Friedrichsbad

The Friedrichsbad, opened in 1877, is a bathing palace of the Belle Epoque and one of the most remarkable historic baths in Europe. Its Roman-Irish bath is a 17-station circuit: you move in a set order between warm-air and hot-air rooms, steam rooms, a soap-and-brush scrub, thermal pools of different temperatures and a cold plunge, and you finish wrapped in a sheet in a quiet resting room. The centerpiece is a domed pool hall of majolica tile and stone that looks more like a cathedral than a spa.

The whole round takes roughly three hours and is deliberately slow: no phones, very little talking. Bathing is done without swimwear, and on many days the circuit is mixed rather than separated by gender, which surprises most first-time visitors from the US more than the heat does. Mark Twain, who took the cure here, is widely quoted saying that in this building you forget the world and its worries.

Good to know

• Textile-free bathing, ages 14 and up; allow about three hours for the full circuit.
• A quiet, unhurried ritual rather than a water park - go in expecting silence.
• Run by Carasana Bäderbetriebe; current rates and bathing rules are published there.

Opening hours and admission prices change through the year, so please check them directly with the operator: carasana.de.