The Best Spas in Germany

Baden-Baden has been luring people to its thermal waters since Roman times, which gives Brenners Park Spa a very long tradition to live up to. The five-story spa complex sits inside a grand hotel that just finished a full renovation, with serious attention paid to the waters themselves. Vogue named it among the 100 best spas in the world. The surrounding Black Forest keeps the whole thing feeling less like a hotel amenity and more like the actual point of the trip.

The curved thatched roofs of traditional Frisian cottages make this look like a very beautiful village, which is one way to distract you from the fact that you're here to fast and have your gut interrogated. Lanserhof Sylt is a medical wellness retreat built around the Mayr Method, meaning diagnostics, blood work, and monitored fasting do the heavy lifting. Vogue named it among the 100 best spas in the world. People tend to arrive burned out and leave very quiet.