‘Centuries ago people used to say, ‘In three days the Piešťany water will either heal you or kill you.'” My guide Igor Paulech is showing me around Spa Island – a hot-spring haven in the middle of the Váh River that runs through Piešťany, Slovakia’s most prestigious spa town. The town, and the island that houses its spas, is located just an hour by train north of Bratislava. It’s filled with art nouveau and deco-style buildings.
Igor is pacing along, passing peacocks in the distance and ponds filled with lilies as he tells us about his hometown’s past. Hot water from under the island’s sandbank created a blueish mud rich in sulphur, hydrogen sulphide, and other minerals.
Slovakia’s affordable, high-quality spa treatment is becoming a global phenomenon. I’m in Slovakia to visit three spa towns. The journey is entirely by train. The journey from London is straightforward and took less than 24 hours thanks to the new European Sleeper route that leaves Brussels for Prague three nights a week, and a direct train from Prague to Piešťany.
The Thermia Hotel and Irma Health Spa are both 113 years old. The rich history is evident as soon as you arrive. The dining room of the hotel is decorated with photographs of maharajas and politicians who visited. A painting by Alfonse Manya, the Czech painter whose art nouveau style defined, also hangs. His daughter visited the hotel regularly to enjoy the mineral-water hydrotherapy. There is also a small museum dedicated to him on Spa Island.
I’m assigned to Dr Alena Korenčíková, who immediately notices I have hypermobility and draws up a personalised programme that includes visits to the thermal bath, filled with sulphuric mineral water, and the hot-mud pool. Daily CO2 injections are also prescribed. Carboxytherapy is a treatment that helps muscle recovery and regeneration. After the treatment, my hard shoulders felt noticeably more flexible. Finally, a mud pack treatment is prescribed to reduce swelling and inflammation and nourish the joints. When I explain that I’m going to Trenčianske Teplice and hope to continue mud treatment there, Dr Alena says: “They have peat, it’s not the same as ours.” It’s time to brush up on my mud expertise.
My toes sink into the mineral-rich mud as I immerse myself in the warm, cloudy water. The mud is pumped straight from the mud room (where it has been treated) into the large circular pool. The architecture is just as exciting as the bathing. The dome of the spa is its stunning centerpiece. Stained glass art deco windows sit high above the art nouveau walls, decorated with tiles, floral patterns and cherubs. Piešťany is just as much about architecture as about bathing, it seems.
Local architect Eva Rohoňová cements this theory the following day, when she shows me around the extraordinary House of Arts, a colossal piece of 1970s brutalism that houses the town’s concert hall and cultural centre. “It’s far too big a capacity for just people from Piešťany,” she says. The Czechoslovakian Government built it in this town because the town was full with international visitors. “It was to show the culture.” The tour is open to anyone. Visit Piešťany website.
After three mud-packed days, I take a train north to Trenčianske Teplice just outside Trenčín, one of next year’s European Capitals of Culture. The picturesque spa town is a mix of 19th century guesthouses in baby pink, peach orange and bright yellow and 1960s concrete hotels. Daniel Oriešek from the tourist board shows me around. I draw attention to the constant stream of tourists carrying walking sticks. He says: “It’s the West Carpathian range, not the Tatras. People come here to hike.”
The Sina hammam is a lavish Turkish bathhouse, which looks like it was teleported from Istanbul. It was in fact built in 1888 and designed by František Schmoranz Jr, an Austrian architect of Czech origin who had spent several years living in Egypt and was a leading expert on Islamic architecture and decorative arts.
I’m led to the pool where a large socialist-era mural covers a wall. I splash my face with water in the middle pool, just like the locals. Afterwards, my skin looks and feels fantastic and, with an entry price of just £12.50, I’m already plotting my next visit as I exit the building.
The next day I catch a train to Žilina, a city in the north of the country, where I disembark to hop on a bus for Rajecké Teplice. It’s a village compared with Piešťany and only has the one spa, Aphrodite, but that spa is truly unlike anywhere else I’ve been. The Vegas of spa resorts is a lovingly maximalist place with Roman-style column, mosaics, and gold decor that sparkles in the crisp spring sun. Radka Capkova, a staff member at the spa resort, says that when you lie on a sunbed and then take a cool dip in the pool on a hot day in summer it feels like you’re somewhere else. “Everyone is aware that Slovakia has many spas. However, it’s often older people who visit. “But our spa is so popular that we get young people taking photos here.”
There are 11 saunas in this huge complex, along with three restaurants and an outdoor pool. In Nature Land, bathing is allowed after 5pm. It’s not allowed to wear a bikini in a central European sauna, so I wrap a sheet around me like a scarf. Capkova urges me attend one of the “sauna-ritual” events. Aufguss( Get over the nudity. No one stares at you or looks at you, he says.
I go to the hottest ritual, where the sauna master swirls around like a figure skater, splashing orange, lemongrass and yuzu water over the hot coals as pop songs blast out and everyone claps along – the camaraderie is so infectious that I quickly forget everyone is naked.
“My great-great-grandmother, my great-aunt, my mother, everyone worked here at some point,” Capkova tells me. Rajecké Teplice is the smallest of the spa towns I’ve been to, but it has a big community impact. In Slovakia, spas are a part of the culture. “But you don’t visit the spa in the UK?” This week, I have been asked this question a lot. I always answer, “We’re on it.”
The trip was organized by Visit Piešťany, Trenčianske Teplice Regional Tourism, Spa Aphrodite The following are some examples of how to get started: Byway Travel (byway.travel). A bespoke 10-day tour of Slovakia costs from £2,012pp, including transport and some accommodation
