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.
VisitSauna.com – This is a commercial enterprise that sells a booking system and consulting services to sauna operators. They do include a map of sorts but data is questionable/incorrect.
Trumpkin Reviews – I occasionally write reviews of public saunas we’ve visited.
Watch Mikkel Aaland’s Perfect Sweat.
The Sauna Channel – Accuracy is kind of hit or miss but still some interesting international perspective.
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.).
Nude – The majority of saunas/thermé in Europe mixed nude. E.G., men and women together, no swimsuits allowed. There are a number of reasons but the primary two are hygiene and comfort. FWIW, it really is completely non-sexual, but I think this is difficult for most Americans to grasp until experienced. This is not a naturist thing but as many people in Europe say is ’simply a necessary condition for sauna bathing’.
Some people wear robes or towels when not in a sauna and then kind of cover themselves a bit with a towel in saunas so it is possible to maintain some bit of modesty. More: Saunas, Nudity and Victoria.
There are a several thousand thermal suites throughout Europe. Here are a few of our favorites and others.
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:
Katja Pantzar (author of little books ‘Sisu’ and ‘The Power of Hot & Cold’) has a new book out ‘Helsinki By Sauna’ that should be available outside of Finland by late 2025. If you want a copy immediately then booky ships to the U.S. but note that their shipping charges are quite high resulting in a cost of about us$60. Worth it if planning a trip, perhaps not so much otherwise.
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 saunas, electric sauna, swimming lake.
Finland – Saariselkä:
Javri Lodge – Our favorite destination in Finland. Wonderful hosts, 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.
From Lassi: Viimsi SPA The most diverse sauna world in the Baltic Sea in Tallinn.
Norway:
Saunaen is a listing of public saunas in Norway.
The Well – Just south of Oslo. The Well is a well done thermal suite that leans a bit towards the luxury side.
SALT – A cool area with 12 saunas in Oslo.
From Lassi: Norway’s emerging sauna culture and Oslo’s saunas in the crosshairs.
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.
From Lassi: Sauna destinations in Berlin – three different discoveries for a sauna traveler.
Northern Italy (South Tyrol):
There are hundreds of resorts throughout this area with quite good thermal suites.
Netherlands:
Thermen Bussloo – is about an hour from Amsterdam but is also one of the top thermé in Europe so worth a visit. They are experimenting with allowing swimwear on Tuesdays. 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 – In central Amsterdam gets mixed reviews, some people love it, others not. I think it’s more tourist than local and not a true continental thermé. I visited a couple of times 10-15 years ago and thought it was OK. It is convenient though.
Thermen Maarssen – near Utrecht (30 mins by car). Owned by the same folks as Thermen Bussloo but a bit smaller.
Thermen La Mer – near Almere (20-60 mins depending on travel mode).
Fort Resort Beemster – near Beemster (35 mins by train) is kind of new (12 yrs) and quite nice. It may give Egmond a run for its money though reviews seem more mixed.
Sauna Den llp – Amsterdam North (15 mins by car). I think the closest to Amsterdam that does aufguss infusions.
Hotel Zuiver – In Amsterdam is a ‘Wellness Hotel’ with a large fitness center and thermé. Allows swimsuits on Tue, Wed and Thu though check first as they’re apparently planning to reduce that to just one day. It has a rep for being upscale/snobby but it’s not seemed that to me.
Badhuis De Costa – This is an oldest traditional bathhouse (e.g., not at all luxury) with one sauna so not really a place to spend a lot of time. I’d like to visit out of historical curiosity though. There were once hundreds of these in cities throughout Europe.
Elysium – Has been on my list to visit for a while but a bit further away.
Elisa’s reviews of saunas in The Netherlands.
Note that some, like Thermen Bussloo, do require advance reservations, so make sure to check.
All are accessible via Bolt or Uber as well as public transit and bicycle.
The three Thermen and Sauna Den llp all include aufguss routines.
Turkey:
From Lassi: Bathing in History: Tips for Exploring the Timeless Hammams of Istanbul.
Japan:
From Lassi: Tokyo’s sauna champions and a sauna tourist’s survival guide. One of four excellent posts on his trip to Japan.
Note: Make sure to check the website before visiting as some places 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.