It’s dark, hot and sticky – but the road to Hell was ever thus. Descend to the underground thermal cavern (pictured opposite) at Grotta Giusti and you find yourself in Mother Nature’s hammam. The minerals in the rocks and the steamy heat (temperatures go up to 35ºC) are said to remedy a host of medical problems. And after 50 minutes, your skin will feel like a baby’s bottom. Verdi called the Grotta the ‘eighth wonder of the world’, and you may well agree, depending on the results. That said, it’s not for claustrophobics (or the fanatically squeamish).

l TRY a very squishy mud treatment, or go for a full-on Detox, which includes peels, facials, massages among the subterranean indulgence.

The Holiday Planner (020 8398 6332, www.theholidayplanner.co.uk) has three nights’ half board including flights from Gatwick to Pisa and transfers from £1,120; and five days’ half board with four-day detox from £1,880.

ARARAT PARK HYATT, MOSCOW

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• The Maia Spa, Seychelles

This steely, super-modern hotel is possibly Moscow’s sexiest. And the Quantum Health Club & Spa is one of the best cocoons from the city’s bleak mid-winter.

l TRY the 60-minute Russian Bath Treatment (£157): it’s a super-steamy take on the ritual in bath houses across Russia. A wall of sauna heat, intensified by water on searing stones, makes you sweat as honey is applied. You cold-plunge, then return to the steam to be slapped vigorously with soft, soaked, aromatic sheaves of birch and oak leaves. More sweat, a massage and sweet tea – it’s astonishingly revivifying.

Exeter International (020 8956 2756, www.exeterinternational.co.uk) has three nights’ B&B from £1,375, including visas and flights from Heathrow.

SIX SENSES, PORTO ELOUNDA, CRETE

This 21st-century super-spa delivers much more than an hour’s treatment and a glass of water. The hydrotherapy pool has views over the Elounda peninsula and the vast suite of hammams, saunas and ice pools is shadowed by the striking sculptures of Costas Varotsos, Greece’s answer to Antony Gormley. Treatments are all effective but pièce de résistance is the relaxation area: a galaxy of crystals above an infinity pool and a decadent chaise longue.

l TRY the Cleopatra Bath: a long soak in milk scented with aromatherapy oils (£39).

Essential Escapes (020 7284 3344, www.essentialescapes.com) has three nights’ half board with flights from Gatwick from £950.

TSCHUGGEN GRAND, SWITZERLAND

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