Saunas, hot rooms, solariums, foot spas, swimming,plunge pools, mud baths: there is plenty to keep you busy at a health spa, andleave you feeling like you've never felt before.

Fancy a health makeover? A weekend away toning andre-tuning your body? Why not try a health spa?

The term spa comes from the Latin ?Salus Per Aqua?,meaning ?health through water?. However, the term has come to be associatedwith towns with natural springs have produced health-giving waters: Spa towns.Victorian Britons are very keen on travelling long distances for the time to?take the waters? in Britain (there were more than a hundred spa towns), orfurther afield across Europe.

The idea of water as giving health, of course, goesback much further than that, as, for example the Romans built a complete townaround the springs at the eponymously named Bath.

However, modern spas offer treatments that haveeven older origins. For example, the Middle East originated the nowincreasingly popular mud bathing, and Dead Sea provided rich mineral silts usedfor treating skin conditions for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians alsoregarded the mud of the Nile delta as having healing powers, as deposits in themud came down from the high mountain ranges of Ethiopia.

These days modern health spas bring treatmentscloser to home, although much of the fun of visiting a health spa is ? to getaway from it all!

Your more than likely to find the will exclude children, bringing a relaxed atmosphere tothe surroundings. On the same theme, there are often relaxation classes, andalways plenty of activities on a day to day basis, including talks anddemonstrations on the subjects of health, beauty and fitness.

Other spas do welcome children, but there will becareful restrictions on where they can go.

Food will be healthy ? but not just a lettuce leafand water! There is not usually a bar, but wine is usually allowed with eveningmeals.

Saunas, hot rooms, solariums, foot spas, swimming,plunge pools, mud baths: there are a whole host of activities to keep you busy,and leave you feeling as healthy as you've ever been!