Being grateful to bathe in Britain’s only natural thermal springs:
My ultimate unwind and relax activity is going to a spa.
I’ve loved them ever since I visited an upmarket health spa in my twenties: walking around in robes and slippers, lounging on huge comfy sofas reading an unputdownable book, flitting between steam rooms and saunas, and of course sinking into a hot bubbling jacuzzi.
I was hooked.
And living in spa-friendly Germany for a couple of years sealed the deal. The spas are much more accessible and very, very eye-opening if you know what I mean, but that’s another story!
So when I knew I was going to the beautiful spa town on Bath, I was excited to finally be able to visit the infamous Roman Baths. And when I discovered I could actually experience the natural hot springs for myself, I knew this was a not-to-be-missed opportunity.
After a fascinating tour of the Roman Baths, I headed to the Thermal Bath Spa for my two hour session – a very welcome early birthday gift from my folks. I received a towel and a robe, and a pair of slippers which I get to keep, woohoo!
After changing, I headed straight up to the rooftop pool.
As I descended the steps into the natural heated (33.5°C/92°F) silky water, enjoying the gorgeous contrast from the crisp March air, I breathed a heavenly sigh of relief: you know, the one you make when sinking into a hot bath.
Oh my, such bliss.
As I relaxed by the edge of the pool, I couldn’t help but marvel that I was lying in water that had fallen as rain around 10,000 years ago and sank to a depth of around 2km before rising back up.
And how incredible that I was here enjoying the same natural thermal waters that the Celts and Romans did over 2,000 years ago.
The water is well known for its health and healing properties, and as I let my body absorb the 42+ different minerals and trace elements, I imagined how over one million litres of this mineral magic flows from the springs every single day.
After a while, I spotted bubbling over the other side of the pool and headed over to enjoy the jacuzzi-like experience. I even found an underwater seat to relax onto and enjoy the bliss.
I’d found my happy place.
Gazing out over the honey-toned stone of Bath, the chimneyed rooftops, church spires and tower of the Abbey, to the surrounding tree-lined hills, I felt completely at ease and blissfully happy.
What could be better than this?
After a while, I headed down to the Aroma Steam Rooms, four circular glass pods each offering a different aromatic scent: sandalwood, lemongrass and ginger, lotus flower and mint. I followed this with a very quick splash from a very cold shower and it was back up to the rooftop.
I alternated between the rooftop pool and steam rooms for my two hour visit, and left feeling dreamily relaxed; floating on cloud nine for the rest of the day.
