Destination saunas worth the trip in Austria

Bad Hofgastein, Austria

Gastein's thermal water feeds this bathing complex in Bad Hofgastein, where the Sauna World holds twelve chambers and its own thermal lake. Sauna masters run special and show infusions in the Cascadia room, which seats around sixty. A women-only Ladies World and a glacier ice lounge sit alongside.

Längenfeld, Austria

AQUA DOME sits in Tirol's Ötztal, where sulphurous thermal water fills twelve indoor and outdoor pools. Ten saunas cover more than 2,000 square metres, among them a stone sauna and a gorge sauna. The sauna floor has its own open-air area, water basins, quiet rooms and a bar.

Bad Tatzmannsdorf, Austria

A thermal resort in southern Burgenland with 24 saunas and 15 pools of thermal water. Sixteen sit in the Sauna Garten Eden around an Aufguss programme, among them a lake sauna, a snow sauna and a mine sauna. A natural bathing pond and a nude swimming pool lie outside.

Bad Waltersdorf, Austria

A thermal resort in Bad Waltersdorf, where day guests use the same healing-water bath as hotel guests. Ten saunas range from Finnish and Styrian cabins to a brine steam bath, herb saunas and a garden sauna. Aufguss rituals work with salt, herbs and singing bowls, and a natural bathing pond sits in the grounds.

Bad Blumau, Austria

Rogner Bad Blumau is a Hundertwasser-designed thermal resort in eastern Styria. Its 14 indoor and outdoor pools draw on the Vulkania spring, and the sauna landscape adds Finnish, bio and steam cabins. A garden sauna runs on a wood-fired IKI stove, and sauna masters lead scented Aufguss rituals.

Bad Erlach, Austria

Linsberg Asia is an adults-only thermal bath and hotel in Bad Erlach, south of Vienna, on an east Asian theme. Its sauna landscape runs Finnish cabins, a bamboo sauna, steam baths and an infrared cabin, indoors and out. The outdoor sauna garden is textile-free, and sauna masters lead herb and sugar-scrub Aufguss rituals.

Frauenkirchen, Austria

A lakeside therme in the Seewinkel, where a public sauna landscape sits beside the resort's own bathing lake. Six heat rooms include a 90 degree Kieselsauna with panoramic windows, a Pannoniasauna, two steam baths and an infrared lounge. The area is textile-free from age 14, with a cold-water basin outside.

Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria

Bad Kleinkirchheim's Roman-themed thermal bath spreads over three levels in the Carinthian Nockberge. The sauna landscape holds thirteen saunas and steam rooms named after Roman emperors, with textile-free panorama pools looking out at the mountains. Sauna masters run special infusions, and the house restaurant cooks regional dishes.

Bad Schallerbach, Austria

EurothermenResort Bad Schallerbach runs three bathing worlds in Upper Austria, and the Sauna-Bergdorf AusZeit is the sauna one. More than forty saunas and rest spots spread over three levels, from a hay sauna to a clay bread-oven sauna and an ice grotto. Aufguss rituals run through the day.

Laa an der Thaya, Austria

Therme Laa draws on a sodium-chloride-iodine spring in Lower Austria's Weinviertel that surfaces at 42 degrees. Five pools fill a water world of 7,800 square metres, with a separate sauna world alongside. International sauna masters visit for Aufguss shows, and the family textile sauna was the first of its kind in Austria.

Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria

Therme St. Kathrein sits above a thousand metres in the Carinthian Nockberge, with a family bathing world downstairs and an adults-only sauna landscape of its own. The sauna side has a Finnish outdoor cabin, a herbal room, a steam bath and an event sauna running infusions. Stone pine rooms and a fireside lounge handle the resting.

Wien, Austria

Therme Wien is fed by the Oberlaa thermal springs on the southern edge of the city. Its sauna world, SaunaStein, covers 3,000 square metres over two floors, split into women's, men's and mixed areas. Each has Finnish cabins, bio saunas, steam rooms and cold plunge pools, and the Aufguss programme changes with the season.

Bad Loipersdorf, Austria

A hotel in Bad Loipersdorf with its own 3,500 square metre bathing and sauna area. Day guests can book it without staying the night. The heat runs from a wood-fired outdoor cabin and a Finnish sauna to a bio herb sauna and a herb steam bath.