Private Thermal Springs & Coastal Escape from Athens

Two and a half hours north of Athens, on the coast of central Greece opposite the island of Evia, sits Kamena Vourla — a small spa town built around natural thermal springs that have been used for therapeutic bathing since antiquity. The waters emerge from the ground at around 30°C and are rich in radium and sulphur; the town's spa hotels are quiet, professional, and almost entirely unknown to foreign travellers.

The same stretch of coast holds Thermopylae — the narrow pass where, in 480 BC, three hundred Spartans under King Leonidas held back the Persian army for three days against a force of perhaps a hundred thousand. The modern landscape has changed (the sea has receded, and the pass is no longer narrow), but the monument to Leonidas and the small museum nearby make it a worthwhile stop for anyone with an interest in classical history.

Our two-to-three-day private thermal and coastal escape combines wellness and quiet. Mornings at the thermal baths, afternoons on the coast at Agios Konstantinos or one of the small fishing villages further north, evenings of slow seafood dinners with a view of the Evian Gulf. There is nothing dramatic about the experience; the point is that there is nothing dramatic about it. It is a deliberate counter-programme to the usual Greek itinerary, designed for guests who want to slow down before flying home.

From €1,850 for two to three days, the journey includes the private vehicle and driver throughout, one or two nights in a pre-selected spa hotel with breakfast, on-board Wi-Fi and water, and a small Greek farewell gift. Thermal treatments are paid at the spa directly. This is one of the journeys we most often recommend to guests at the end of a longer trip — a calm decompression before the flight, rather than a frantic last day in Athens.