Experience Tuscany

The month of March offers many advantages to women that want to take advantage of a short pre-summer break and relax at one of the many thermal spas in Tuscany.
Either for a few days or for the entire month of march, the majority of Tuscan spa resort offer one or multiple special packages dedicated to women’s wellness and relax. You can choose to stay one or more nights, or take advantage for only a day spa with treatments and thermal baths. Here are all the spa special offers and packages dedicated to women for March of 2010.

Please note: all the links to the official websites below are in Italian as it was not possible to find the corresponding page in English. However, the staff of each resort speaks English and you will have no trouble getting detailed info by email or phone.

San Giovanni Terme in Rapolano Terme near Siena: The packet “Daily You” includes one entrance to the thermal pools, one light lunch and one treatment all at 80 Euros per person. Valid for the entire month of March 2010. The “Mimosa Packet” includes two week days and one night in a comfort room-type, one treatment, thermal pool access and fitness room access for two days at 155 Euros per person. Valid for the entire month of March.
In addition on March 8th women enter for free showing the wellness STR card membership, and no single room use surcharge is applied for double hotel rooms for the entire month. More info at www.termesangiovanni.it.

Antica Querciolaia in Rapolano Terme near Siena: Overnight stay at 120 Euros per person in a double room with dinner and breakfast, including entrance at the spa until late night, massages and healing muds. Your stay will be at Hotel Posta del Chianti on the night of the 8th. More info at www.termeaq.it.

Terme di Saturnia in Saturnia near Grosseto: From March 6 to the 9 at 210 Euros per person you can have a day spa including spa manicure, hydralift, and herbal hair treatment. For golf lovers, a miniclinic of three days is also offered at 450 Euros per person including golf classes, video analysis of your swing, practice, thermal baths and final tournement. More info at www.termedisaturnia.it.

Fonteverde in San Casciano dei Bagni near Siena: For the entire month of March 2010 you can choose three midweek days or two weekend days at 597 Euros per person. Although the price is quite remarkable, also your accommodation, services and care offered are of the highest quality. The package is for women only and includes treatments specifically targeted to women. More info at www.fonteverdespa.com.

Grotta Giusti in Monsummano Terme near Pistoia: From March to May women are offered a special treatment at Grotta Giusti. 720 Euros per person will grant you three days of absolute bliss and the priviledge of being spoiled in a wonderful accommodation and served the best beauty and wellness treatments. If you bring along a female friend you will be both offered a rich dinner at the prestigious restaurant of the hotel. More info at www.grottagiustispa.com.

Terme Sensoriali in Chianciano Terme near Siena: On March 8 women are admitted for the entire day at only 30 Euros per person. For an additional 85 Euros you will be able to get a special scrub treatment and admittance to the Salone Sensoriale. More info at www.termechianciano.it.

Terme di Casciana in Casciana near Pisa: The Pour Elle package offers a day spa treatment with massage, entrance to the thermal pools and a present at 80 Euros. The Pour Famme package at 110 Euros per person adds a facial treatment. More info at www.termedicasciana.com.

Terme Bagni di Lucca in Bagni di Lucca near Lucca: For the entire month of March 2010, Day Spa with Mimosa package to stay overnight at only 159 Euros per person. Half board, treatments, and thermal baths included in the price. Reductions for groups of 6 plus women. More info at www.termebagnidilucca.it.

Take advantage of these fantastic offers dedicated to women for a splendid Tuscany spa relax.

Easter is coming soon, precisely on April 4, 2010. A great idea would be to spend your Easter holidays in Italy, and more precisely in the Tuscany region. During spring time Tuscany is a great place to be. This time of the year brings along thousands of typical events to take part to, traditions to discover. Most importantly you will be able to attend the awakening of the wonderful natural setting of Tuscany. During Easter the gray and brown fields become covered with intense green little plants that later in the year become wheat or other crops to harvest. The first pale leaves gather more intensity from the warming sun to become of an intense green that adorns river ways and side-roads. The rising temperatures and lengthening hours of daylight make it even more pleasurable to be in the outdoors visiting wonderful settings like Siena, San Gimignano, Florence, Pisa, and many more thousands of delicious towns and villages of Tuscany.

If you need few ideas where to spend your 2010 Easter in Tuscany, the best thing is to stay in one of the many holiday rentals. The Casentino mountains, for example, offer great accommodations in Tuscany by owner. Like Bio Agriturismo Il Vigno, an organic farm house near the Casentino mountains park and the La Verna monastery, a place of great religious faith and immense beauty.

If you would like to take advantage of the still white Tuscany mountains, you can go even further up on the Abetone mountain of the Pistoia province. For the remainder of the 2010 ski season in Tuscany you will be able to take advantage of great hotel and ski lift discounts while enjoying an unmatched natural landscape.

The warming season, however, can make you roll directly on the Tuscany coast in the wild and beautiful Maremma. Here much of the natural setting is protected, and the landscape preserves a great charge of romantic beauty. Seeing the wild horses run free, or walk bare feet on the sandy beaches of Tuscany are emotions to divide with some one special.

Just like the rejuvenating and relaxing experience of trying one of the many Tuscany thermal spas. Rapolano Terme, Cascina, Grotta Giusti, Bagni Vignoni, Saturnia, and many more are the thermal resorts scattered all over Tuscany that can offer you complete accommodation packages or just a day spa with treatments.

And why not spending your Easter in Italy crossing a section of Tuscany with a Vespa? The Etruscan coast near Pisa is a wonderful and off-the-beaten-road area to discover in a fun way with this tour dedicated to Vespa and motorbikes enthusiasts.

Spending your Easter in Italy dedicating a large chunk of you holiday to Tuscany is one of the best treats you can do to yourself. You will want to come back over and over!

Relax, romanticism and a wonderful vacation in Tuscany. What more to celebrate your Valentine’s in a superb way? Lulled and spoiled in the splendid Tuscan landscape and attended with great customer care in prestigious hotels and spa resorts, you will rediscover the meaning of taking care of oneself and share the wellness with the one you love.
For this 2010 Valentine’s there are many great hotel offers you should take advantage of, especially if you already are in Tuscany around February 14th and would like to make your romantic weekend extra special.

Hotel Adua & Regina di Saba Wellness and Beauty – Montecatini Terme
1 night at €145 including
1 night and breakfast in a standard double room, 1 dinner at the hotel restaurant, Live music on Saturday, Internet access, discount shopping card in Montecatini, inroom champaign and welcome gift upon arrival, soft robe and slippers for your usage.
Also including entrance at the SPA with thalassotherapy and hydromassage, Swedish waterfall, steam baths with varying temperatures and aromas, fitness room, relax area with herbal infusions of your choice.

The Valentine’s offer also includes the possibility of an extended stay. Two nights at €260 and three nights at €350 for two people, all other details apply. For more info and booking contact Hotel Adua in Montecatini Terme, Tuscany at info@hoteladua.it and here.

Hotel Manzoni – Montecatini Terme
1 night €125 including
All-inclusive stay (including half board stay, welcome gift)in a superior double bedroom, special Tuscan-style dinner with local wine tasting, welcome gift upon arrival, a SPA treatment (including sauna, aromatic showers, Rasul baths, steam bath, Kneipp bath, hydromassage, cromotherapy, relax area with herbal teas to choose), soft robes and slippers in room, courtesy cremes and toiletry, free Internet, and fitness room.
Adding an extra 20 Euros you can also have a 30 minutes relaxing massage per person.
For more info and booking contact the Hotel Manzoni in Montecatini Terme at info@hotelmanzoni.info or here.

Columbia Hotel & Spa – Montecatini Terme
at €168 per person including
1 night and breakfast in a double Liberty-style room, 1 candle light dinner in the hotel’s panoramic restaurant with wines, welcome gift and champaign upon arrival, soft robes and slippers in room, courtesy cremes and toiletry, 30 minutes relax massage, a 1 hour and a half wellness treatment (including steam bath and cromotherapy, Kneipp baths, aromatherapy showers, thepidarium steam baths, sauna and hydromassage), another wellness treatment of one hour and a half (including Rasul baths, saline grotto baths, vascular frigidarium, infrared sauna, ice water fall, relax area and herbal teas of your choice).
If you would like to stay two nights and have even more services included per day, the cost is 320 Euros per person. For more info please contact the Columbia Hotel in Montecatini Terma at info@hotelcolumbia.it or visit the site here.

Casanova Hotel Residence – San Quirico D’Orcia, Siena
at €95 per night per person including
2 nights in a double bedroom with half board service, buffet breakfast, relax spa treatment, and special candle light nocturnal baths, hydromassage pools, Watsu bathtubs, sauna, fitness room, pool towels, tennis court, pool table, tennis table.

Other wellness offers are available. Request more info at the Casanova Hotel Residence of San Quirico d’Orcia at info@residencecasanova.it or visit the site here.

Il Falconiere Relais & Chateaux – Cortona, Arezzo
starting at €445 for two nights for two people including
2 nights in double room of choice (€445 for a Classica, €545 for a Deluxe with hydromassage bathtub, €645 for a Junior Suite with living room and hydromassage tub, €745 for a Suite with living room, hydromassage and shower massage, €445 for a SPA room facing the pool with hydromassage tub, and €745 for the SPA Suite with hydromassage tub facing the pool), champaign and chocolate strawberries in room, Valentine’s breakfast with the love pie and a glass of muscat wine, candle light dinner, access at the Thesan Estruscan spa with a ritual for couples in the spa. A third night stay will cost you half price.
SPA ROOM Fronte piscina Spa, bagno con vasca idromassaggio € 445,00
SPA SUITE Fronte piscina Spa, soggiorno con vasca idromassaggio € 745,00

More info and reservations at Il Falconiere Relais & Chateaux in Cortona at Il Falconiere Relais & Chateaux – Cortona or at the hotel site here.

If you participated to the previous contest for a New Year’s eve in Tuscany, you might be interested in knowing that the names of the winners are to be found at this page.
If you like to participate to these contests to win a free vacation in Tuscany, be thrilled, because a new one is already on its tracks. The wellness contest started on December 20th and will end on February 15, 2010. All you have to do to participate is to go to the link you visited above to see the past edition’s winners, then click on the “Wellness” tab (besides the “Art” tab) then click on the “Tailored Wellness” image and follow the instructions to play and participate to the extraction of many wonderful prizes. First of all read the participation rules here (it is a word document).
There are 5 wonderful prizes to be won. All include a 2 days stay at a prestigious spa resort hotel, spa and beauty treatments, and full or half board. The value of the prizes range from 1700 to 1130 euros.
Only those who have already booked a holiday in Tuscany or will do so within ten days of having won the sweepstakes will be able to take advantage of the offer. This makes sense as the prize is 2 days, and of course you would not come to Tuscany only for a two-days vacation!
The first prize includes a stay at the Saturnia spa resort near Grosseto, the second in San Casciano dei Bagni at Fonteverde spa, the third at Grotta Giusti spa resort in Monsummano Terme near Pistoia, the fourth is a stay in Rapolano Terme at Terme San Giovanni near Siena, while the fifth is in the famous Montecatini Terme near Pistoia.
Participating is extremely easy. You just need to send an electronic postcard of Tuscany to 4 friends or relatives of yours. Each time one of your friends registers to participate to the contest, your name will be reintroduced in the sweepstakes list, thus increasing your chances of winning!
The draw will be on February 18, 2010, and winners will be able to choose the best period to visit Tuscany between March 15th and June 15th of 2010. Hurry up, send as many postcards as you can!

Spend a wonderful New Year’s Eve relaxing at one of the many wonderful Tuscan thermal spas. You will be surprised by wonderful shows and entertainment accompanying your hot bath in the beneficial and relaxing waters of these beauty centers immersed in nature. You are sure to meet a very unusual way of celebrating the beginning of a new year, however a very pleasant one, which will bring you in a romantic dimension made of soft colors, warm feelings, delicate scents, exotic tastes and invigorating treatments. You will spend this special night suspended in time, far from the chaos and frenzy, surrounded by lulling sounds. You will only be disappointed that wherever you are at, this magical experience will come to an end, eventually.
Depending where you are spending your holidays in Tuscany, you will find below the most convenient spas to go to. Each one offers a special program for the evening.
In Rapolano Terme you can choose between two splendid resorts. At the Terme San Giovanni will be offered a singular flying lantern show that you will be able to attend directly from the hot water pools. The evening will start at 9,30pm and will include the midnight toast. The rest of the night is accompanied by relaxing music. The event is for a limited number of people only, so do reserve in advance. More info and booking here Price 70 euros per person.
Rapolano also offers the Terme Antica Querciolaia, where you will find a more classic but nevertheless very entertaining night. The evening starts at 9 pm with a welcome toast. Live music will entertain throughout the night until midnight for the toast with the New Year’s toast and Christmas Tuscan pastries. At 2 am there will be a spaghetti madness topped at 4 am by fresh cream pastries. The night will be over at 5 am when the pool will close. The evening is 60 euros per person. Booking is required. For more info and booking phone +39 0577 724091 email: infoterme@termeaq.it
In Chianciano Terme the Sensorial Spas offer a dream evening among saunas, hydro massages, healing muds, steam rooms, and relaxation pools. From 9 pm the this romantic night will start with a light finger food buffet, accompanied by wine and champaign. Cost 140 euros per person. Reservation is needed. Phone +39 057868480
The Thermal spas of Casciana near Pisa offer a live music night with typical pastries and champaign at midnight. The evening starts at 9,30 pm to conclude at 2 am, of course with the external pool open. Cost per person 70 euros. Info and booking at Pone: +39 0587 644608 or at email: info@termedicasciana.it
Finally the wonderful Grotta Giusti near Lucca also offers a dinner with their evening that starts at 8,30 pm with a light buffet to continue with a full fledged feast. You will be able to eat with your robe on, ready to sit at the table from the pool and to jump in the water right after dinner. At midnight the toast and the traditional sliced pork leg will be served with red wine. The cost is 155 euros and includes the robe, slippers, and towels. Reservation is necessary and can be done at Phone: +39 0572 9077423 or email ricevimento.piscina@grottagiustispa.com.

All the above prices usually include reductions for children, so remember this when booking.
There is no better way to treat yourself and your family with one of the above packages for a splendid New Year’s Eve in Tuscany.

Bagno Vignoni is a small little village full of hidden surprises. One of them is the “Il Barrino”, a small music bar with live music every weekend.
When you get to Bagno Vignoni in Tuscany, mostly you are searching for a relaxing spot to forget about everything while relaxing at the thermal spas. After leaving the hotel and touring the little village you are sure to feel like experiencing a bit of local life, and you are sure to find it at “Il Barrino”.
Located in a narrow street that leads to the historic square-pool of the town, it may well be overlooked if you are not paying attention. A small entrance, a few steps to get to the bar floor, then the eating and music room opens up on a side. The welcoming environment and the friendly service are a great reason to get there every time you can , but it is during the week end that “Il Barrino” is filled with people and live music. Cover bands and groups with original music alternate on the stage of the little club to create a happy ambient and initiate slow dances that go on until late night and early morning. However, dancing is not always up, as there often are groups that offer very refined music to relax and taste the delicacies offered to eat.
The homelike furnishing makes it feel like you are entering into a friend’s welcoming home, and the terrace reserved to the band leaves all the space for the tables. Cocktails and wines are really good, as the bartender is a skillful one and the cellar offers the greatest local reds. If you are a Bloody Mary lover, you have to try it here served with local huge capers served freshly picked (unfortunately only during summer time). The pairing of the best Tuscan wines and the soft live music creates the perfect ambient to continue the relaxation attained during your day at the spa. The peace and culture of Tuscany can be find concentrated here, in a little corner of music pleasure and taste.
“Il Barrino” can be found in Bagno Vignoni in Tuscany, near San Quirico d’Orcia while walking up to the main square. If you want to discover what music is played durind a particular night you can contact the management at +39 0577 887112 or write at their email: info@ilbarrino.it the website is www.ilbarrino.it, but you will not find much information on there.

Fall and winter time are the very best seasons to dive in outdoor pools of warm water and enjoy marvelous Tuscan landscapes without feeling a shiver. Being lulled by the warm water while the first flakes of snow start falling from the sky gives an indescribable feeling of comfort and protection that helps to relax completely. On top of it all are the beneficial effects that these thermal waters embody, a balm for fluid drainage, respiratory and skin problems, among many others. To think that these advantages are a gift of nature makes it all even more worth it. The volcanic activity that characterizes the Tuscan underground has resulted in centuries of thermal spa treatments and relaxation, with many spa centers and hotels all over the region.
From now until the end of the year there are many offers you can take advantage of. Wellness packages targeted to women, men and couples for all needs. Like the Terme di San Giovanni in Rapolano with offers from 140 to 370 Euro per person. San Casciano dei Bagni also offers many convenient options for a luxurious stay in a premium hotel matched with premium quality wellness and beauty treatments.
Have you ever visited the thermal spas of Mosummano Terme at Grotta Giusti? You have to be there. Imagine the wonderful setting of calcareous caves, small grottos where to relax with the lulling sound of the dripping water, floodlit natural pools of thermal waters. For those who enjoy more the open spaces the open pool of hot waters with hydromassage offers a splendid relaxation with a view. You can find the special offers at this page last minute offers and the last minutes of Grotta Giusti here.
And what to say about Bagni Vignoni, that with its Adler hotel and spa resort offers a wonderful stay in the Val d’Orcia. A resort of great scenic beauty in a special place indeed. Celebrated since ancient times by the Romans, these spas are a treat to you senses and spirit. This is the ideal place where to release any built up stress, rejuvenating the soul. The offers of the Adler spa resort hotel can be found here.
The monumental Thermal Spa resort of Pisa, so important and luxurious to be the resort of the King of Italy during the kingdom, are a pleasure to visit and to stay in. The many cures and relaxation packages offered can satisfy any need, even for the most exotic type of massage or treatment. You can find the offers of the Therms of Pisa here and here.
To finish the list of the ongoing offers, in Maremma thermal spas go by the name of the wonderful Terme di Saturnia with special offers all year round.
There are of course many more thermal spa resorts in Tuscany, however those above are currently open and offering great packages and discounts to relax in Tuscany away from the mass tourism.

Tuscany welcomes all women that love to take care of themselves cultivating their spirit as well as their body, while seeking to balance their wellness and spirituality.
Tuscan women have developed wellness programs for visiting women that best suit and adapt to the sensitivity and rhythm of the feminine world. Tuscany is a harmonious place. Harmony is found in landscapes, cultures and traditions. The first spiritual and physical well-being here is born from the mere fact of living this land and getting caught in its rhythms dictated by nature, the seasons, and the variations of the sun and the moon.
Meditation and relaxation await you on the slopes of the sacred Mount Amiata with packages for those who enjoy being pampered. Treatments at Terme San Filippo can alternate to excursions in the bowels of the magic (inactive) volcano. One can find her equilibrium suspended in the ethereal atmosphere of the Casentino, the land of endless forests and monuments to faith, a reign of deep silence, where meditation and introspection are the main goal.
The beneficial thermal waters and their prodigious effects are reserved a privileged spot in the ancient Tuscan tradition, and are a stronghold of wellness. In Montecatini and Monsummano Terme the sulphurous thermal pools await those who would love to spend their day in a bathrobe, alternating the warm baths to a beauty mask and a relaxing massage.
For those seeking relaxation in the lulling Tuscan landscape of incomparable beauty, the many thermal centers near Siena give plenty of choice. Combine a stay in a farmhouse or hotel with treatments at spas such as Bagno Vignoni, Petriolo, Bagni San Filippo, Rapolano, Montepulciano, Radicofani and San Casciano dei Bagni. Chianciano Terme deserves to be mentioned alone as its scenario was chosen by director Fellini for his famous film “Eight and a Half”. Here the museum dedicated to curative waters constitutes a rarity to be discovered. In Chianciano are also available traditional Chinese Tui-Na massage accompanied by aromatherapy, steam facials and warm. Some facilities also make available a rental car with driver.
In northern Tuscany, the Lunigiana, are to be found the olos-day, which consist of complete treatment packages for those who want to get the full benefit more efficiently. Within a day you may try wellness, Eastern anti stress, chocolate therapy, wine therapy, and detoxifying treatments.
If you are thinking of something more intense, the island of Capraia offers the guidance of masters to practice the techniques of meditation, yoga, Shiatsu and Qi Gong to find your inner balance in contact with nature between the land and the sea.

The charming Bagni Vignoni has always been a place of inspiration for poets, writers and artists. Set in the heart of Tuscany, along the ancient pilgrim road Via Francigena, which crosses Europe joining Canterbury (England) to Rome, the tiny, charming village has always been a resting place for travelers.
The center of the village is the “Spring Square“, a rectangular stone tank containing the original source of thermal water that comes out steaming hot from an underground volcanic vein.
The Etruscans were the first ones to discover the curative waters of Bagno Vignoni. Their presence in the area is proven by many remains from that era. The Romans in later times, always fond of baths, took advantage of the spas. In time other illustrious names came to enjoy the baths. Pope Pius II, Santa Caterina da Siena, Lorenzo de Medici chose Bagno Vignoni as their holiday resort for the body and mind. Famous poets, writers and artists have always chosen, and still do, this place as a source of inspiration.
Bagno Vignoni is located in the heart of Val d’Orcia, near Pienza and Montalcino in the province of Siena. The name of this ancient village derives from Vignoni, a castle already known in the Eleventh century. Its remains dominate the hill above the village. The hot springs also contributed to the name, as they have been used since Roman times. In the Twelfth century the bathing portion was subject to the Tignosi family, lords of Tintinnano, now Rocca d’Orcia, and it remained so until the end of 1200. With 1300 Bagno Vignoni and the surrounding villages and castles passed under the Salimbeni family of Siena until 1417, when the second husband of Antonia Salimbeni, Atendolo Sforza, sold it to the municipality of Siena.
The characteristic of Bagno Vignoni, in addition to the thermal waters, is its structure, remained unchanged over the centuries. The main town square is not like in many other towns as one can imagine, but it is made of steaming hot water, flowing at 52 degrees Celsius. The rectangular basin of thermal water is at the heart of the square, enclosed on three sides by a boundary wall about five feet high. Around it are some buildings, made by Bernardo Rossellino in honor of Pius II, and the loggia where St. Catherine of Siena sojourned.
The thermal waters hold many curative properties, as they are indicated for curing ENT and respiratory diseases, and gynecological and rheumatic diseases.

Where to find Bagni Vignoni:

View Bagno Vignoni in Tuscany in a larger map

A thermal water spring with more than 2000 years of history: the Baths of San Giuliano have been known since Etruscan times. At a constant temperature of 38 C, these waters donate to the body well-being thanks to sulfates, calcium and magnesium. These spas lived much prestige also during the era of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Located only 6 km from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this beautiful spa resort provides a relaxation program that rivals the best ones worldwide.

The wellness starts with a dive in the pool outside on the terrace of the beautiful building of the Bagni di Pisa. The pool has a hydro massage and you can sunbathe watching the Monte Pisano. To avoid any risk of dehydration, you can enjoy great herbal teas of various types and taste some seasonal fruit offered to you. The old monumental watch of the building marks the pace of your beauty hours. The spas offer a large choice of treatments and massages. Thermal water treatments, inhalation therapies, medical aesthetics are all available to you including Eastern wellness practices and those being currently experimented.
While you are at the Bagni, an experience at the Grand Dukes Hammam is a must. The steam bath is set in a grotto spa: its access has been rediscovered several years ago and dates back to the Eighteenth century. The environment is small and very charming: who knows what untold secrets of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and ambitious courtesans the old cave is keeping! The thermal water springs at 38 C and a small waterfall fills a floodlit basin. The “Hammam Rituals” prices range from 20 to 60 Euros.
If you have some extra money to dedicate to your wellness, then a massage is what you need! You can choose from several types of massages: anti-stress, lymphatic drainage, energizing, shiatsu, ayurveda, and many others. The price of massages range from 65 to 120 Euros. The Pancharupakarma, lasting 4 hours, costs 350 euros, if you have the patience to wait and have a massage for hours!
Remember to keep an eye on the website of the Resort for weekend packages that allow access to services at a lower cost.

The address of the Bagni di Pisa is Largo Shelley, 18 in San Giuliano Terme, Pisa. The Baths of San Giuliano are easy to reach: they are just 10 km from Pisa airport and the railway station of San Giuliano Terme is just 300 meters from the resort. For info and reservations call Phone +39 050 88501.

Here the map to get to the Bagni di San Giuliano:

View Entrance Bagni San Giuliano Pisa in Tuscany in a larger map