Now I know that you all might have wished I mentioned more about my experience with the nude baths in Baden Baden so I decided just to dedicate a whole post to it. Enjoy.
I had arrived shortly after the baths opened to the public for the day (opened at 9 am). I paid for my spa package which included the 17 bathing rooms and a soap and brush massage. Some of the days of the week the baths are coed and some days they are separated except for the main bathing room with a big dome overhead. Today was a day where the sexes were separated. So grabbed my wrist band (the only article of clothing allowed to be worn), took a deep breath and headed up to the men's locker room and prepare for the event.
I disrobed and wandered out of the locker and was met by a staff member who handed me a towel. I don't know if he guessed my expression of confusion because he handed a towel in a nude bath and then he just pointed me down to the starting point.
The different bathing rooms are numbered and gave you instructions as to how long you need to bath there. By following their guidelines your stay lasts about three hours and also has you work your way up to hot baths and then cools you down at the end.
Station 1 (5 minutes) was just a simple shower to get good and clean for the many baths.
Stations 2,3 (15 and 5 minutes) were "warm and hot air baths" Funny thing I learned why I was given a towel, the wooden seat were hot to sit on!
Station 4 (5 minutes) was another shower.
Station 5 was the soap and brush massage. This entailed a soapy brush and some light massaging of both the front and back and ending with a spank on the butt. That last part was a little unexpected, but what ever, the massage felt pretty good!
Station 6 (5 minutes) was to shower again.
Stations 7,8 (10 and 5 minutes) were thermal steam baths (saunas) and are actually the only steam baths that are fueled by natural occurring thermal energy from underground in the world.
Station 9 (10 minutes) was a body temp bath (36C). This is where I started getting sleepy and began to fully relax and close my eyes.
Station 10 (15 minutes) was a little below body temp (34C). I snoozed off in this bath and lost track of time. When I came out of it I had been in there about ten minutes longer than I needed to be. Mark Twain made a similar observation when he visited these baths. "After 10 minutes you forget time, after 20 minutes, the world."
Station 11 (5 minutes) was even colder than the last one (28C). I couldn't last the whole five minutes. Also this would have been the one coed bath but like I said I was the only guest during this time.
Station 12 (5 minutes) was to shower again.
Station 13 (1 minute) was a cold bath (18C). All I could stand was a quick plunge and then I was out to the next station.
Station 14 (4 minutes) Dry off with warm towels.
Station 15 (8 minutes) Application of moisturizing cream. This is also a point where you can opt to purchase and extra cream massage.
Station 16 (30 minutes) the Relaxation Room. This is where you take a short nap. A staff member helps you onto a bed and then wraps you up in a sheet and blanket. Since I was tired and falling asleep in the baths I was out not too much later after I was left alone in the room.
Station 17 (30 minutes) the Reading Room. I just sat in own of the lounge chairs with a cup of hot tea and fell back to sleep again.
The whole thing took me about 3 hours to get through. I had somewhat mixed feelings about my overall bath house experience because I was the only guest there at the time. It was great in the sense that not many people get to experience having a whole bath house to themselves but at the same time I feel like I didn't get the whole experience with other guests being present. But I get to scratch that off my bucket list now and I can definitely say I am comfortable in my own skin.