The 10 best saunas in the USA
Last reviewed August 2026
America's sauna story is every bathing tradition the country has absorbed, running side by side. An 1892 East Village parilka, a Japantown sento and a Korean jjimjilbang sit beside a Finnish-American barge on Lake Superior.
#1 · Bathhouse Williamsburg
Brooklyn's original thermal flagship · Brooklyn
The original Bathhouse, open since 2019 and the biggest of the three New York sites: eight thermal pools, one of the city's largest stadium-seating saunas, steam rooms, a hammam and a restaurant. Daily aufguss rituals run through low-lit, industrial Williamsburg rooms. Done right, in true New York fashion.
“What a gem!” · Josje
Finnish · Steam · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#2 · Russian & Turkish Baths
Steam on East 10th since 1892 · New York
An East Village institution since 1892, still run by two owners on alternating weeks, so the rules shift with the calendar. The circuit runs a radiant-heat Russian parilka, Turkish steam, a redwood sauna and an ice plunge, with venik platza on the menu and borscht in the cafe. Walk-in, gritty and communal.
Banya · Finnish · Steam · Ice · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#3 · Cedar & Stone Nordic Sauna
A barge on Lake Superior · Duluth
A wood-fired Finnish cabin on a barge at Pier B in Duluth, with windows over the water and ladder access straight into Lake Superior. The lake is the cold plunge, at whatever temperature the season sets. Private small-group sessions keep the barge quiet.
Finnish · Floating · $$$ · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#4 · Sauna House Asheville
The original Sauna House circuit · Asheville
The original Sauna House, a small Nordic-style bathhouse in Asheville's South Slope built around one repeating circuit: cedar sauna, aspen wet sauna, cold plunge, heated-bench lounge. Phones are prohibited and the design stays unpretentious. The blueprint the whole chain grew from.
Finnish · Steam · $$ · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#5 · Gangnam Spa
Houston's wood-fired jjimjilbang · Houston
A jjimjilbang in west Houston billed as the first US spa with wood-fired Bul-Ga-Ma kilns. The co-ed jjimjil floor runs themed heat rooms in uniform, with separate clothing-optional bathing halls, body scrubs and a Korean food court. Built for the all-day visit, not the quick reset.
Jjimjilbang · Finnish · Steam · Infrared · Ice · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#6 · Kabuki Springs & Spa
Fifty years of Japantown sento · San Francisco
A Japanese-style bathhouse that has run in Japantown for fifty years, built around the sento ritual: seated wash, hot bath, cold plunge, cedar dry sauna, herbal steam. Bathing is gender-segregated most of the week, with co-ed swimsuit days. A tradition nowhere else on this list carries.
Finnish · Steam · $$ · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#7 · Chicago Bath House
Wicker Park's 1906 banya · Chicago
A Russian banya in Wicker Park since 1906, anchored by the granite Red Square hot room. The stones are heated overnight, then doused for the next day's steam. A Finnish sauna, eucalyptus steam, plunge pool and platza treatments round out the circuit.
Banya · Finnish · Steam · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#8 · Good Hot
Wood-fired heat on San Francisco Bay · Richmond
A deconstructed bathhouse of five private wood-fired saunas on the Point San Pablo coastline, with the cold plunge taken directly in San Francisco Bay. The project subsidises low-income QTBIPOC visitors with discounted sessions. The most quietly radical operation in American sauna.
Finnish · $$$ · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#9 · Everett House
Portland's community healing centre · Portland
A clothing-optional community healing centre spread across two craftsman houses in Portland's Kerns neighbourhood. Two saunas, a steam room, a salt hot tub and clawfoot cold plunges share a fire patio. Co-ed most of the week, with women-only and LGBTQ-only sessions.
Finnish · Steam · $ · Cold plunge · By appointment
#10 · ROK Spas
Colorado's largest traditional sauna · Denver
A Nordic contrast-therapy bathhouse in downtown Denver, built around what the operator bills as Colorado's largest traditional sauna: a 40-seat room at 194°F. Five graduated cold plunges, warm soaking tubs and a eucalyptus steam room complete the circuit.
Finnish · Steam · $$ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
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That's the shortlist. See every curated sauna in the United States in the full United States guide.