Therme Vals

Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland

Location: Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland
Water type: bicarbonate, carbonated
Temperature: 30 °C
pH: 6.3

Water profile

Thermicity

Invigorating

30 °C

LowHigh

Stimulating — wakes the body and boosts circulation.

Mineralisation

Restorative

LowHigh

Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).

Buoyancy

High buoyancy

LowHigh

Mineralised water — eases movement and joints.

CO2BicarbonatesMagnésium

Completed in 1996 in the Graubünden village of Vals, Therme Vals is the most celebrated work of Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, who went on to win the Pritzker Prize in 2009. Commissioned by the municipality to revive the local thermal springs and the village economy, the building appears to grow out of the mountain itself: 60,000 slabs of Vals quartzite, a greenish-grey stone quarried nearby, clad its walls and floors in direct dialogue with the surrounding Alpine landscape.

The water feeding the pools begins as rain falling on Piz Aul, filtering for decades or even centuries through layers of quartzite and slate before re-emerging as a spring. Rich in calcium, it carries a high mineral content while staying low in sodium. Granted protected heritage status shortly after completion, the building unfolds a sequence of dimly lit, grotto-like spaces designed to engage every sense.

Insider tip — Peter Zumthor's 1996 Therme Vals is one of the world's most architecturally significant bathing spaces, carved from 60,000 slabs of local Valser quartzite so that the building seems to grow from the alpine meadow above the Valser Rhine gorge. The naturally carbonated bicarbonate water emerges at around 30°C and fills a series of precisely choreographed indoor and outdoor pools where light enters through thin stone slits. Reservations are essential and fill weeks in advance — staying at the Vals hotel guarantees access and lets you bathe at dawn before day visitors arrive.

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