For those interested in learning about and experiencing Finnish, Continental and Alpine sauna or just want to find a sauna or thermal suite while traveling, here are a few resources (more to come when I have time) beginning with the two most important:
SaunaExperience.FI – Kimmo, nicknamed Sauna Sherpa, is a font of knowledge about sauna and is a member of the Sauna Masters Guild. He can provide tours of saunas in Finland and Estonia along with imparting his knowledge and wisdom along the way. Anyone who wants to build saunas or just know more about them should spend at least a few days visiting saunas with Kimmo.
SaunaAtlas.com – A ‘Map Of All The Saunas In The World’. OK, not yet all of them but 1264 locations with 2813 saunas so far and growing.
Trumpkin Reviews – I occasionally write reviews of saunas I’ve visited.
If you truly want to understand sauna then I would start with Finnish Saunas so maybe a few days with Kimmo visiting a smoke sauna, a sauna heated by an aitokiuas, and a few others.
Next, visit some Continental Saunas. These primarily in thermal suites throughout Germany, Austria and nearby. My favorite is Therme Wien in Vienna.
Finally, a few days of an Alpine Sauna in an Alpine resort (South Tyrol, etc.).
There are a few thousand thermal suites throughout Europe. Here are a few to consider.
Finland:
Sauna Village near Jämsä Finland has 20 smoke saunas dating back to the 18th century. Many of them are heated on Saturdays during the summer and occasionally at other times.
Tampere Finland is the sauna capital of the world.
Finland – Helsinki Area:
Sompasauna – A collection of saunas maintained by volunteers.
Kotiharju – An old (since 1928) traditional public sauna heated by a giant wood burning heater.
Villa Furuvik – Not the best sauna but easily accessible and enjoyable.
Löyly – Very touristy but perhaps worth a visit. Note that the ‘smoke sauna’ is more of a pseudo smoke sauna than a real one.
Kuusijärvi – Café, smoke sauna, electric sauna.
Finland – Saariselkä:
Javri Lodge – Our favorite destination in Finland. Wonderful food, nordic skiing, hiking and of course, a couple of good saunas.
Estonia:
Sauna Tour – I don’t know much about them but seem good.
Norway:
The Well – Just south of Oslo. The Well is a well done thermal suite that leans a bit towards the luxury side.
Austria:
Therme Wien – Likely my favorite continental sauna.
Others to consider: Therme Laa, Aqua Dome (a bit over the top but still good), Rogner Bad Blumau and Tauern. There are hundreds of good sauna and thermal suite options throughout Austria and most are quite good.
Germany:
Theme Erding – Kind of a Disneyland of thermal suites. Worth a visit but not somewhere I’d ever return to.
Friedrichsbad – This is a Roman-Irish bath rather than a sauna but I think worth a visit by anyone interested in sauna and thermal bathing. FWIW, Caracalla is OK but not great IMO.
Tropical Islands – What do you do with an unused derigable hanger? Make a tropical resort with a bunch of saunas and other thermal experiences.
Northern Italy (South Tyrol):
There are hundreds of resorts throughout this area with quite good thermal suites.
Netherlands:
Thermen Bussloo – Home of the 2024 world aufguss championships.
Sauna Van Egmund – A visit to Haarlem and Sauna van Egmund makes for a very good day.
Sauna Deco – Sometimes gets more tourists than locals and can have a kind of not so good vibe.
Note: Make sure to check the website before visiting as some places in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere with names like ‘Saunaclub’ are actually sex clubs. Prostitution is a legal profession in these countries and advertised openly so will be obvious on the website.