A few years ago I was browsing Pinterest for travel ideas when I came across a photo of a hot spring in Italy with stunning cascading pools next to an old stone mill. I showed it to Justin and decided that someday we would go there. Then a few months ago we scored cheap tickets to Rome and I remembered that incredible hot spring. After some Googling I learned that it was called Terme di Saturnia (the actual public pools area is called Cascate del Mulino but most people seem to refer to it as the former) and after checking maps, were pleasantly surprised to discover that it’s just a 2 hour drive from Rome. We immediately decided to rent a car and check this amazing travel destination off of our list! If you’ve followed our travels before, you know that we love hot springs and enjoy exploring them even with our baby and toddler if the hot springs are safe for littles and allow them. As such, I wanted to write a guide for you about visiting Terme di Saturnia based on our personal experience so you’ll know what to expect if you decide to visit with a baby or toddler.

Quick Tips

The public hot spring pools cascading down from the waterfall are free
Navigate to Cascate del Mulino Saturnia
The parking lot right by the hot springs is closed for renovations (as of February 2024) so you may need to park in the big gravel lot a 5 minute walk up the road (navigate to Parcheggio Cascate del Mulino Saturnia). We didn’t see anything about payment in that parking lot but have read different things from other people, so make sure to read all the signs.
You can push a stroller down to the hot springs
Bathrooms are closed for renovations (as of February 2024) so check to see if they are open again or make sure everyone uses the bathroom before you go and you have what you need to change your littles without a bathroom.
There is no place to store valuables
The water is perfect for babies and toddlers at about 99.5F (37.5C) with a depth of approximately 1-2ft

Are Babies & Toddlers Allowed?

While there is no official website for Terme di Saturnia, everything I’ve read online says babies and children of all ages are allowed, just not in the uppermost pools around the waterfall (presumably for the their safety). There aren’t any signs at the hot springs though regarding kiddos, so people probably do whatever they want. We saw lots of other babies and toddlers while we were there, so definitely family friendly.

One of the upper pools at the base of the mill house at Terme di Saturnia where we spent most of our time

Getting There & Parking

You’ll need to enter “Cascate del Mulino” into whatever maps app you’re using in order to reach the free to the public cascading pools. If you’ve read about Terme di Saturnia on other sites or looked at a Google maps satellite image of the hot springs, you’ll know that there’s a parking area right next to the upper pools/mill house. However, that parking area and the mill house is currently closed for construction (we visited in February of 2024) and I haven’t been able to find any information about when it will re-open. All I know is that the road to that parking area was definitely blocked off and everyone was parking in the large gravel lot just up the road from the hot springs that I’ve marked on this map for you (it should also come up on Google maps under “Parcheggio Cascate del Mulino Saturnia). People mentioned paying to park in this lot online, but when we got there we didn’t see any pay station, website to visit to pay, QR code to scan etc. and no parking tags on anyone’s cars. As such, we just left the car there and didn’t get a ticket. Look around the lot though to see if that’s changed if you park there! Some people also park on the side of the road directly across from the hot spring, but from everything I’ve read this is not allowed the police will ticket you, so definitely don’t do that :) Fortunately, the parking lot we parked in is just a 5 minute walk from the hot springs, so no big deal!

Can I Bring a Stroller?

Yes! We had towels, diapers, and my camera with us so wanted to bring the stroller to stow them in while we soaked. We ended up leaving the stroller close to where the path down the hot springs stopped as the ground was pretty uneven going up the side of the hot springs. There are a couple of benches in this area so we just parked the stroller in a flat area next to one of the benches and saw a few other folks coming and going with strollers as well.

We left our stroller in this level area beside a bench

Is There a Place to Store Valuables ?

No. We ended up putting my camera and our phones in a bag that we put on a ledge at the base of the mill house right by the pool we were soaking in. Not bringing any valuables would probably be easiest, but if you do bring things plan to soak in a pool where you can keep an eye on it or keep it with you in a waterproof bag.

Are There Bathrooms?

Supposedly there is a bathroom/changing area in one of the buildings by the hot spring (either the old mill or the restaurant next to it), but everything was closed due to the renovations while we were there, so don’t plan on having access to a bathroom unless you’ve read online that it’s re-opened. I would use the bathroom before heading to the hot springs and take whatever you need to change your kiddos sans bathroom (Travel changing mat? Towel to lay them on? Plastic bag for poopy diapers?) just in case.

Freya loved it too despite her grumpy face!

How Hot is the Water?

The water stays around 99.5F (37.5C) so more of a warm springs than a hot spring and definitely an okay temperature for babies and toddlers.

What are the Pools Like?

If you’re like me, you’re not a big fan of hot springs with mud, silt, or algae! When I waded into the lower pools it was pretty silty and I was feeling disappointed, but fortunately the bottom became nice and gravely in the upper pools. The water is pretty clear aside from a slightly milky bluish white tint from the minerals, and we didn’t see any algae. Do be aware though that the edges of the pools are a bit slippery and rough and we did see people wearing water shoes. Not a must but could make your visit more pleasant if you have sensitive feet or are worried about slipping or you have older kids who want to scramble around between the pools. I would estimate the depth of the pools range from 1-2ft, so really pretty perfect for littles.

You can climb down the pools to the stream below for a cooler swim. We saw quite a few older kids doing that.

Sitting under the little falls cascading from one pool to another made it a spa like experience. Super fun!

Lots of little spots for toddlers to explore

Anything Else I Should Know?

The water has a mild sulfur smell, so if you’re super sensitive to that you may not enjoy these hot springs. We didn’t think it was bad at all but did notice it was hard to get the smell out of our swimwear with hand washing (came out fine at home in the washer). What was annoying were the clouds of tiny flies around the grass. After doing some research, I think they were midge flies, because there were also some tiny red worm-like things floating in the water that look like midge larvae, which apparently can live in hot springs. Neither midge or their larvae are harmful, and as long as you didn’t sit right by the grass, we didn’t notice the flies. While the larvae sound disgusting, they were honestly so tiny that it was no big deal. We'd just occasionally notice this tiny red thing (the size of a pinky fingernail or smaller) flash by as there’s nice water movement in all the pools since they’re flowing down to the stream below. We just made sure to shower everyone when we got back to our lodging to make sure no one had larvae stuck to them! Lastly, note that the photos you see of Terme di Saturnia with dramatic blue pools are most likely enhanced with Photoshop. While the pools were a light slightly milky blue, they were definitely not the bright blue that many photos showed. If you want to take a photo of the hot springs from farther away, continue up the road and there’s a pull out at the top of the hill where you can take a photo from across the valley.

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