The 10 Coolest Swimming Pools

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1). SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Bondi Baths, an Olympic-size pool that became the home of the Bondi Icebergs, a winter swimming club, in 1929.
Accessibility: Year-round.
Cost: Day pass for nonmembers = $6.

2). VIENNA, AUSTRIA

“Krapfenwaldlbad” was opened in 1923 has four heated pools for swimmers, socializers, and families. Exclusive views over the entire city and vineyards are what make them exceptional.
Accessibility: May 2–Sept.
Cost: Adult admission to the park, including pool access = $6.70.

3). COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Kastrup Søbad, a circular wooden pavilion in the Baltic Sea created in 2005, the “sea bath” rises up at the end of a 328-foot boardwalk that connects it to shore (where visitors will find showers and lockers) and spirals in a way that shields bathers from sea winds. It’s a perfect place to experience hygge — an all-encompassing Danish term that means spending quality time with good friends — and it’s only a seven-minute train trip from the heart of downtown.
Accessibility: June–Sept.
Cost: Free.

4). BATH, ENGLAND

The Thermae Bath Spa taps into the same thermal springs that once soothed Roman conquerors in 43 A.D. From the naturally heated rooftop pool on the spa’s New Royal Bath building, visitors can take in a panorama that includes the ornate towers of 17th-century Bath Abbey in the center of town. This building also houses the Minerva Bath, the largest and most futuristically stylized of the three on offer, with massage jets, a whirlpool, and a “lazy river.
Accessibility: Year-round.
Cost: 2 hour spa usage, including pool access = $40.

5). MONTPELLIER, FRANCE

Piscine Olympique d’Antigone hosts an Olympic-size lap pool (called Antigone) and the leisure pool (Venus). Upstairs there is a sun terrace beneath a retractable roof, a whirlpool, and the most chic waterslide you’ve ever seen.
Accessibility: Year-round.
Cost: Adult day pass = $7.

6). BERLIN, GERMANY

Badeschiff (literally, “bathing ship”), floats southeast of Berlin on the Spree River. The 90-foot-long, seven-foot-deep, bright blue pool was created in May 2004 from a converted barge.  
Accessibility: May–Sept., Nov.–Mar.
Cost: $6.

7). BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

The Gellért Thermal Baths is an expansive Eastern European respite decked out in intricate stonework and mosaic tiles on a grand scale. The effervescent swimming pool in the art-nouveau-style main hall is impressive, sparkling 98 feet long under the double-height glass roof and inevitably inspiring fantasies of swimming in champagne. The rest of the building encompasses the original mineral-hot-spring baths, plus cold baths, saunas, a steam room, a spa, and two outdoor pools, including a 130-foot-long open-air wave pool.
Accessibility: Indoor, year-round; outdoor, summertime.
Cost: Pools only from $20.

8). GRINDAVIK, ICELAND

Blue Lagoon outside of Reykjavík has 1.6 million gallons of approximately 100-degree seawater. Steam rises from the sky-blue hot springs across a surreal landscape of black lava mounds, and bathers slather themselves with silica mud, precipitated from the springwater and known for its relaxing (and purported healing) properties. Formed in the 1970s as a by-product of the neighboring geothermal plant (after the plant used the hot water, it was led back to the lava field and formed the lagoon), the Blue Lagoon spawned a wellness center in 1999. With a restaurant, a spa, a dry sauna, and steam baths, the facility draws visitors from around the globe.
Accessibility: Year-round.
Cost: Day pass = $42.

9).AUSTIN, TEXAS

Barton Springs Pool allows you to take a dip in the natural spring water or lounge poolside on grassy knolls shaded by ancient oak and pecan trees in surrounding Zilker Metropolitan Park. The idyllic 355-acre green sprawl south of downtown is host to the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival and features Frisbee golf, playgrounds, and the Zilker Botanical Garden, which includes the Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden.
Accessibility: Mar. 12–Jan. 24.
Cost: Adults = $3.

10). CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA

Coral Gables Venetian Pool is a man-made, jade green, eight-foot-deep lagoon created in 1924 by the city’s founding father, George Merrick. Drained every night and refilled with 820,000 gallons of spring water, the pool is connected to a pair of waterfalls (one of which is 25 feet high!) and grottoes.
Accessibility: Year-round.
Cost: Day pass for nonresident adults = $11.

Found on Travel Spy

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Tags: Australia, Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, USA