Bormio is just south of the Swiss border and smack in the middle of the Italian Alps, just a few hours from Milan. The area’s natural hot springs have been in continuous use for thousands of years and are contained in a lovely resort called the Bagni di Bormio (the Baths of Bormio). Pliny the Elder was already raving about their beneficial properties back in the first century A.D. And throughout the ages, Leonardo Da Vinci, European royalty, and the like regularly flocked here to “take the waters.”The Hotel Bagni Vecchi (Older Bath Hotel) is a smaller, cozier, and more traditional Valtellina mountain-style hotel. At the same time, the Grand Hotel Bagni Nuovi (Grand New Baths Hotel), on the other hand, is a sumptuous mid-19th-century Victorian extravaganza, replete with grand dining and dancing halls and Murano glass chandeliers. Both hotels were built around the terme (natural hot springs), meticulously preserving the original Roman baths and enhancing them by adding an underground spa with modern cedar saunas and mineral water Jacuzzis. The trump card of the terme is an outdoor Roman thermal pool perched up against the mountain that looks out over the ski slopes and picturesque Alpine valley. Add to this the charming town of Bormio itself, and it comes as no surprise at all that the Bagni di Bormio has been popular for a very long time.Layne Randolph, The Italian Notebook
