The best saunas in the NYC Metro
Last reviewed October 2026
On West 20th Street, a guided class files out of a cedar sauna and into the ice baths. Across the Hudson in Edgewater, people float in a rooftop infinity pool with Manhattan laid out in front of them. This is the newer city: booked ahead, often guided, and built big.
#1 · Bathhouse — Williamsburg
Daily aufguss, stadium seating · Brooklyn
Plan the visit around the daily aufguss, and save a round for one of the city's largest stadium-seating saunas. The rest of the time is yours to loop through eight thermal pools, steam rooms and the hammam, all kept low-lit. Our curator came away with nothing to fault.
“What a gem!” · Josje
Finnish · Steam · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#2 · Russian & Turkish Baths
Oak-leaf platza, walk-ins only · New York
Nobody books: you walk in and work your way between the parilka's radiant heat, Turkish steam, a redwood Finnish sauna and the ice plunge. Ask for an oak-leaf platza between rounds and save the borscht in the cafe for the end. Two owners take alternate weeks here, so the house rules shift with the calendar.
Banya · Finnish · Steam · Ice · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#3 · World Spa
Banya, hammam, snow room, onsen · Brooklyn
At 50,000 square feet, World Spa leaves room to drift. Eastern European banyas and Finnish saunas lead on to Moroccan and Turkish hammams, an onsen circuit, a snow room and a Himalayan salt room. When the rituals run out, take a chaise by the fireplace lounge.
Banya · Finnish · Steam · Infrared · Ice · $$$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#4 · SoJo Spa Club
Korean spa club on the Hudson · Edgewater
Indoors, work through the salt, charcoal and clay rooms and the ganbanyoku room, then reset in the ice room. Outside, the terraces hold a Finnish-style dry sauna and heated baths. The single-sex bath houses are nude-optional, and the rooftop infinity pool makes the last stop of the day.
Jjimjilbang · Finnish · Steam · Infrared · Bedrock bath · Ice · $$$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#5 · Othership — Flatiron
Guided classes or quiet free flow · New York
Book a guided class to move through the session with the room, or free flow to keep a quieter pace of your own. Either way it is a large cedar sauna, eight ice baths and tea by the fire. Swimsuits stay on throughout, and the changing stalls are not split by gender.
Finnish · $$$ · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#6 · QC Spa New York
1934 barracks on Governors Island · New York
Take the ferry to Governors Island for three restored 1934 army barracks, now an adults-only Italian-style day spa. Entry runs in timed sessions, spent between thermal baths, saunas, steam rooms, Vichy showers and an ice room. The outdoor pools face the Manhattan skyline across the water.
Finnish · Steam · Infrared · Ice · $$$ · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#7 · Spa Castle
Four storeys of themed heat · Queens
Walk in at College Point and work through four storeys of themed rooms. Himalayan salt, gold, jade, colour therapy, dry heat and steam each get one, with an ice room to break them up. The heated pools run indoors and out all year, and a Kids Castle makes it the family pick of this list.
Jjimjilbang · Finnish · Steam · Infrared · Ice · $$$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
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That's the shortlist. See every curated sauna in the NYC Metro in the full NYC Metro guide.