Spa and Botanical Garden

TUSCIA IS A GARDEN

PRICE

Contact us for a quote.

The tour can be tailored to your group’s needs.

ACCOMMODATION

• Hotel***** Niccolò V – Viterbo
• Hotel*** Salus Terme – Vita Spa thermal circuit
• Agriturismo Il Marrugio

ITINERARY

SPA AND BOTANICAL GARDEN

Arrival in Viterbo and check-in at the Hotel Niccolò V***** of the Terme dei Papi.

Transfer for lunch at Agriturismo Il Marrugio.

Then a tour of the city through its medieval quarters: the evocative charm of an intact old town, between history and legend. We start with the Palazzo dei Priori and the frescoes of the Sala Regia, then Piazza del Gesù (the city’s political centre until the mid-13th century), Piazza della Morte with its characteristic early-13th-century spindle fountain, Palazzo Farnese, the famous Piazza del Duomo with the cathedral of San Lorenzo, the splendid Papal Palace — symbol of the city — and the house of Valentino della Pagnotta. Then a visit to the medieval quarter of San Pellegrino, still intact, with flower-decked balconies, artisan, antique and artists’ workshops. Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to the Michelini Nurseries, which offer a great variety of plants and flowers. Rows of clipped box lead the visitor towards the greenhouses and the sectors dedicated to perennials, shade plants, hydrangeas, fruit trees, climbers, Mediterranean shrubs, flowering and berry bushes, and finally roses — shrub and climbing — with more than 400 varieties, all carefully labelled.

Transfer to Vitorchiano. Free time for lunch at the restaurant of the Moutan Botanical Centre, followed by a visit. The name comes from the Chinese term for the tree peony and was chosen for this centre, founded in 1993 from a deep desire to know, seek out and import every variety of Chinese tree peony and gather them in one place. Set in the beautiful countryside of upper Lazio, over about 15 hectares it holds the largest collection in the world of Chinese tree and herbaceous peonies, with around 600 botanical species, varieties and natural hybrids. Its jewels include the adult mother plants of the Rockii species, extraordinary varieties that grow wild on the Tibetan plateaus above 2,000 metres, withstanding temperatures below -20°C. In the afternoon, return to Viterbo and free time for the wellness circuit at the Vita Spa, the thermal centre of the Salus Terme hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to the Botanical Garden of the University of Tuscia. The “Angelo Rambelli” Botanical Garden serves university teaching, research and ex situ/in situ conservation, and plays a key role in spreading scientific knowledge through themed courses, events and exhibitions. It lies at about 300 m above sea level near the historic Bulicame thermal spring — already mentioned by Dante in Canto XIV of the Inferno — and covers about 6 hectares west of Viterbo, divided into plots arranged on taxonomic, phytogeographic and environmental criteria.

Free time for lunch. The afternoon is dedicated to the spa, with relaxing treatments. Viterbo’s thermal waters are of volcanic origin and emerge very hot (over 40°C); used both hot and cold, alternating between the pools benefits circulation thanks to the sulphurous water. Particularly rich in sulphur and nitrates, they are especially suited to “external” use. The Terme dei Papi are among the best-equipped in Lazio for a wellness break, with dermatological and aesthetic treatments, inhalations, mud therapy, sauna and hydromassage. The spa took the name “of the Popes” thanks to Nicholas V, who found such benefit in these waters that in 1450 he had a splendid palace built on the site — the “Pope’s Bath”. Dante recalled the Bullicame several times, and Michelangelo, passing through, was struck by the spa’s beauty and made two pen drawings of it. From a white limestone mound gushes the most important and famous spring: the Bullicame, sulphurous and fluorinated at 58°C, long prized for its therapeutic qualities and feeding a splendid monumental pool of over 2,000 m².

Departure and end of services.