Best saunas in Helsinki
Helsinki is the sauna city. Public saunas are woven through the neighbourhoods here, smoke and steam and electric heat, with the Baltic for plunging between rounds. Expect long Finnish traditions, löyly done properly, and a culture that treats the sauna as a living room rather than a spa.
Every sauna in Helsinki
#1 · Allas Sea Pool
A floating sauna and pool complex in Helsinki's harbour, directly opposite the Market Square and the Presidential Palace.
Finnish · Floating · €€ · Cold plunge · Drop-in
#2 · Bölen Sauna
A hired sauna floor beside Pasila station, run by Pasilan Saunatilat alongside its sister space Esterin Sauna.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#3 · Herttoniemi Sauna & Pool
A 240 square metre sauna space in the Etola building in Herttoniemi, hired by the group rather than by the seat.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#4 · Kotiharjun Sauna
Helsinki's last remaining public wood-fired sauna, operating continuously since 1928 in the Kallio neighbourhood.
Finnish · € · Drop-in
#5 · Kulttuurisauna
The rare sauna that earns the word 'beautiful' without apology.
Finnish · €€ · Drop-in
#6 · Kuusijärvi Outdoor Sauna
A lakeside sauna complex in the Sipoonkorpi forest, 30 minutes from Helsinki centre.
Smoke · € · Drop-in
#7 · Lähteen Sauna
An 1880s sauna in the Lapinlahti hospital park by the sea, reckoned to be the oldest public sauna still working in Helsinki.
Finnish · € · Drop-in
#8 · Löyly Helsinki
Helsinki's most architecturally striking public sauna, a timber-lattice building on the Hernesaari waterfront with direct sea access.
Finnish · Smoke · €€ · Session-booked
#9 · Löylykontti Sörnäinen
Two container saunas sit on the Sörnäinen shore promenade, with heated steps running from the terrace down into the sea.
Finnish · € · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#10 · Poliisien kesäkodin sauna
Three wood-fired saunas on the sea at Länsiulapanniemi in Lauttasaari, run by the Helsinki police summer home association but open to anyone.
Finnish · € · Cold plunge · Session-booked
#11 · Sompasauna
A free, volunteer-run sauna on Mustikkamaa, the island park a footbridge away from Kalasatama.
Finnish · € · Drop-in
#12 · Uusi Sauna
A modern neighbourhood sauna in Jätkäsaari that manages to feel traditional despite being built in 2018.
Finnish · €€ · Drop-in
#13 · Aalto-sauna
A small electric sauna on Itäinen Pihlajasaari, designed and built by architecture students and run by the City of Helsinki.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#14 · Hilton Sauna
The sauna section at Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa sits beside an 11-metre heated pool on the Gulf of Finland shore.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#15 · Katto Sauna & Lounge
A rooftop sauna and lounge on top of the Radisson Blu Seaside in Ruoholahti, looking out over the water and the Helsinki roofline.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#16 · Pihlajasaaren sauna
The City of Helsinki's wood-heated shore sauna sits on the south side of Länsi-Pihlajasaari, a ten-minute water bus from Merisatama or Ruoholahti.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#17 · Rantasauna
A seaside sauna building in the grounds of Hotel Rantapuisto in Vuosaari, with room for fourteen, an electric stove and a terrace looking out over the archipelago.
Finnish · € · Session-booked
#18 · Sauna Ferry m/s Spa
A wood-fired sauna boat moored at the Mustikkamaa marina in Helsinki, run by Saunalautta.fi alongside its smaller m/s Sauna.
Finnish · Floating · €€ · Session-booked
#19 · Sauna Hermanni
A public sauna off a courtyard on Hämeentie in Hermanni, running since the 1950s, with separate men's and women's sides heated by IKI stoves.
Finnish · € · Drop-in
#20 · Saunalautta Hiisi
A wood-heated sauna raft moored at Taivallahti in Töölö, with a roof terrace, a shower and room for ten on the benches.
Finnish · Floating · € · Session-booked
#21 · Saunasaari
Two traditional smoke saunas on the northern tip of Vasikkasaari, with the Helsinki skyline across the water.
Smoke · €€€ · Session-booked
#22 · Saunat.fi City
A top-floor space near Kamppi with a sauna section, changing room and a large lounge, hired whole for gatherings of up to fifty.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#23 · Saunat.fi Lauttasaari
A sauna and function space on Lauttasaari with a lounge, kitchen and a small hot tub beside the wash room.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#24 · Saunat.fi Töölö
A basement sauna and meeting space in Taka-Toolo, hired whole rather than by the seat.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#25 · Sture16 Spa Sauna- ja juhlatilat
A rooftop sauna and function space above Teollisuuskatu, hired whole by the group.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#26 · Talin sauna
The sauna of Tali's 1936 allotment garden in Pitäjänmäki heats on Tuesdays and Saturdays through the summer, in separate two-hour shifts for women and men.
Finnish · € · Drop-in
#27 · Urbansauna
A sauna and party space on Aleksis Kiven katu in Kallio, taken by the group rather than by the seat.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
#28 · VIP Sauna
Two private saunas on the eighth floor of the Hilton Helsinki Strand, facing the water.
Finnish · €€ · Private hire
The scene
What to expect from saunas in Helsinki
Helsinki has 28 curated saunas across 3 distinct formats: 26 Finnish, 3 smoke, and 3 floating. Finnish leads the count, but the smaller cohorts are part of why the scene is worth taking seriously. Each format changes what the heat feels like and what you do between rounds.
Contrast options come in two shapes here. 3 of the 28 saunas have a dedicated cold plunge on site, and 15 sit directly on a mix of lake and sea settings (1 lake, 14 sea). For most of the list, stepping from heat into cold is part of the design rather than a bonus.
On price, Helsinki spreads across the range: 10 at budget-friendly (€), 17 at mid-range (€€), and 1 at premium (€€€). The centre of gravity is the mid-range (€€) band.
Character-wise, the scene isn't monolithic. 4 stand on heritage, 12 lean outdoor, and 5 sit in nature outside the city. The atmosphere you choose shapes the session as much as the heat format does.
A few places to start: Uusi Sauna, a modern neighbourhood sauna in Jätkäsaari that manages to feel traditional despite being built in 2018; Katto Sauna & Lounge, a rooftop sauna and lounge on top of the Radisson Blu Seaside in Ruoholahti, looking out over the water and the Helsinki roofline; and Sauna Ferry m/s Spa, a wood-fired sauna boat moored at the Mustikkamaa marina in Helsinki, run by Saunalautta.fi alongside its smaller m/s Sauna. That’s the on-ramp. The full ranking sits above.
Frequently asked about saunas in Helsinki
How much does a sauna in Helsinki cost?
Of the 28 curated saunas in Helsinki, 10 are budget-friendly (€), 17 mid-range (€€), and 1 premium (€€€).
Which saunas in Helsinki have a cold plunge?
3 of the 28 curated saunas in Helsinki have a dedicated cold plunge on site: Poliisien kesäkodin sauna, Löylykontti Sörnäinen, and Allas Sea Pool.
What types of saunas are in Helsinki?
Helsinki has 3 distinct sauna types across the atlas: Finnish (26), Smoke (3), Floating (3).
Take the atlas with you
Save saunas and log your sessions with Ember for iPhone.
