
Tuesday 17th June.
Saturnia, Italy
Monday night’s stop was in a Sosta near the Saturnia thermal springs and waterfalls. If the wind is in the right direction you get a waft of sulphur every now and again
. It’s called Area sosta Camper Saturnia
You can walk from the Sosta to the springs in about 15 minutes along a country path and then join the main road to the entrance.
Entry is free and is open 24/7 apparently. It’s an amazing place. We became aware of it on a previous trip when passing an advertising hoarding along a motorway, somewhere
.
When we looked it up we couldn’t believe how close we had been on a few occasions and so have had it on a future list for a while.
Today we ticked another item off of that list
.
It is said that the springs remain at a temperature of 37°C. It was definitely a lovely temperature today. Arriving early – we had set off from the van at about 9.30! – we had lots of space to explore the pools. Meg found it a bit strange, yes, surprisingly dogs are allowed in the water, and she was one of a few we saw this morning.



We had read that the pool beds are sandy and stony, so we took our water shoes which came in handy, especially when climbing into the different pools as the rock isn’t all smooth.
The springs are made up of a series of rocky pools, the water cascades in waterfalls over the pools keeping the constant temperature. In places it’s quite a strong current too
. Today it was busy but not crowded as we took turns holding Meg and soaking ourselves. We didn’t notice a smell while we were there either.
What was really pleasing was the fact that this place is free. Yes you have to pay to park but hats off to the community for keeping it accessible to all.
Saturnia rests on a fault line, and the hot water comes from a volcanic crater
, still it was lovely for an hour or so.

They have a bathroom area where you can shower off for €1 and also a small café. Just perfect.
After our showers, we enjoyed a coffee in the shade before heading back to the Sosta and the van.

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