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Felsentherme Gastein

Austria has long been renowned for its high level of expertise in the area of wellness and health-focused holidays. SalzburgerLand in particular, with its famous hot springs at picturesque Bad Gastein, is a major destination for skilled pampering with luxurious treatments and stateof-the-art facilities in idyllic, tranquil surroundings. Leading wellness hotels whose levels of excellence are judged outstanding are given the ‘Alpine Wellness’ seal of quality. Here are three of the region’s top health, fitness and wellness venues…

Gastein valley

The Town of Bad Gastein is the very, grand, mother of all spa resorts. A 19th-century delight of higgledypiggledy streets with belle époque villas clinging precipitously to the slopes. The hot, radon-loaded waters have been considered a miracle cure since silver miners in the Middle Ages noticed their arthritis fading away while they worked.

The Gastein Heilstollen galleries deep inside the mountainous slopes of the valley are considered one of the best therapies for rheumatic and respiratory complaints.

The area is also is one of the coolest ski resorts in Europe, part of the vast 860km ski amadé area

Take the glass elevator from street level in Bad Gastein up to Austria’s oldest spa, Felsentherme Gastein (www.felsentherme.com) to enjoy the waters. The spa has wonderful grottoes and an adventure pool for children. Relax in the outdoor thermal bath while soaking up the mountain views and the radon. Lots of luxurious and wonderful treatments and excellent massages also available.

The Alpentherme spa (www. alpentherme.com) in Bad Hofgastein is great for children, with lots of slides. ■ www.gastein.com,

+43 (0) 6432 3393-0

Bad Gastein

Tauern Spa, Kaprun

this vast, space-age complex of glass and wood was only opened in 2010 and contains an ultra modern spa and wellness centre.

There are 17 treatment rooms providing a mind-boggling array of ways to be pampered or pummelled. Add to that 12 pools, both indoor and outdoor; 13 different saunas offering infusions of herbs, honey and glacier ice (three with swimwear, the rest challenging you to throw off your British reserve); a children’s spa, and a kids’ 124m-long slide with a pirate ship to explore.

You can stay here or come as a day visitor, joining hordes of Austrians of all ages, bristling with health on a ‘journey to the inner realms’, as the brochure enthuses. The adjoining four-star hotel is the perfect base to enjoy the spa and explore the area. You can try a whole range of watersports on nearby Lake Zell. There are also two championship golf courses within range. In winter, Zell am See offers 138km of ski runs. And, of course, there is the glorious hiking to enjoy in the Hohe Tauern National Park when the snow melts. ■ www.tauernspakaprun.com,

+43 (0) 6547 2040, www.zellamsee-kaprun.com

Tauern Spa Kaprun

Therme Amadé

The latest in family health: Therme Amadé in Altenmarkt

One Of the newest and most exciting family spas in the region is Therme Amadé in Altenmarkt, near Flachau and Radstadt, one of the most popular wintersports holiday destinations in Europe’s largest ski region, ski amadé. With its mountainous backdrop and beautiful situation in a pretty, wide valley, the new swimming and spa complex reflects that this is a very family-friendly ski area indeed. Opened in October 2010, a joint venture between Altenmarkt and other ski resorts in the area, the building itself is architecturally eye-catching.

At 30,000 square metres, the huge health and leisure centre cost €23 million and its facilities are among the best on offer anywhere. A highlight is the full looping water slide, the only one in Austria, with a ‘rocket launch’ and tunnel slide. Then there are 11 different pools, with two larger ones outside (kept at warmer temperatures throughout the year) which swimmers can reach via a canal from the inside. The ‘Black Hole’ slide is bound to thrill, with a 50m trip through the darkness.

Apart from the sports, children’s and the wave pool (the only one in the region), the relaxation pools are enriched with different concentrations of saline, which is increasingly used as a form of therapy, regarded as beneficial for the skin and respiratory system. For fitness there’s a 25m lap pool and daily water aerobics classes in the wave pool, free for all guests.

Children’s entertainment includes organised games, races, foam ‘noodles’ to play with, and children’s parties can also be organised. The central restaurant faces the pool.

For wellness there is the sauna suite, with five different types of saunas, and a bar and loungers for relaxing. There’s a steam bath and Jacuzzi for a real all-round spa experience and a therapeutic hammam or Turkish bath, made of Styrian marble, with special black mud treatments.

Facials and massages and other therapies are on the menu and full pamper days are also on offer.

The venue also offers other courses – such as scuba diving and snorkelling.

For more R & R in unrivalled surroundings, the huge sauna area provides panoramic views of the mountains of Altenmarkt and its fellow ski resort of Zauchensee. ■ www.thermeamade.at

+43 (0) 6452 20 888 Make a note!

The Alpine Wellness seal of quality guarantees a hotel meets extremely high standards. the building and setting must meet the Alpine Character standard and its facilities must excel in at least one of three other areas – ‘pampering’, ‘fitness’ or ‘health’.

www. alpinewellness. com