Like a luxury spa – for £20: where to enjoy Britain’s Turkish baths revival

In 1900, there were 600 Turkish baths in Britain and Ireland. Today, only a handful survive. We enjoy a revived hammam in Newcastle and take a look at 10 more around the country

My sister and I are lying on slabs like flounders in a fishmonger’s. Instead of a bed of ice, though, we’re stretched out on heated marble. We move between three hot rooms, each resembling little chapels with vaulted ceilings, chatting quietly in the cooler one, applying face and hair masks in the middle one, and simply lying still, sweating, in the hottest one. Later, we will be scrubbed and massaged. In between, we cool off under a rain-mist shower, or retire to a bed in our own private mahogany-panelled booth beneath a glazed dome.

It sounds like a luxury spa, with prices to match. In fact, we’re at a century-old public bathhouse. The City Baths in Newcastle reopened in April after an £8m restoration – and a decade-long campaign. A two‑hour Turkish bath session here costs about £20, which includes a swim in the pool upstairs.

Topics

In Rome, the water is back in the Baths of Caracalla, a luxurious spa
Top stories - CBS News - October 26
New York City woman found murdered at luxury Hamptons resort and spa
Top stories - NBC News - October 29
Suspect in murder of New York City woman at luxury Hamptons spa and resort is found dead
Top stories - NBC News - October 30
‘Like watching your house burn down’: Americans in Britain on the shock of Trump’s victory
World - The Guardian - November 6
‘They look like homes for rich people’: why Britain should look to Europe for its council housing revolution
World - The Guardian - November 9
‘He was wedged like an hourglass’: rescuers describe 20-hour ordeal ending with amputation of rafter’s leg
World - The Guardian - 2 hours ago
An Israeli strike kills 20 in north Gaza, where Palestinians say they've had little food for weeks
World - ABC News - November 5
Bathing in Oil at a Climate Summit? It Leaves a Stain.
World - The New York Times - 3 days ago
Ballon d'Or 2024 live stream, where to watch, start time, candidates: Will Vinicius Jr. or Rodri win?
Sports - CBS Sports - October 28

Like a luxury spa – for £20: where to enjoy Britain’s Turkish baths revival

Topics

Related

In Rome, the water is back in the Baths of Caracalla, a luxurious spa

New York City woman found murdered at luxury Hamptons resort and spa

Suspect in murder of New York City woman at luxury Hamptons spa and resort is found dead

‘Like watching your house burn down’: Americans in Britain on the shock of Trump’s victory

‘They look like homes for rich people’: why Britain should look to Europe for its council housing revolution

‘He was wedged like an hourglass’: rescuers describe 20-hour ordeal ending with amputation of rafter’s leg

An Israeli strike kills 20 in north Gaza, where Palestinians say they've had little food for weeks

Bathing in Oil at a Climate Summit? It Leaves a Stain.

Ballon d'Or 2024 live stream, where to watch, start time, candidates: Will Vinicius Jr. or Rodri win?

More from The Guardian

Cop29 agrees $1.3tn climate finance deal but campaigners brand it a ‘betrayal’

World will be ‘unable to cope’ with volume of plastic waste in 10 years, warns expert

‘He was wedged like an hourglass’: rescuers describe 20-hour ordeal ending with amputation of rafter’s leg

Missing rabbi in UAE has been found murdered, says Israel

Russia ‘aggressive’ and ‘reckless’ in cyber realm and threat to Nato, UK minister to warn