Health & Fitness activities in Europe
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Thermes Marins
Thermes Marins offers Thalassotherapy (literally, 'sea healing'). Like the other centres in Biarritz that offer this service, Thermes Marins squirts people with high pressure hoses, pummells them and massages them, and then smeares them in mud and seaweed. More and more swear by thalassotherapy both as an antidote to 21st-century problems such as stress, obesity and insomnia and as a cure for physical ailments.
Then again, the sceptical might say that a couple of swift laps swum around the bay or a nice warm bath at home with a kilo of salt, dash of iodine and a rubber duck might do just as much for you.
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outdoor gym
Kyiv's quirkiest sight might just be Hydropark's giant, makeshift outdoor gym. The machines here are cobbled together from used truck parts and salvaged scrap metal. It's a testosterone-fuelled affair, although you'll usually see one or two women amid the muscle. On weekends and summer evenings the gym is packed. Beware: the sight of hundreds of sweaty dudes in Speedos pumping primitive iron could be a little off-putting. To get here, cross the footbridge and bear right.
Next to the outdoor gym is a gymnastics zone that sees surprisingly competent amateurs swinging from horizontal bars.
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Mineral Baths
If you seek the Devin spa experience, but don't want to pay at the big hotels, bathe with the locals at the outdoor mineral baths, 4km west of town in a gorgeous wooded setting between steep hills. Boasting a large bath and smaller one for kids, this well-kept facility includes a café and nearby restaurant. There's a sand volleyball court and inexpensive massages are available. In summer, the baths work 24 hours, in winter, according to demand. To go by taxi, ask for Struilitsa Parking (the car park of the baths). The 10-minute trip costs 3 lv.
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Laghetto di Fanghi
Mud-bath enthusiasts should head for the Laghetto di Fanghi, a large mud pit of thick, smelly, sulphurous gloop that has long been considered an excellent treatment for arthritis, rheumatism and skin disorders. Don’t wear your designer swimsuit (you’ll never get the smell out), and be sure to leave your gold chains behind (they will tarnish). Afterwards you can hop into the water at the adjacent beach where acquacalda (hot springs) create a natural jacuzzi effect.
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Spas
Saaremaa's reputation as a major spa destination may be a bit premature, but there are still some excellent opportunities for pampering, detoxing and/or sliding into a bathtub full of slippery coastal mud - a Saaremaa remedy for over 150 years. You'll also encounter some downright bizarre (some would say innovative) treatments - anyone up for a NeoQui Energy Cocoon? But whatever your yin, if you've come to Saaremaa, give a treatment a try.
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Naantalin Kylpylä
Naantali’s spa traditions date from 1723, when people took health-giving waters from a spring in Viluluoto. Naantalin Kylpylä, the town’s top-class spa hotel, allows nonguests to use its fantastic facilities – including several pools and a Turkish bath – during the day. The huge range of spa, massage and beauty treatments are popular with mothers who don’t want to go to Muumimaailma so book ahead in summer.
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Planet Fitness – Petrograd Side
The city’s biggest Planet Fitness outlet is on the Petrograd Side in the prestigious City Centre business centre. Its facilities include a big swimming pool, tennis courts and the requisite machines. Classes include standards such as yoga and spinning, as well as more exotic fare like kickboxing and karate. For relaxation, finish up with a massage or a visit to the sauna. Rates are cheaper before 5pm.
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Planet Fitness – Smolny
St Petersburg’s first and largest chain of fitness centres now has 11 locations around the city, but the first was in Smolny. Classes include aerobics and yoga, while weights machines and cardio equipment are also available. The cardio room overlooks the Neva River, offering a lovely view as you cycle or run. Afterwards, enjoy the sauna and hot tub, or a fresh fruit drink from the juice bar.
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One Spa
This gorgeous rooftop spa offers a wide range of pampering treatments from reflexology and reiki to facials and hot-stone therapy. The setting is unbeatable, with a beautiful oval indoor pool, rooftop hydrotherapy pool, rustic sauna, curvaceous mosaic-tiled ‘aroma grotto’, and gym. You can book individual treatment sessions or splash out on a half- or full-day package (from £70 to £295).
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Skindulgence Spa
Escape from the bustle of the city centre in a warm, womb-like flotation tank, or enjoy the many other therapies on offer, including facials, aromatherapy massage, reflexology, shiatsu, reiki and Indian head massage (appointments necessary). There’s a sweet-scented shop, too, where you can buy massage oils, incense, candles, homeopathic remedies, CDs and so on.
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Elounda Spa & Thalassotherapy Centre
The state-of-the-art Elounda Spa & Thalassotherapy Centre, in the Blue Palace Resort just before Plaka, also incorporates Cretan nutrients into unique treatments, including exfoliation with sugar and olive oil, a traditional olive-oil massage and hydromassage baths using Cretan herbs. There is even a treatment using raki - not your traditional rakotherapy!
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Six Senses Spa
Elounda is home to some of Europe's most luxurious spas and thalassotherapy centres, which - as the name suggests - promote the therapeutic benefits of the sea with seawater pools and hydrospas, marine algae body wraps and every imaginable sea-themed pampering and rejuvenation treatment. A world class spa is the new Six Senses Spa at the Porto Elounda Hotel.
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Hagabadet
For a vintage splash, head to the magnificent indoor swimming pool Hagabadet. For Skr360 you can swim all day and use the attached sauna, gym and aerobics facilities; between 6.30am and 9am, a dip in the pool costs Skr115. There’s also a luxe choice of spa treatments and a bookable Roman bath (Skr498 per person for two hours).
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Second Courtyard
Tucked into the second courtyard behind an apartment block on the Vasilevsky Island embankment. The small but sparkling facility includes a Finnish sauna and Russian steam room, as well as a small plunge pool. A public banya by day, in the evening you can book the whole place out for your private party (up to eight people).
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Fitness House
In a prominent place opposite the Strelka, this upscale gym offers a slew of fitness classes, from yoga to pilates to body sculpting. The huge complex has a dedicated room for every kind of equipment, including stationary bikes, cardio equipment and free weights. A sauna and spa are also on site, as is the lively Greenwich Pub.
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Cave Bath
The curative waters of the thermal spa in this southwestern recreational suburb, 7km from the centre of Miskolc, have been attracting bathers since the Middle Ages, though the gimmicky Cave Bath, with its earth walls, 'mildly radioactive waters' and thrashing shower at the end, is a relatively new arrival (1959).
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Emajõe Ärikeskus Sauna
Many hotels have saunas, but if you're looking for something a little different, head to Emajõe Ärikeskus Sauna. On the 13th floor of a shiny building that resembles a hip flask, this sauna provides unbeatable views. You can reserve by phone or at the information desk on the ground floor.
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Thalassa Biarritz
Thalassa Biarritz is one of the three Thalassotherapy (literally, 'sea healing') centres in Biarritz. Thalassotherapy is when people allow themselves to be squirted with high pressure hoses, pummelled and massaged, smeared in mud and seaweed and come away smiling. It's big business in France.
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Zalakaros
If you want to take the (thermal) waters, you'll have to go to the spa at Zalakaros, 18km to the northeast near the Little Balaton (Kis-Balaton). The Zalakaros spring, which gushes out of the ground at an incredible 92°C, was discovered by workers drilling for oil in the early 1960s.
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City Yoga
Don’t be put off by the somewhat gritty barrio because this yoga and Pilates centre is one of the most popular in the city, with classes suiting all styles and ability levels. It also offers massages, Pilates and pre- and post-natal activities. There’s a one-off joining fee of €30.
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Het Marnix
This fancy complex is the only place in central Amsterdam where lap swimming is possible, in a 25m pool. While swimming turn your head to the waters of the Singelgracht at eye level right outside the window. The in-house sauna isn’t bad either and a full health club is attached.
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Sparta Fitness & Spinning
One of the most advanced gyms in town is Sparta Fitness & Spinning. Besides the well-equipped gym, there’s a sauna, pool and spa area. Yoga and Pilates classes, massages and more are available. A one-hour massage costs around 30 lv.
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Planet Fitness – Sennaya
While rates and facilities differ dramatically between Planet Fitness locations, the outlet near Isaakievskaya pl (St Isaac’s Sq) is among the most central and least costly. Facilities include weights and cardio equipment, as well as a steamy sauna.
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Roman Sport Centre
This is Rome’s largest gym, where you’ll find squash courts, two Olympic-sized swimming pools, saunas and all the latest hi-tech gym equipment you could possibly need. It costs €30/180 per day/month to use the facilities.
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Poliesportiu Frontó Colom
Smack in the heart of the old city, this gym offers a fitness room with all manner of exercise equipment, including a section with bicycles, step and other cardio machines, and a small swimming pool. There are various multiday passes too.
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