United States
The 10 best saunas in the USA
Last reviewed June 2026
The American sauna scene is two stories running at once. There is a deep bathhouse heritage of century-old Russian banyas, Korean jjimjilbangs and Japanese sento.
Alongside it runs a fast-moving new wave of contrast-therapy bathhouses and outdoor wood-fired operators. No country in the atlas carries a wider span of formats.
These ten cross the country and the traditions, from an 1892 East Village parilka to a floating barge on Lake Superior. The full set sits in the regional and city guides.
- 1
Bathhouse Williamsburg
The modern US bathhouse, originated · Brooklyn
The 2019 original that set the template for the modern American bathhouse. Eight thermal pools including a rooftop, one of the largest saunas in the city, steam, hammam, daily aufguss and a restaurant. All of it in moody industrial Williamsburg.
- 2
World Spa
The largest banya in the US · Brooklyn
A 50,000-square-foot Brooklyn megabath billed as the largest banya in the country. Eastern European banyas, Finnish saunas, Moroccan and Turkish hammams, a salt room and a snow room. Ritual after ritual.
- 3
Archimedes Banya
Four traditions, three storeys · San Francisco
A three-storey Russian-led banya on the Bayview waterfront, fusing parilka, hammam, German sauna and Roman bathing. There is venik platza, a rooftop deck over the bay, and a restaurant and bar.
- 4
Russian & Turkish Baths
An 1892 East Village institution · New York
Still run by two owners on alternating weeks. The circuit is a radiant parilka, Turkish steam, a redwood Finnish sauna, an ice plunge and a roof deck. Walk-in and gloriously gritty, with oak-leaf platza and borscht.
- 5
Cedar & Stone Nordic Sauna
A floating barge on Lake Superior · Duluth
A wood-fired Finnish cabin on a floating barge at Pier B, with windows over Lake Superior and a ladder straight into it. By the operator's account it is the only US sauna whose cold plunge is the lake itself.
- 6
Spa Castle
A four-storey Korean jjimjilbang · Queens
A four-storey jjimjilbang in College Point with themed chambers of salt, gold, jade and halotherapy. There is an ice room, and indoor and outdoor hydrotherapy pools. A Kids Castle makes it genuinely family-friendly.
- 7
Good Hot
Five wood-fired huts, plunge in the bay · Richmond
A deconstructed bathhouse of five private wood-fired saunas on the Point San Pablo coast. Plunging goes straight into San Francisco Bay. The stated mission is subsidising low-income QTBIPOC visitors.
- 8
Sauna House Asheville
Where the US bathhouse model started · Asheville
The small South Slope bathhouse that built America's communal-contrast model. Cedar sauna, aspen wet sauna, cold plunge, heated-bench rest, and phones banned. That format then rolled out across the South.
- 9
Banya 5
A South Lake Union banya since 2004 · Seattle
A banya running since 2004 that blends Russian, Turkish, Finnish and Japanese bathing. The circuit is a parilka, eucalyptus steam, ice bath and saltwater pool, with platza treatments and a nap room.
- 10
Knot Springs
Pools over the Willamette · Portland
A members-led wellness club above the Eastside Exchange, with hot pools, sauna, steam and a cold plunge. The view is over the Willamette and downtown Portland. Day passes are bookable for non-members.
That's the shortlist. See every curated sauna in the United States in the full United States guide.