Thermal baths in France

No, it's for women only, from age 12.

No. It takes no reservations and is open every day.

Take metro line 7 to Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton, or buses 24, 67 and 89 to Buffon-La Mosquée.

Yes. The commune says the pools are open all year. The lower pool is at 38 °C and faces south towards the Canigou and the Serra del Cadí.

A swimsuit, and at most thermal baths men need close-fitting swim briefs or boxers. Thermes Chevalley, the Bains du Couloubret, Balnéa, Les Grands Bains du Monêtier, Les Nériades, Nancy Thermal, Selya Resort, the Spa du Splendid in Dax and the thermal spas at Thonon-les-Bains, Lons-le-Saunier, Montbrun-les-Bains and Vernet-les-Bains turn away swim shorts or bermudas, while Aquensis, the Bains de Llo and Vittel Spa accept swim shorts that end above the knee. A swim cap is required in the Aqua-détente areas at Aix-les-Bains, Thonon-les-Bains and Lons-le-Saunier, at Vernet-les-Bains, Selya Resort and ThermaSalina, and throughout the Spa Thermal de Haute Provence. In Paris, Hammam Pacha lets women bathe naked, in a pareo or in a swimsuit.

In spa towns all over the country. The Pyrenees have baths from Cauterets and Bagnères-de-Bigorre to Luchon, Ax-les-Thermes, Vernet-les-Bains and open-air pools in the Cerdagne, and the Alps at Saint-Gervais, Aix-les-Bains, Thonon-les-Bains, Uriage-les-Bains, La Léchère and Le Monêtier-les-Bains. Lorraine has Nancy Thermal, Vittel, Contrexéville and the Amnéville leisure park, the Jura has Lons-le-Saunier and Salins-les-Bains, and Auvergne and the center of France have Châtel-Guyon, Néris-les-Bains, Évaux-les-Bains and Caleden at Chaudes-Aigues, on the Par spring at 82 °C. In the south-west, Dax, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax and Salies-de-Béarn sell entry to their thermal pools, and so does La Roche-Posay in the Vienne.

A cure thermale is a course of treatment prescribed by a doctor, fixed at 18 days of treatment, while the thermal spas listed here sell entry by the hour, half day or day to anyone, with no prescription. Many share a building or a spring with a cure center: the Spa Thermal de Borda in Dax is open to visitors as well as cure patients, and La Roche-Posay's cures use the same water as its spa. At Berthemont-les-Bains mornings are kept for cure patients, and at Salins-les-Bains the saltier water of the Cordeliers well is kept for the cure.

Mostly 32 to 35 °C. Thonon-les-Bains, Lons-le-Saunier, Évaux-les-Bains and Vittel keep their thermal pools at 32 °C, Sourcéo in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax holds 33 °C all year, Selya Resort's salt pool is 32.5 to 33.5 °C and the indoor pool at Thermes Chevalley 34 °C. For hotter water there's the lower pool at Dorres at 38 °C, the caldarium at Le Monêtier at 38 to 42 °C and the outdoor hot tubs at Vittel at 36 °C.

At some. Balnéa and L'Edenvik at Capvern-les-Bains take children from 9 months, Dorres from 1 and Selya Resort and Sourcéo from 3, while Vernet-les-Bains starts at 10, with a minimum height of 1.40 m, and La Roche-Posay, ThermaSalina and Thermes Chevalley at 12, though Chevalley takes children from 3 on family Wednesdays. Aïga Resort in Châtel-Guyon, Les Nériades, Vittel Spa and the spas at Thonon-les-Bains, Uriage and Évaux-les-Bains are from 16, and Villa Pompéi at Amnéville is for adults only. Saunas and hammams often have a higher minimum age, from 12 at the Bains de Llo to 18 at ThermaSalina and the Spa Thermal de Haute Provence.

Several do. Berthemont-les-Bains closes from November to late March, L'Edenvik at Capvern-les-Bains closes for the winter from early November and the spa at Vernet-les-Bains from mid-November, and Aïga Resort in Châtel-Guyon, Vittel Spa and Montbrun-les-Bains close for the winter from early December. Les Grands Bains du Monêtier closes between seasons from early November, Contrexéville takes a break from mid-November to mid-December and Caleden for about a month from early January. The open-air pools at Dorres are open all year.