete the perfect spa town. I think it would make a perfect candidate on its own. Nearby Schloss Rastatt is a wonderful excursion. 

Montecatini - The most beautiful label assigned is "The Temple of European Thermal Energy". Loved area for mineral waters, thermal treatments of any kind, exceptional nature, traces of celebrities at every step, all leave the traveler memories Imperious beaches have beaten the area later, to the nineteenth centuries - the beginning of the twentieth century, here are the megalomanic-constructions, the newest in a pleasant Art-Nouveau style. If the Medici of Tuscany loved the spa town, the real financiers were the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The interiors of many of the spas can now be admired, as well as the palace where the city hall now works - in fact, a true art museum.
 

Baden bei Wien

This is the 5th Great Spa in Europe I have visited. The other 4 are Karlovy Vary in Czechia, Baden-Baden in Germany, Spa in Belgium and Bath in the UK.

I guess Bad Ischl in Salzkammergut, which I have also been to, is no longer included in this Great Spas of Europe nomination, but Baden bei Wien is. I'm not exactly sure how these decisions were made. 

I enjoyed visiting this small town outside Vienna quite a bit, but I see some problems in this nomination. First of all, there are not many traces of spa facilities in this town. At other spa towns included in this nomination you can either drink the spa water (Karlovy Vary; Spa) or soak in it (Baden-Baden; Bath) at their historic facilities. But here are no historic drinking or soaking facilities available for tourists. 

The nomination says, "Among the most significant spa buildings there are Josefsbad, Leopoldsbad, Frauenbad, Engelsbad, Franzensbad, Grand Hotel Sauerhof, Kurhaus, and the theatre."

To begin with, the staffs at the tourist info were not able to give much info on the specific sites related to this nomination. They just said the whole town is nominated. They did not even mention the fact that the tourist office building itself had been converted from the Leopoldsbad mentioned in the nomination. 

To be sure, there is a modern spa facility in town, aptly named Römertherme, but this is rather like a water park that …

The Czech part of this nomination is sometimes called as the West Bohemian Spa Triangel. It consists of Karlovy Vary, Marianske Lazne and Frantiskovy Lazne. This part of Czechia was inhabited by German minority before WWII, thus, the spas are also known by their German names: Karlsbad, Marienbad and Franzensbad. Nowadays, Karlovy Vary is however very popular for Russian minority.

The Triangel as well as spa Luhacovice in the eastern part of Czechia (Moravia) have been included to T-list as separate sites for quite a long time. Luhacovice was deferred in 2008 and eventually "sacrificed" on the altar of trans-European nomination called Great Spas of Europe. The West Bohemian Spas emanate an international ethos for centuries. They certainly have the OUV, and they should have been already incribed. They are generaly appreciated as the symbol of spa culture by everyone in Czechia as well as abroad. Thus, I do not understand why the Czech nomination needs the help of western friends to be incribed... It reminds me one comment from the forum that by application of this approach the entire Europe minus Dresden will be inscribed soon as the trans-natinal cultural landscape of a global importance...

Luhacovice spa is also special but it is built in national style and it has mostly national connotations such as the influence of composer Leos Janacek.

The West Bohemia Spa Triangel is famous for natural springs (tasting higly recommended + liqueur Becherovka + delicious spa wafers), colonnades in Art Nouveau and …

I visited this tentative WHS in March 2017. When I used to live in Belgium, I always visited Spa for automotive reasons rather then for its historic value.

If you visit or live in any of the Benelux countries (especially Belgium), you'll most probably drink Spa bottled water as it is one of the most popular brands. The word spa, meaning natural water source believed to possess special health-giving properties seems to have originated from this village. However, I had never visited Spa to appreciate its historical significance and its link to water.

This time round, I decided to give it a try, as I reckon it would surely be included in any form of WH inscription linked to water. The town is very small and most of the sites are close to the main square with the first casino in the world. The spires of the church dedicated to St Remacle can easily be seen from the main square.

It seems that a lot of money has been invested to favour Spa's inscription on the WH list. There are information boards and signs everywhere now and everything is in tip top condition except maybe for the Bains building.

The tourist office is housed in what I considered as the highlight of my visit - the Pouhon Pierre le Grand which is both a nature site and a monument housing the main natural spring of the town. The word 'pouhon' does not derive from the Walloon 'pouhi' meaning to draw …

There's a rather grand transboundary nomination in the making called Great Spas of Europe. 16 Spa Towns scattered through Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, France, UK and Belgium are preparing a serial nomination on 19th century European spa culture. The final selection will hold less sites (maybe as little as 7 or 8). Bath, Spa, the West Bohemian Spa Triangle, Baden-Baden and Vichy seem to be the most likely ones to make the cut.

Last weekend I visited the Belgian town of Spa, a safe bet as it is considered the "original" spa after which the other 19th century resorts were named. The site was on Belgium's Tentative List on its own merits between 2008 and 2014, but now is caught up in what might become a cumbersome and messy pan-European nomination process. The failed attempts of the global Corbusier sites come to my mind when I think of the logistics. The nomination date for the Great Spas of Europe has already been postponed from 2015 to 2017.

I did not expect too much from my visit to Spa: the Dutch language Wikipedia-page on the town remarks that it "was" the most popular tourist site in the Ardennes until 1980. What happened then is unclear. I did enjoy my stay however: I spent a short weekend there, staying overnight in the much recommended Herbergue Chatoiment. The sunny autumn weather obviously attributed much to the beauty of the town. There were lots of tourists too, mainly Belgians making the best of …

Currently residing in Bad Homburg, I was pleased to learn that it is planned to be included as a part of this transnational proposal. If successful, this would make small Bad Homburg home of two WHS, the other one being Kastell Saalburg, the most significant part of the Limes in Germany.

Germany is home to many spa towns and indeed many also feature in this proposal. Bad Homburg used to be, and still is, one of the most prominent ones. Until WWII it was also quite international, with prominent guests coming for treatments, entertainment and social contacts.

The most prominent element of this site is the huge spa park designed by the famous French garden architect Lenne, who additionally planned the spa park in nearby Wiesbaden. Many functional and ornamental structures are scattered in the park: a bathhouse (of course), an orangerie, a historical tennis court, a historical golf course - first in Germany, a casino, a pond, a Russian Orthodox church and even a Thai Buddhist temple. The last two constitute evidence of the international nature of the Bad Homburg clientele. There are also several fountains and monuments. Everything is well kept and survived the destruction of WWII. Only the interior of the bathhouse did not fully survive.

A major lose, on the other hand, was the Kurhaus, an establishment found in every spa town that housed the cultural events. It was famous and lavishly decorated. A visit to the well preserved Kurhaus in nearby Wiesbaden can demonstrate what …