Les Bains de Lavey: Alpine Thermal Baths

After a full morning of cross country skiing, and an afternoon spent sampling alpine cheeses, our fantastic Saturday reached its final (and perhaps best?) destination: Les Bains de Lavey.

Les Bains de Lavey, one of Switzerland's many thermal baths, is an enormous complex. There were saunas of various temperatures, turkish baths, and enormous outdoor hot tubs and whirlpools. Although I didn't partake in any, there were also traditional spa treatments, such as massages, facials, and the like.

Aside from being wonderfully relaxing, one of the things I liked most about Les Bains de Lavey was how accessible it felt. Unlike a lot of American spas, which can sometimes feel a bit pretentious, the thermal baths felt very, very welcoming. There were groups of teenagers hanging out, there were relaxing grandmas and grandpas. There were children, couples, women, men-- everyone age group, it seemed, was happily represented. I'm not sure if "family-oriented" is the right phrase, but it's the closest I can come up with. Perhaps "everyone-oriented?"

At any rate, considering admission was roughly the price of a movie and less expensive than going out to eat, the thermal baths offered a fun, accessible, and incredibly relaxing way to spend a perfect Saturday evening. I'm already thinking about when I can go back.


*Note: I didn't actually take any of these pictures. My entire time at the thermal bath, my camera was safe and dry inside a locker! All of these photos are from the bath's website.

after relaxing in the (really, really hot) finnish sauna, you were supposed
to dunk yourself into this small, blue-tiled pool containing icy cold
water. although those who tried it claimed the shock was "invigorating,"
I could never quite get up the nerve...

the outdoor hot tub! I loved the seats along the edge- the jets were great
for sore cross-country skiing muscles!

the inner spiral area had a fairly strong current- it sort of reminded
me of a lazy river!

by far the goofiest part of the thermal baths was the chromotherapy center-
basically, just a warm, relaxing room with soft music and colored lights.
supposedly, the color of the lights could alter your mood, although I
certainly have my doubts-- after 20 minutes under the "energizing"
yellow lights, all I wanted to do as take a nap!

the view was spectacular. unlike this photo, however, the mountains I
looked out upon were dusted in pristine snow.