The 10 best saunas in the Netherlands

Beach sauna facing the North Sea · Scheveningen

Right on the sand at Hart Beach, facing west into the North Sea, and the plunge is the sea itself. The sunset slots sell out first and it is obvious why. Sauna, sea, sand, repeat — there is nothing else to the format and nothing else needed.

Finnish · € · Cold plunge · Session-booked

Daily aufguss, thermal pools · Soesterberg

The Therme model at full scale: Finnish and steam saunas, several thermal pools, whirlpools, and aufguss ceremonies run daily rather than occasionally. Restaurants, spa treatments, yoga and workshops fill out the rest of a day, and a hotel is attached if one day is not enough. Day passes or a booked retreat programme.

Finnish · Steam · €€ · Drop-in

Saunagus in three rounds · Amsterdam

A floating sauna and a barrel sauna on the water in Amsterdam Noord, where Saunagus sessions are guided in three rounds by a Sauna Master. It is more structured than the drop-in community saunas nearby. You come for the ritual rather than a quick sweat, and the format assumes you knew that.

“Fine if you’re into floating saunas.” · James

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

Finnish and steam, facing the sea · Zandvoort

Directly on Zandvoort's beachfront, with Finnish and steam rooms looking out at the water and the North Sea handling the cold half of the cycle. It draws locals as much as beach visitors, which is usually the sign worth reading.

Finnish · Steam · €€ · Drop-in

An English country house in Enschede · Enschede

Huize Hölterhof is a wellness resort inside an English-style country house, set in manicured grounds. Several sauna types sit alongside pools and bathing facilities, with a restaurant and beauty centre attached. Day passes and evening rates both give full access, aufguss included.

Finnish · Steam · €€ · Drop-in

Swim out into the lake · Amsterdam

The lakeside Kuuma, beside the Buiten beach café on the Sloterplas, where you swim straight out of the sauna into open water rather than lowering yourself into a tub. Quieter and more suburban than the central sites. The cooldown here is the real thing.

Finnish · € · Cold plunge · Session-booked

Forest spa with a visitor cap · Lunteren

A wellness spa set inside the Veluwe forest at Lunteren, with saunas, steam baths and heated pools running indoors and out, plus a Moroccan herbal bath. Daily visitor numbers are capped deliberately to keep the place quiet. The restaurant leans on regional game and seafood.

Finnish · Steam · €€ · Drop-in

Kelo sauna on the Zeeland coast · Kamperland

Twenty sauna and wellness facilities on the North Beveland coast, a kelo sauna among them, with a 22-metre outdoor pool and relaxation gardens spread around them. A beauty centre and a restaurant are on site. Open to day visitors as well as people staying over.

Finnish · Steam · €€ · Drop-in

Ice baths, deliberately unintimidating · Amsterdam

Amsterdam's dedicated sauna and ice bath studio, in a colourful room that goes out of its way not to intimidate anyone. Sessions alternate hot sauna with ice baths, taken solo, in pairs or as a private group. Beginner workshops and membership tiers are both on offer, which tells you who it is for.

Ice · €€ · Cold plunge · Session-booked

Finnish sauna over a pond · Oosterhout

A wellness resort in Oosterhout built around a Finnish sauna that looks out over a pond. Several swimming pools include a Dead Sea-style float. Massage and beauty treatments, rest areas, an outdoor garden and a restaurant fill out the rest of a visit.

Finnish · €€ · Drop-in