Tucked away in the rolling hills of Tuscany, just a few hours from Rome, we enjoyed one of Italy’s most enchanting hidden gems — Cascate del Mulino. This incredibly beautiful natural hot springs topped my must visit list after my social media algorithms spammed it to my attention last year the day after we left Italy. Thankfully just a short year later I went back to Italy and I am now able to share all about our visit to Rome’s Best-Kept Secret – Cascate del Mulino, the free Natural Hot Springs, less than 2 hours from the city.

Natural Beauty:

Sourced from a natural hot springs, the baby blue sulfur-rich water cascades down over multiple levels of rocky formations creating waterfalls throughout the site. These formations are interesting layers of white coloured rocks, called travertine that offer visitors multiple shallow pools to relax in while enjoying the steamy therapeutic waters. Sitting at a comfortable year round temperature of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celcius), I would imagine winter visits are probably enjoyable too. The terraces are surrounded by beautiful lush greenery making the setting an absolutely fairy tale to visit.. even just for a photo opt if you don’t want to bath.

Check out this drone footage here:

Drone Footage Video

Things to note:

The hot springs are a free public experience and therefore there are no lockers etc to store your clothes, bags etc.  Visitors leave their bags on the rocks and dirt surrounding the thermal pools. I felt more comfortable bringing my valuables with us rather than leave them in the car so I kept a close eye on them. I would imagine later in the day when it gets busier, that would get a bit trickier, so a waterproof bag or phone holder may be helpful. A blog I read mentioned that there are change rooms (we changed by our car and others were changing right at the pools) and paid parking, so maybe there are lockers there too but I wouldn’t count on it. There was also a restaurant right beside the springs but it wasn’t open yet when we left at 8:30am.

Location and how to get there:

Cascate del Mulino is nestled in the spa town of Saturnia.  It was free to enter and growing daily in it’s popularity. We self drove, allowing us the flexibility to arrive at daybreak to beat the crowds and were very surprised by how many people were already there at 7:30am. We parked on the road near the entrance in what appeared to be one of the few street parking spots that weren’t marked with no parking. I think we were lucky, because I learned later that less than 400 meters away there is a paid parking at 2.5 euros per hour and that parking on the access road to the falls risks a fine. ( The no parking signs were on the opposite side of the street from where we parked.)

Ways to reach Rome’s Best-Kept Secret – Cascate del Mulino, the free Natural Hot Springs, less than 2 hours from the city:

Rent a car and self drive:

  • We booked a fully insured car from Europcar in April of 2025. It was 143 Euros (approximately $235 CDN) for 24hrs from Roma Fiumicino (Rome) Airport. https://www.europcar.com/en-ca/reservation/vehicles?
  • We passed 2 tolls (I believe 1 or 2) en route to Saturnia which cost 2.50 Euros each
  • Travel time approximately 1hr 50 mins

Book a day trip tour through Get Your Guide:

Train and Taxi Combination:

  • Train from Roma Termini to Capalbio
  • Taxi from Capalbio to Saturnia (1hr)

Nearby hotel and walk:

Pro tips:

From our visit to Rome’s Best-Kept Secret – Cascate del Mulino, the free Natural Hot Springs, less than 2 hours from the city:

Overlook:

En route to  Cascate del Mulino we passed an overlook that had breathtaking arial views of the Hot Springs. We noted a small pull out parking for photo opts heading up the hill away from the Hot Springs. (as you round the corner) Heading down the hill there isn’t any safe parking.

Arrive Early:

I would definitely recommend going early if you want to enjoy a quiet spot and relax because word is definitely getting out about this gem.

Water Shoes:

The pools have tiny pebbles and intermittent larger rocks on the bottom which can be sharp or uncomfortable. We also noticed lots of empty wine bottles around, so broken glass in the springs is a definite possibility.

Water’s Blue Colouring:

We left the hot springs at 8:30am. We heard that the water doesn’t show it’s full blue colouring until after 10am but we loved what we saw.

Sunset:

The sun rose behind us to the side. My thoughts are that sunset would be beautiful to watch from one of the pools.

Address:

Strada Vicinale Molino del Bagno, 9/a, 58014 Manciano GR, Italy

Final thoughts:

I’ve heard that these hot springs are overrated but I couldn’t disagree more. We loved our visit and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. (Early though like us for less crowds.) Questions about our visit to Rome’s Best-Kept Secret – Cascate del Mulino, the free Natural Hot Springs, less than 2 hours from the city? Feel free to drop them in the comments and I’m happy to try to answer them!