San Casciano dei Bagni - Bagno Grande

About San Casciano dei Bagni - Bagno Grande

San Casciano dei Bagni is a hilltop village on the border between Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio, famous for its thermal waters for over two thousand years. Recently it has also become well known for extraordinary archaeological discoveries of Etruscan and Roman bronze statues, found in the mud of an ancient thermal sanctuary. But beyond the museum and the excavations, the village offers something very tangible: historic thermal pools where you can bathe for free.

At the foot of the hill, below the medieval village, are three large stone basins fed by a spring at about 40 °C. Of the three, the one you can bathe in is the Bagno Grande: a wide rectangular stone pool surrounded by greenery, where the hot water flows in and is constantly renewed. Next to it you can see old washhouses and little waterfalls that give the place an old-world charm.

According to the sources we consulted, access is free all year round, with no booking or opening hours. This makes the Bagno Grande a perfect destination for an evening or winter soak, when steam rises into the cold air. The bottom is stone and the pool is fairly comfortable, so it also suits families, always taking care with children on the wet edges.

There are no facilities: no changing rooms or showers. Leave the car in the nearby car park and walk down with your swimsuit already on. The water has a slight mineral smell and, unlike Saturnia, the setting is more intimate and less touristy, although at weekends there can be quite a lot of coming and going.

San Casciano is also the ideal starting point for exploring the area: Cetona, Sarteano, Radicofani and the Val d'Orcia are a short drive away. In the village there is also a luxury spa resort, but that is a private paid facility and has nothing to do with the free pools.