By bad, I mean good. Looking for places to enjoy a traditional German spa while traveling around Europe. Massage, sauna, beer garden, scenery if possible, etc. Where do the locals go on their goverrnment paid spa vacations?

Baden-Baden is I think the spiffiest spa in Germany - everything you want save perhaps beer garden.

>Where do the locals go on their goverrnment paid spa vacations?
Less than 100km from the place where they live. I never got one for free , although I know a few people who did. I've never been sick enough.

Where are you going to be "around Europe"?

Baden-Baden is the obvious choice in Germany. Rick Steve' has a dvd on the two spas there; a portion can be viewed on you tube if you look if I remember correctly.

Where do the Germans go? Just look up any town with Bad in its name and see what kind of spa services they offer. For example, 15 minutes from my town is Bad Schönborn and you can check out their website:
http://www.thermarium.de/index.php?id=1049
It is as lovely as the pictures show, with massage jets and head/armrests along tiled benches in the water and even a circular river-type sluice that "gushes" you around and around through the water and then deposits you back out into the main sea-salt pool when you've had enough of being carried along. I kind of laughed at the promo pictures with all the "young" models though; when we go during the day I've been about the youngest one there...and I'm 55! LOL! They don't get many "tourists", don't have English on the website, but do speak enough English on the phone/in person for you to get by. For specific services, like the massage, you would need to call and make an appointment. No view though other than a huge lawn and trees hiding a privacy fence though.

If you are in the Lake Constance (Bodensee) area, the wonderful town of Meersberg does have a wonderful spa with a gorgeous view looking out onto the lake.

Don't forget there are excellent spa facilities across Austria and Switzerland too. (Swiss examples: Bad Ragaz & Leukerbad, to name just two)
And many German/Swiss/Austrian hotels not in "Bad" towns have spas.

Baden-Baden does have a Lowenbrau beer garden in the center of town. It's not directly attached to a spa, of course.

Or you could try the original spa - Spa in Belgium

France has quite a few too.

Tolz..as in "Bad"...very scenic in and of itself but may not be what you had in mind but worth a look IMO..up to you.

"Qual der Wahl":

There are more than 300 (!) Bäder (spa towns) in Germany, practically everywhere. Historically, a "Bad" had a natural source of healing water, e.g. thermal water, saline water, moor water, radioactive water.

Here is a list of Bäder:

www.kurorte-und-heilbaeder.de/

You must click on a state and the a list of Bäder in this state is displayed.

Most of these Kurorte are dominated by old and sick people. Baden-Baden (I was there last Tuesday) is a special case: it is heavily populated by Russians.

Today, water, sauna, massage etc. does not depend on natural sources any more.

We have no what we call "Therme", large facilities which usually combine several swimming pools, both indoor and outdoor, saunas, hamams and much more.

These are probably the most beautiful Thermen in Germany:

- Taunus Therme in Bad Homburg: inspired by Asian themes, 1,400 sq. m. pools.

- Therme in Bad Wörishofen: with south Pacific themes, a man-made lake and a sandy beach; 1,200 sq. m. pools.

- Mediterana in Bergisch-Gladbach: with Mediterranean thems, 2,400 sq. m. pools.

- Caracalla-Therme in Baden-Baden: Roman themes, 908 sq. m. pools.

Other excellently rated Thermen are:

- Rupertus Therme in Bad Reichenhall.
- Carolus Thermen in Aachen.

You find a list of the best Thermen here:

www.thermen-in-deutschland.de

Although the page is in German, you can click on a state ("Bundesländer") and then pictures of the best Thermen in the state pop up. By clicking on "details" you get more information.

Finally, we have several hundreds of hotels with wellness facilities - pool, sauna, hamam, massage. Practically every 5 star hotel (and many 4 star hotels) have these facilities.

To find a wellness hotel, you may use www.hrs.de. Click on "theme hotels" and then on "spa hotels". On the right side of the screen you will find a search mask.

In addition, there are many website listing wellness hotels, e.g.

www.wellness-regionen.de
www.wellness.de
The top 20 in Germany (click on the map):
http://www.focus.de/reisen/urlaubsti...id_563500.html

Hard to beat Echnaton's post, it's very comprehensive. But I'll put in a plug for Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden is also a spa town, very elegant and pretty in a 19th-century kind of way. Heaps of visitors, mostly German. But be warned - you'll be expected to bathe nude, if that bothers you. I imagine that could be the case for other spas too.

Lavandula

I'm partial to the Bavarian Alps, so the suggestions for Meersberg and Bad Tolz are worth checking out - but like so much in Europe - you may pay for the view.

Thanks all, especially Echnaton - exactly what I was looking for. I think Taunus Therme in Bad Homburg will be my first stop after than 10 hour plane ride from the west coast of the US. Danka!

http://www.taunus-therme.de/en/index.html

Bitte.

A common misunderstanding in relation to German thermes is that they require nudity. I have been to spas in Wiesbaden (Rhein-Maine), Bad Hersfeld, Bad Tolz (Alpenmare), Freiburg (Eugen Keidel), Baden Baden (Caracalla), Bad Krozingen, Bad Staffelstein, Bad Neuenahr and Bad Harzburg, and NONE of them require, or allow, nudity in the bathing areas. In all of the above,if you wish to have a sauna, you generally must pay extra, and nudity IS required in the sauna area.

I loved Baden Baden. I was there in the fall, and it felt so charming. They have several spas, I believe, and other interesting things to see, such as the Kurhaus (Casino). They even have the Gasthaus Löwenbräu and Biergarten in the central area of the town (near the shopping, spa and Schloss).

Hi adeben,

I was basing my answer on the Kaiser-Friedrich therme in Wiesbaden, the main spa in town, which according to the sign at the front door is textilfreies Baden - I can't really talk about the others, although I know there are other baths around (Opelbad, Rhein-Main). There are also a number of (free) hot springs in Wiesbaden where you can drink the water too. Some of the water comes out of the ground at 60 degrees Celsius (Bäckerbrunnen)!

Lavandula