Merano has been a spa town since the Habsburg aristocracy discovered it in the 19th century — Empress Sissi came here for the air, the thermal water, and the mild microclimate. The modern Terme Merano (2005, Matteo Thun architect) is Italy's most architecturally striking thermal complex: a glass cube rising from a park, containing 25 pools (indoor and outdoor), a 2,000m² sauna park with 10 different saunas and steam rooms, and a rooftop terrace where you can float in warm water at 34°C while staring at snow-covered 3,000-meter peaks. After a day of hiking in the Dolomites or skiing in the Merano 2000 resort, this is where you come to dissolve. Merano guide → · South Tyrol →
Plan my Merano trip →25 pools: indoor mineral pools, outdoor infinity pool (open year-round, including winter — the contrast of hot water and cold Alpine air is intoxicating), whirlpools, children's pool, sports pool. Sauna park (textile-free zone): 10 saunas and steam rooms including a Finnish sauna, a brine steam bath, an apple sauna (South Tyrol twist — the scent is incredible), a cold plunge pool, and relaxation rooms with mountain views. Note: the sauna park is textile-free (nude) — standard practice in German-speaking regions but a surprise for Anglo-Saxon visitors. The park and gardens: The Terme is surrounded by the Thermenplatz gardens with outdoor pools and the adjacent Giardini di Castel Trauttmansdorff (the Sissi gardens — 12 hectares of botanical gardens, €14, extraordinary).
Address: Piazza Terme 9, Merano. Prices: 2h €24, 3h €29, full day €36. Sauna park supplement €10-15. Hours: daily 9am-10pm. Book online: termemerano.it — weekends fill up. Getting there: Merano is 30min from Bolzano (train or car). From Bolzano: regional train (every 30min). Stay: Merano center (€80-160/night), many hotels have spa access. Eat: South Tyrolean cuisine — Spätzle, canederli (bread dumplings), Wiener Schnitzel, apple strudel. Sissi café culture on Corso Libertà. Combine with: Ötzi Museum Bolzano (30min), Dolomites (Val Passiria, Val Senales glacier), Merano Christmas markets (November-January — among the most beautiful in the Alps).