Levico Terme: Trentino's Forgotten Belle Époque Spa Town

There are places that modern tourism has skipped over for reasons nobody quite understands. Levico Terme is one of them: an Austro-Hungarian spa town with its Liberty-style park, swimmable lake, tree-lined avenues, and late nineteenth-century palaces — all intact, all accessible, all nearly empty compared to what they deserve. The reason might be the name: 'terme' makes people think of retirees and treatments, not architectural beauty.

The arsenical and iron-rich waters

The waters of Levico are chemically unique in Europe: they contain natural arsenic in therapeutically relevant concentrations, combined with iron and other minerals. In the nineteenth century, they were prescribed for blood diseases and convalescence. The spa facility, open since the late 1880s, still operates with modern treatments that maintain continuity with the tradition. Treatment cycles require booking, but the outdoor pool with thermal water is accessible to day visitors for about 15 euros.

The Spa Park and Habsburg architecture

The park surrounding the facility is one of Trentino's most beautiful botanical parks: Himalayan cedars, sequoias, and purple beeches planted between 1890 and 1910 when Levico was frequented by Austro-Hungarian aristocracy. The Grand Hotel Imperial, a Liberty-style palace with turrets and decorated façades opened in 1900, dominates the park with a theatrical presence. It closed its doors in January 2024 after more than a century in business and its future remains uncertain, but the building, visible on a walk through the park, is still one of Levico's most striking sights.

The lake and the lakeside walk

Lake Levico, 500 meters from the spa, is swimmable from June to September with an equipped beach and a quieter free area on the eastern side. The walk connecting the lake to the town of Levico passes through the park and then climbs to the historic center in about 30 minutes: a flat route suitable for all ages. The Thursday morning market in the square sells local products — honey, cheeses, preserves — at local prices.