England
The 10 best saunas in England
Last reviewed June 2026
England's sauna scene isn't one scene — it's several, stitched together. London has become one of Europe's most interesting sauna cities almost overnight, led by a community-bathhouse movement running uncompromising wood-fired heat at concession prices. The north has its own boom of railway-arch contrast studios. And the coast — Cornwall, Dorset, Devon — is dotted with wood-fired barrels a few steps from cold Atlantic water.
What ties it together is that the best of it is run by small operators and community-interest companies rather than chains, and most of it is bookable by the session. These ten are the ones we'd point a visitor to first, spread from the Cornish cliffs to the Northern Quarter.
- 1
Community Sauna Baths - Hackney Wick
London's community-sauna flagship · London
The flagship of London's community-sauna movement: seven wood-fired saunas in a converted Hackney Wick bathhouse, non-profit, with sessions from £8.50 and heat that doesn't compromise. The canalside setting near the Olympic Park lends the industrial atmosphere the experience wants.
- 2
FIX MCR
The UK's largest standalone sauna · Manchester
Home to the UK's largest standalone sauna — handcrafted western red cedar with Himalayan salt-brick walls — beneath Hilton Street in the Northern Quarter. Sessions are guided contrast therapy with breathwork and sound; not one for purists, but the room itself is genuinely impressive.
- 3
Arvo Sauna
Two saunas, three stepped ice baths · London
An Australian-inspired neighbourhood bathhouse in Walthamstow with two large Finnish saunas — one for talking, one silent — and three ice baths stepped at 10, 7 and 5°C for easing into the cold. Fifty-five-minute sessions with tea and showers included.
- 4
Ocean Soul Sauna
Wood smoke over the Atlantic · Bude
A wood-fired beach sauna perched on Crooklets Beach in Bude with a panoramic window over the Atlantic, and the sand a step away for a sea dip between rounds. Sessions from £12 — the Cornish coast at its most direct.
- 5
&Soul Shoreditch
A 40-person aufguss room · London
A 40-person aufguss sauna in a Shoreditch basement, with a sober bar and plant-based dining upstairs. The scale is unusual for London — a properly large room and a regular aufguss programme — with day passes from £20.
- 6
The Saltwater Sauna
Sea-view heat on Sandbanks · Poole
A Finnish-inspired wood-fired sauna on Sandbanks Beach with a panoramic sea-view window, outdoor showers, and direct beach access for a Channel swim between rounds. Communal and private sessions from 35 to 65 minutes.
- 7
The Good Sauna
Outdoor wood-fired, in the city · Manchester
An outdoor wood-fired Finnish sauna in Manchester's New Jackson district near Deansgate — an unusual find this close to a city centre. Community sessions run an hour and three-quarters, with a cold plunge between rounds.
- 8
Lowlu - Kentish Town
Five architect-designed saunas · London
Five Finnish saunas designed by architect Sami Rintala in a Kentish Town warehouse, running 75–95°C with a cold plunge between rounds. Open seven days, early till late, with off-peak sessions from £9 — one of the best-value dedicated sauna experiences in London.
- 9
Banya No.1
Russian heat and the venik · London
An industrial-scale Russian banya in a Hoxton warehouse with a parílka hot enough to make you reconsider your choices. The venik birch-branch treatment is the real draw, alongside a cold plunge, steam room, and a restaurant that takes the food as seriously as the heat.
- 10
Saela Sauna
Heat in the Ouseburn · Newcastle upon Tyne
A Danish-built, hand-crafted sauna seating ten in the backyard of Cobalt Studios, in Newcastle's Ouseburn creative quarter. One-hour sessions with a cold plunge and a fire pit, and a neighbourhood of galleries and breweries to fold it into.
That's the shortlist. See every curated sauna in England in the full England guide.