Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try
Slide Nr 1We don’t mind getting into hot water into our travels – when that water comes in the shape of natural hot springs, public whirlpools and hotel hot tubs. Soak your sore muscles in the water and drink in the spectacular scenery; immerse yourself in conversation as you submerge your body in the toasty H2O; take your time as you take the plunge at these 20 stunning hot tubs around the globe.
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 2You know when you’re sore all over and Granny tells you to soak those aching muscles in Epsom salts? The Termas de Polques are nature’s answer to the age-old household remedy. The uniquely situated, mineral-rich natural hot springs on the edge of the famous Bolivian salt flat are the perfect place to soothe sore legs after a day of touring the Salar de Uyuni. [Photo: travelmag.com/Flickr]
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 3A scenic and affordable place to enjoy the natural hot springs in the notoriously pricey Canadian Rockies? Yes, please! Even if you’ve blown most of your holiday budget on a ski pass for Banff, you can still afford to soothe your aching muscles after a day on the slopes at Canada’s highest hot springs pool, which sits at 1,585 metres and is fed by natural mineral water. [Photo: Parks Canada, Olivia Robinson]
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 4The Esalen Institute, a humanist research and learning retreat on the coast of Big Sur, California, may seem vaguely cultish at first glance, but it’s incredibly open and welcoming to outsiders – even those who are just coming for a dip in the hot tubs. The cliffside hot springs are open for public night bathing by reservation. Clothing is optional, but breathtaking night sky and ocean views are almost guaranteed.
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 5The rooftop hot tub at the Standard Hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district is a rare New York treat: it’s free. Free to patrons, that is, meaning you need to get past the bouncers first. As part of Le Bain, the hotel’s “penthouse discothèque and rooftop bar”, it’s not even automatically open to residents. The view is undeniably fantastic, the venue is either spectacularly cool or insufferably pretentious – depending on your perspective.
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 6Mystic Hot Springs in Utah are situated on a hippie-dippy – and accordingly less-than-ritzy – campsite in Utah. The site features a pioneer village made up of reclaimed wooden cabins, several converted school buses now serving as permanent campers, and of course the hot springs. Visitors can soak in natural pools or in several old-timey bathtubs that have become overgrown with sediment from the mineral-rich water flowing through them over the years.
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 7Seattle sure has a taste for lake-bound spa facilities. Lake Union alone has a swimming sauna and a floating hot tub. Hot Tub Boats are available for rent there and for sale anywhere in the world. They claim to be the world’s first and only of their kind – which may be an overstatement, but they’re definitely the coolest way for you and five of your closest friends to keep warm in the face of Washington’s famously tempestuous weather.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 8Not entirely different, the concept of the Hot Tug is distinguished mainly by its less elegant design. It looks more like a hot tub that floats, as opposed to a boat with an added hot tub. Take it for a spin in its native Rotterdam or one of five other locations across Finland, Switzerland and the UK. If you really love the concept, you can even purchase a Hut Tug to call your own. [Photo: HotTug]
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 9In Zurich, the municipal pools lining the lake and river are free, but when the weather is too chilly for them, the affordable day pass at Thermalbad is a great alternative. You can still see traces of the converted brewery in vaulted ceilings, wooden vats and the red brick chimney. The undisputed highlight of a chilled-out day drifting through the several pools and baths is the open-air hot tub with a view across the city, its lake and the surrounding mountains.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 10Igloo Villages, founded in Switzerland with locations across the European Alps, offer everything you need for a perfect mountain escape. In addition to the unique architecture, quaint community feel and prerequisite breathtaking views, the Gstaad, Zermatt and Zugspitze Villages offer picturesque whirlpools that – after a fresh powder dump – look like they’ve just been dug out of the snow.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 11What looks like a UFO landing site in the middle of the Austrian Alps is in fact one of the most extravagant examples of the country’s excellent public thermal baths. The bowl-shaped open-air pools, seemingly suspended above the rest of Aqua Dome‘s ample outdoor facilities, each offer different water temperatures and qualities, plus extras like underwater music and massage jets. They all share the same excellent view of the surrounding Ötztal mountain ranges.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 12Skiing all day and chilling out in hot water at night? Sounds like the perfect winter day. In the European Alps, whirlpools, hot tubs and hot pots are commonly found, even in basic accommodation. If you don’t mind sharing the tub – and enjoying the view – with a bunch of strangers, take a plunge in the large wood-fired barrel at Rifugio Scoiattoli. The modest mountain hut on the slopes of South Tyrol overlooks the Cortina d’Ampezzo peaks.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 13For many, a dip in the famous geothermally heated pools is the main attraction of a visit to Iceland. You could immerse yourself in the world-renowned Blue Lagoon, take a walk on the wild side by diving the so-called Devil’s Jacuzzi, or simply soak in one of the many hot tubs – natural, man-made or somewhere in between – to be found all over the island. [Photo: Al Case /Flickr]
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 14There are plenty of reasons to love Secret Solstice Festival. There’s the convenient location in Iceland’s capital, the fantastic timing that has a late-night party taking place during daylight thanks to the midnight sun, and of course the excellent line-up. However, even festival pros are bowled over not only by the fact that there is a hot tub on site, but that you can actually see the main stage from it!
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 15Drinking beer while soaking in hot water is pretty standard behaviour (health warnings be damned!). Soaking in hot beer, however, is a relatively unusual pastime, albeit one growing in popularity. Beer spas have been popping up across the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with imitators spreading throughout Europe and the USA. At “The Original” Beer Spa in Prague, punters kick back in oak tubs filled with hops, brewer’s yeast and malt, while enjoying unlimited supplies of the same ingredients in brewed form.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 16A visit to the city’s famous thermal baths is a must on any visit to Budapest. The Rudas Baths were built in 1550, during Ottoman rule, and have recently been fully refurbished. The period façade, classic pool and Turkish-style baths were retained, but modern elements were added – including a rooftop hot tub offering panoramic views across the Danube to the Pest side of town.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 17The cascading limestone terraces of Pamukkale Hot Springs have been celebrated for their natural beauty and healing powers for centuries and were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Today, water access is restricted, and soaking pools have been added to preserve the glistening white natural site. The current tourism lull in Turkey may just offer the perfect opportunity to visit without the crowds.
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 18As with many Japanese customs and traditions, visitors would do well to read up on the history, traditions and etiquette of onsen or sento before embarking on a visit to the public bath houses. They used to be common throughout Japan, so you will find some form of public bath anywhere you go, but for the natural thermal variety, head to one of the scenic hot springs towns like coastal Kinosaki Onsen in northern Hyogo Prefecture.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 19No matter where you stay in Bali, chances are your hotel will have a hot tub. If you fancy a change of scenery, visit Banjar Hot Springs, where locals and visitors alike enjoy the healing powers of the volcanic water streaming out of ornately carved dragon’s heads into man-made pools. Thanks to its sulphur content, there’s an overpowering smell, but the surrounding rainforest scenery – and said healing powers – make it well worth putting up with.
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 20While the original Hot Tub Cinema takes a break due to its founders opening a real cinema in London, the concept of Hot Tub Cinema is alive and well. The self-explanatory event series screens classic movies for an audience seated in hot tubs. Currently touring the globe – most recently setting up shop in Sydney – it’s a crowd-pleaser no matter where it pops up. [Photo: Hot Tub Cinema]
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Travel
Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
Slide Nr 21Elsewhere in Australia, the natural hot tubs on the Mornington Peninsula offer a more serene experience. A bit like an explorer climbing a mountain, bathers slowly make their way uphill, via the saunas and steam baths, through differently tempered pools to the pinnacle of hot tubs, with a view of the surrounding countryside, preferably at sunset. Due to its proximity to Melbourne, it can get quite crowded, but a chilled-out atmosphere usually prevails.
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Give It A Whirl: Weird & Wonderful Hot Tub Experiences To Try.
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