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Bagni San Filippo is a small spa town in Val D’Orcia, on the slopes of Mount Amiata. It’s in southern Toscana, 75 miles from Florence and 112 from Rome. Already used by Romans and renovated in 1566 by Cosimo I de ‘Medici, the baths were also appreciated by other illustrious personalities from Medici family, such as Lorenzo the Magnificent, who visited them in 1485.

In the woods, at 1.719 ft above sea level, there’s the stream called Fosso Bianco: several sources of hot water converge in a succession of “pools” (peculiar limestone basins), in which it is possible to swim all year round. The waters, in fact, flow at a temperature of 125.6 F° and feature a remarkable amount of calcium carbonate. The latter forms particular white concretions and gives the typical white-blue colour to the water of the stream.
An evocative path, surrounded by lush vegetation, reaches the White Whale Waterfall: a large block of limestone formed by the sediments of white hyperthermal waters.

Access to Fosso Bianco is totally free. The area is quite extensive; the first pools along the road and going up the stream feature very hot and crystal-clear waters, but they’re hardly ever abundant enough to keep those very pools warm. For that reason, small handmade pools with stone walls and branches (which have become waterproof over time) near the vertical wall of the waterfall usually collect the warmer waters before the latter reach those of the stream.

Going down to the valley, there’s also Terme San Filippo facility. The thermal treatments offered include baths, mudbaths, inhalations, aerosols, beauty treatments, etc.
There is also a swimming pool whose waters, rich in sulfur, calcium and magnesium, reach a temperature of 104 F°.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)