7 of Europe’s most wonderful pools

Swimming pools often represent the ultimate holiday ideal and Europe has a host of wonderful options that will have the most seasoned traveller feeling enamoured. These seven are particularly worthy.

Alpin Panorama Hotel Hubertus, Italy

Very few pools can compete with Italy’s Alpin Panorama Hotel Hubertus’ when it comes to grandeur. Balanced on 20-metre-high wooden stilts in the Dolomites, it juts out for 25 metres over the mountainside with clear views of evergreen forest and rocky peaks. You can even look down if you dare, thanks to the glass flooring that features along a portion of the pool. The hotel also has five other swimming pools (both indoor and outdoor) and a wooden sauna.

Villa Honegg, Switzerland

Villa Honnegg’s pool is all about the views. Blessed with a kind of celestial beauty courtesy of its location, this pool overlooks the cut of aquamarine that is Lake Lucerne and the snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. Visit in the wintertime and it’s arguably even more magical, with the mountainsides blanketed in white and snowflakes swirling down into the heated waters.

Aqua Dome, Austria

Placed on circular, UFO-like platforms, the heated pools at Aqua Dome are backed by the towering Ötztal Alps. They form part of a larger spa complex that’s home to 12 pools and seven saunas in total, so prepare to be spoilt for choice. And when it snows, the steam from the water paints an especially magical picture against the surrounding ripples of snow-dusted pines.

Seljavallalaug, Iceland

Iceland’s luminous Blue Lagoon may be the go-to pool for visitors to this naturally beautiful country but Seljavallalaug is a lesser-known and equally captivating sight. Hidden away in the mountains, this geothermal outdoor pool was built in the 1920s as a way to teach Icelanders how to swim – though well-seasoned in the ways of the sea (most were fishermen), many of them couldn’t at the time. Fed by natural waters and bordered by mossy green mountains, the pool offers bathers a chance to connect with Iceland’s raw nature. Visit in the morning ahead of the crowds, when dense shrouds of hypnotic mist descend overhead and sink into the warm waters. The pool can be reached on foot from Seljavallalaug parking, from where you can drive back to the contemporary Garage for the night.

Manon Les Suites, Denmark

Looking more like you’d find it in Bali or Manhattan than in a European city, the swimming pool at hotel Manon Les Suites is a surprisingly tropical escape in Copenhagen. The pool sits at the centre of the property, straddled by the hotel’s suites, steel balconies and cascading vines. Underscored with Scandinavian sensibility (it’s a practical and uniform layout), the pool has a sea green and blue-hued flooring that contrasts brilliantly with the surrounding bright terracotta pots and citrus accents.

São Lourenço do Barrocal, Portugal

The swimming pool at São Lourenço do Barrocal in Portugal’s Alentejo region is a minimal affair – a slim pool with a stark boulder standing at one end. But the rock isn’t purely decorative; former tribes of the area used to seek out these stones (many of which can be found across the estate), for ceremonial purposes. Glide through the waters before a stroll through sun-drenched vineyards and olive groves, or a nap under one of the many holm oaks that have stood guard since tribal times.

Borgo Pignano, Italy

Atop a hill in the Tuscan countryside, Borgo Pignano’s pool fulfills any dreams of an Italian getaway. The property is a 750-acre estate with its own organic farm and panoramic views of the green and gold landscape. The pool was carved from an ancient limestone quarry and features blonde stones that shine brightly in the late afternoon sunshine. Treat yourself to a lazy dip and grab a drink from the adjacent pop-up bar, before a short wander to the hotel’s resident beekeeper or soapmaker for a taste of rural Tuscan life.