The 10 best saunas in Europe

Finland's oldest public sauna · Tampere

Finland's oldest public sauna, heating in Tampere since 1906. The wood-heated stove and the dark, low-ceilinged room have not fundamentally changed in over a century. A pilgrimage for anyone who cares where the tradition began.

Smoke · € · Drop-in

Estonia's UNESCO smoke ritual · Haanja

A working farm in the Haanja hills of Old Võromaa, keeping Estonia's UNESCO-listed smoke-sauna tradition. Master Eda Veeroja leads a ritual of at least three hours: the chimneyless sauna heated slowly over a day, whisking with birch, cooling in the pond. Booking is by arrangement only, and this is the ceremony rather than a quick sweat.

Smoke · €€€ · Cold plunge · Session-booked

Malmö's 1898 sea-pier bathhouse · Malmö

An open-air bathhouse on a pier reaching into the Öresund, in operation since 1898 and known in Malmö as Ribban. Heat in the saunas, one of them wood-fired, then a ladder straight down into the sea. Bathing is gender-separated in the open air, an aufguss tradition runs here too, and sunset over the strait is the slot to aim for.

Finnish · Steam · under 275 kr · Cold plunge · Drop-in

Floating heat under the Opera House · Oslo

Wood-fired floating saunas on the Oslofjord, one moored at Langkaia beneath the Opera House and another at Aker Brygge facing Akershus Fortress. The cold plunge is the fjord off the back step. Sessions run shared or private, and the KOKcruise variant casts off entirely and glides through the inner harbour between rounds.

Finnish · Floating · 290–575 kr · Cold plunge · Session-booked

The community movement's London flagship · London

Britain's slot goes to the flagship of London's community sauna movement: seven wood-fired saunas in a converted bathhouse by the canal at Hackney Wick, near the Olympic Park. It is non-profit, the heat is uncompromising, and the saunas and plunges run a proper range of temperatures. It is also the pick here we have visited most, and it earned full marks.

“Since they first opened, they’ve made a bunch of changes, added quite a lot of new saunas.” · James

Finnish · £ · Cold plunge · Session-booked

Latvia's pirts ritual, three ways · Sigulda

A pirts-led retreat in the forest outside Sigulda, known for three bathhouses that share nothing but the heat. One is a glass pirts framing the woods, one a blackened smoke pirts, and the third an award-winning sauna lined in wool. Pirts masters guide each session in the Latvian ritual tradition, with cold plunges and a swimming pond between rounds.

Finnish · Smoke · €€€ · Cold plunge · Session-booked

Show-aufguss on the Scharmützelsee · Wendisch Rietz

A lakeside sauna resort on the Scharmützelsee in Brandenburg, built around the sauna rather than the pool. Nine rooms include a theatre sauna staged for show-aufguss, and it has hosted the Aufguss World Championships more than once. Cooling between rounds is straight into the lake.

Finnish · €€ · Drop-in

Pilot your own Alpine sauna · Zürich

A wood-fired sauna boat you pilot yourself across Lake Zürich, no licence needed. You warm by the stove behind panoramic glass, then plunge straight into the lake with the Alps on the horizon. Sessions run three to four hours for up to six, casting off from the Mythenquai.

Finnish · CHF50–100 · Cold plunge · Private hire

Strasbourg's listed 1908 municipal baths · Strasbourg

Strasbourg's municipal baths of 1908, listed as a historic monument since 2017 and still run as public baths. Behind the swimming halls, the wellness wing keeps the original Roman baths alongside an 80°C sauna, a hammam, a salt grotto and a heated outdoor pool. One ticket covers both the swimming halls and the baths.

Finnish · Steam · € · Drop-in

Andalusi baths beside Plaza Nueva · Granada

Andalusi-style Arab baths beside Plaza Nueva in the centre of Granada, where the cycle runs between cold, warm and hot pools in steam-heated rooms. Visits are booked as timed sessions, with a massage or a kessa scrub added if you want one. Swimwear is required, and towels and lockers are provided.

Steam · €€€ · Session-booked