We will be travelling as a school group to Florence in March 2011. I am looking for a spa in the Florence area where our group can spend a few hours relaxing. We have visited various other spas in Europe and are generally aware of how they work. Does anyone have suggestions that might help us in our planning?

You can search spas in Tuscany (there appears to be one in Florence) on the Italian Tourist Board website. You might want to take a look at Montecatini as they have quite a few.
http://www.enit.it/introterme.asp?lang=UK&tit=1

kybourbon - Thanks for the website. I spent a bit of time working through the various leads from the Italian Tourist Board. There doesn't seem to be the type of spa we are looking for. At our visits to Baden Baden and in Andorra at the Caldea Spa we had wonderful experiences in larger pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, Roman baths etc. Most of the spas in this area tend to focus on massage and beauty treatment. Many seem to be attached to expensive hotels. We are after a 2 or 3 hour day pass. If we can't find any in this area we may have to look elsewhere. Thanks again.

You should be able to find something similar in Montecatini.
http://www.montecatiniturismo.it/acque_eng.php

What type of transportation will you have? There are other spas/hot springs in southern Tuscany, but you would need your own transportation and would be a long day trip. There are several listed in this link with a few listed in Pisa which would be an easy bus or train ride from Florence. The one at Saturnia seems to be a favorite (free I believe), but in the south.
http://www.welcometuscany.it/special...o_saturnia.htm
http://www.slowtrav.com/photos/showp...o=1042&cat=590

Chianciano Terme has quite a few pools, but again, it's southern Tuscany although you can train to Chiusi/Chianciano.

Montecatini Terme is a personal favorite of mine but Tuscany is full of Spa oriented options. I've found a few great spots through my friends at www.italiancollection.com, and think it's truly worth a look. Good luck!

Thanks again kybourbon and thank you Dobermina. When we leave Florence we will be driving toward Rome in our coach. We would most certainly have the opportunity to take a diversion if we chose to do so.

tC

DOes anyone have any other leads on the type of spa we are looking to visit?

tC

zeppole has provided a link in another thread that suggested the spa located at Chianciano (between Florence and Rome). Has anyone any experience with that location? I may start a new thread with Chianciano in the title if others don't respond to this inquiry. Thank you.

tC

A distant Italian friend (in the travel business) just returned from a spa vacation near Pisa, probably at Bagni di Pisa. If this is of any interest, I will try to find out more details.


http://www.bagnidipisa.com/spa_hotel...sort_italy.htm

The nearest Spa's are I think in Montecatini, for something
spectacular go to www.grottagiustispa.com which i checked out recently for our new tour at www.earthlywaters.com.

ekscrunchy - Thank you for the great lead. I have checked out their website and the spa looks very appealing. Thank you for your offer to contact your friend, but I think the website tells me all the information I need in order to have our travel agent do more research. I do need to be sensitive to the spa since we will be arriving with a group of 40 students.

Stoker - Thank you for connection. This spa is about 40 km from Florence. It offers group rates which are reasonable and from what I can find from the website it looks like an excellent option. Thank you for providing such useful information.

tC

After a fair amount of time spent researching spas and their locations in Tuscany, we've made our decision.

We've narrowed down our options and it appears we will be stopping at the Terme di Chianciano, near Montepulciano. We can arrange a 3.5 hour visit for approximately 30 Euro per person.

Does anyone have any experience at this spa? Any suggestions about how we can get the most out of our time there?

tC