How to Save on Spas and Thermal Baths in Switzerland

From girls’ days out to family excursions, Switzerland’s many thermal baths and spas offer something for everyone. While the fun does come at a price, following these simple tips can help you get more spa visits for your money.

1. Take advantage of birthday freebies

Many Swiss spas give you free entrance to thermal baths or other experiences on your birthday. If taking your child for a birthday swim or spending your special day chilling in a jacuzzi or sauna is your idea of fun, just look for birthday offers on the websites of your preferred spas. Make sure to bring your passport or ID (or your child’s) along as proof.

2. Enjoy mid-week spa visits

By planning your spa visits for weekdays, you not only avoid the weekend crowds, but you can also save money. Many Swiss spas and thermal pools charge up to 20 percent less for entry on weekdays than on weekends.

3. Ask your hotel about discounts

Some Swiss hotels in popular spa resort towns give their hotel guests discounted or even complimentary tickets for spa visits. For example, the Guest Card which you get when you stay in Leukerbad hotels entitles you to a 10-percent discount on many of the spa town’s thermal baths. Some hotels have their own spas which guests can use at no extra cost, and these can be an affordable alternative to booking hotel stays and spa visits separately.

4. Buy unused coupons and vouchers

Many people buy or receive vouchers or gift cards for spa visits or wellness holiday packages, but end up not using them. You can often find these being sold by private people on classifieds websites like Anibis and Tutti. In most cases they sell for at least 20 percent less than their redeemable value. Unused discount coupons for spa visits or thermal bath entries are also worth taking a look at.

5. Claim your supplemental health insurance benefits

If you have supplemental health insurance, check whether it covers visits to spas and thermal baths. Many voluntary insurance offers include coverage for massage treatments, spas and thermal baths that goes far beyond what you get from mandatory insurance. 

For example, some supplemental health insurance policies cover 50 percent of the cost of spa treatments prescribed by doctors. Others cover spa and thermal bath visits simply because they benefit your wellbeing, even if you are perfectly healthy and do not have doctor’s prescriptions. In every case, benefits are limited to specific spas, so it is important to check whether the places you want to go to are covered.

Spa benefits vary broadly between offers. You can find out which supplemental outpatient insurance offers include spa benefits, and which provide the most cover, using the filter and sort tools in the interactive supplemental health insurance comparison.

6. Use special offers

Some spas and spa hotels have special offers which they use to attract new customers or to fill up their slow business hours or seasons. You can often find bundled hotel and spa package deals and discounted spa or massage offers on coupon websites like Deindeal and Veepee. These special offers are often massively cheaper than standard booking and entry prices.

7. Check out multiple-entry discounts

If you frequently visit a specific spa or thermal pool, buying entry tickets in bulk is worth looking into. Some Swiss spas offer multiple-entry bundles, or offer digital wallets which can be loaded with prepaid credits for multiple purchases. You generally save around 10 percent of the per-entry price when you buy entry tickets or prepaid credits in bulk.

Many Swiss spas offer annual passes for thermal pools and/or sauna areas. These are rarely worth getting because depending on the spa, you have to visit a minimum of 20 to 50 times just to break even compared to getting day passes. A possible exception to this rule is if your supplemental health insurance covers the bulk of your annual pass.

8. Claim family discounts

If you take your kids to thermal pools as a family outing, then it is worth noting that many Swiss spas have special offers for families. These vary between spas. Nearly all thermal pools have cheaper entry fees for children. Some discount both adult and child tickets for families. Others have special family tickets which – for a two-parent family with more than one child – can cost much less than buying individual tickets. Family discounts may have time limitations, only be available online, or only apply on specific days of the week, so looking into this before your excursion is time well spent.

9. Have a look at public transportation bundles

If you use public transportation, then look into bundles which combine transportation with thermal bath or spa visits. Getting these is often cheaper than paying transportation and entrance fees separately. For example, the Railaway offers from the SBB/CFF give you a discount of at least 10 percent on spa entry fees. Discounts are often much higher than that (20 or 25 percent, for example).

You can save additional money by using Reka money to pay for Railaway offers. If you have a Half Fare Travelcard, GA Travelcard, or Junior Travelcard (children) from the SBB/CFF, then you save on the transportation part of the costs accordingly.

10. Go as a group

If you are going with a group of friends or acquaintances, look out for group discounts. Some thermal baths and spas offer discounted entrance for groups (10 or 20 percent off, for example). The minimum number of group participants varies between spas, but is typically between 6 and 10 people. You may have to book ahead of your visit to benefit from these deals.

11. Check travel deals

Hotel and spa packages from budget travel agencies only make sense if you also want to stay in hotels. But if you do, you can sometimes find deals which include entry to thermal pools or spa facilities and a hotel stay for just a little more than you would pay for a spa visit alone. Travel offers from supermarket chains are a good place to start your search.

12. Take advantage of opening offers

Newly-built or freshly-renovated thermal baths sometimes offer free entrance to the public or to certain groups of people (subscribers of certain newspapers, for example) on their opening or reopening days. If a spa near you is being built or renovated, check its website or the local newspaper for possible opening day freebies.

13. Hunt down free “spas”

Switzerland has very few hot springs and thermal baths which are open to the public free of charge. The public thermal fountains in Baden are one example. For the more adventurous, there are a handful of natural hot springs hidden in mountain valleys, many of which can only be reached by foot.

In Summertime, you can turn any of Switzerland’s numerous rockpools, rivers, and waterfalls into your very own spa at no cost at all – other than possible transportation costs. Just pack a few friends and your favorite drinks for a day of relaxation in nature’s own spas free of charge.

14. Make use of your mandatory health insurance

Everyone living in Switzerland has to have mandatory Swiss health insurance, so this is a good first stop when looking for spa savings. If you have health conditions which could benefit from spa treatments, you should know that part of the cost can be covered by your basic health insurance, if the visit is prescribed by a doctor. You can claim a benefit of 10 francs per day towards the cost of spa visits, for up to 21 days per year. Note that the health insurance deductible and copayment apply.

Not all spas are eligible, but many popular thermal baths are – including those in Andeer, Bad Ragaz, Bad Schinznach, Lavey-les-Bains, Leukerbad, Ovronnaz, Saillon, Stabio, and Yverdon-les-Bains, among others.

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