Thermal baths in Germany

Mostly, yes: swimwear stays on in the thermal pools and comes off in the sauna area, where a towel goes under you on the bench. Some baths add a textile sauna by the pools, as Claudius Therme in Cologne, Therme Lindau and Meersburg Therme do, and the Kurhessen Therme in Kassel and AlbThermen Bad Urach let you choose on Mondays. Friedrichsbad goes without swimwear except on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme in Wiesbaden except on Thursdays, and the Kristall Wohlfühltherme in Ludwigsfelde except on Wednesdays and Sunday daytimes, when swimwear is optional. The Vabali spas in Berlin and Düsseldorf are textile-free throughout, pools included.

Take the S2 to Altenerding, then walk a signposted 800 m or take bus 550, 560 or 580 on weekdays, 570 at weekends and on holidays.

Caracalla Therme admits children from 7 and Friedrichsbad from 14. Therme Erding takes children of any age, with under-12s supervised by an adult, and opens its Vital Oasis and sauna area from 16. The operator advises against taking children into the mineral pools. Carolus Thermen admits children from 6, and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme only from 16.

Yes. At Müller'sches Volksbad in Munich the sauna is for women only on Tuesdays, when the small swimming hall also has a women's session in the afternoon. In Berlin the sauna at Stadtbad Neukölln is women only on Mondays, and Sultan Hamam in Schöneberg, a hammam with a steam room and a Finnish sauna, is for women only except on Wednesday evenings, when men and women are admitted together. Vabali Spa Berlin has no women's days but keeps a ladies-only sauna and steam bath.

Several of them, yes. Regional trains from Koblenz and Limburg stop at Bad Ems West, 9 minutes' walk from the Emser Therme, and the Bali Therme is about 10 minutes on foot through the Kurpark from Bad Oeynhausen Hauptbahnhof. For the Spessart Therme take the RE50 to Bad Soden-Salmünster, then walk about 20 minutes or take bus MKK-86; for the Toskana Therme Bad Orb take the train to Wächtersbach, then a bus or taxi. In Aachen, bus 51 runs from the Hauptbahnhof to the Carolus Thermen.