Forest saunas in Finland

Helsinki, Finland

A small electric sauna on Itäinen Pihlajasaari, designed and built by architecture students and run by the City of Helsinki. Six people fit inside, it is used self-service, and the whole sauna is booked for a slot through the city's Varaamo service over the summer season. The island is reached by ferry from Merisatama or Ruoholahti.

Tampere, Finland

A smoke sauna and an electric sauna on a lake shore in forest about 13 km from central Tampere, in a 1968 building extended in 2006. A group hires the whole place, with an outdoor hot tub, a grill on the veranda and a separate meeting room. Swimming is in the lake in summer and an ice hole in winter.

Lappeenranta, Finland

Hinkanranta runs separate men's and women's public saunas on the Saimaa shore at Joutseno. Each holds around fifteen, alongside four saunas let privately and a summer cafe. The last hour of the day is kept hottest.

Kirkkonummi, Finland

A lakeside sauna at a church-run course centre on Vitträsk in Kirkkonummi, hired by the group rather than by the seat. It takes around twenty people, with steps into the lake while the water is open and a fireplace room alongside for eating. Booking is by phone or email, weekdays only.

Turku, Finland

Harjattula manor's beach sauna sits on the shore south of Turku, with two hot tubs beside it. It is booked privately for most of the year, and the estate opens public shifts in season. Those run to winter swimming evenings, morning saunas with breakfast, and summer Thursday sessions.

Tampere, Finland

A lakeside public sauna on the shore of Kaukajärvi in eastern Tampere, run by the swimming club Uinti Tampere ry. Two sauna buildings open daily through the year, with swimming straight off the shore and ice swimming in winter. A kiosk sells refreshments in summer.

Kaarina, Finland

A farm at Piikkiö in Kaarina with two smoke saunas and an ice-swimming hole cut in a pond in the woods. Through the winter it sells open Tuesday evenings that anyone can book online, using one or both saunas depending on the night. The rest of the year the saunas go with private hire of the estate.

Helsinki, Finland

A lakeside sauna complex in the Sipoonkorpi forest, 30 minutes from Helsinki centre. A smoke sauna heated for hours, a frigid lake for plunging, and birch trees in every direction. The winter weekend smoke sauna sessions are as good as it gets: dark sky, snow underfoot, hot smoke.

Rauma, Finland

Three wood-heated saunas stand on the shore of Narvijärvi, twenty minutes from Rauma, lit every day of the year. The family who took on the old municipal beach sauna in 2019 still run them. Swimming is from the sandy beach in summer and an ice hole in winter, with a heated outdoor pool and a café on site.

Kustavi, Finland

Separate men's and women's shore saunas at Lootholma, a guest harbour and camping ground on the Kustavi archipelago coast. Wooden terraces run down the rock to a swimming jetty, and the saunas heat morning and evening for berth holders, campers and day visitors alike. Outside those shifts they can be hired privately.

Helsinki, Finland

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. One group books it at a time for a three-hour slot, up to seven people, and heats it themselves with the firewood provided. The sea is a few steps from the door.

Kannonkoski, Finland

Four electric saunas share one lakeside building at the Piispala youth centre on Kivijarvi, alongside two fireplace lounges, changing rooms, terraces and a dock. Ice holes are cut off the shore in winter. Time is hired by the hour for a whole group rather than sold by the head.

Helsinki, Finland

Three wood-fired saunas on the sea at Länsiulapanniemi in Lauttasaari, run by the Helsinki police summer home association but open to anyone. Public sessions are booked and paid for online in advance. A group can also hire the saunas privately and heat them itself, and a dock by the shore is used for swimming and winter dipping.

Tampere, Finland

Finland's oldest public sauna, in operation since 1906 in Tampere. The wood-heated stove and the dark, low-ceilinged sauna room have not fundamentally changed in over a century. A pilgrimage for anyone who cares about sauna tradition.

Kaarina, Finland

A small wood-heated sauna and hot tub on a wooded plot in Kaarina, close to the Turku boundary. It has been in use since 1946. Bookings are for your own group, with six to eight fitting the sauna and a covered outdoor area for the rest.

Kuopio, Finland

A 1950s logging-camp cabin on the shore of Kallavesi, six hundred metres from the Rauhalahti hotel along a sand track through a nature reserve. Its smoke sauna has held more than a hundred bathers at once. Traditional evenings run every Tuesday year round with a buffet dinner and live music.

Oulu, Finland

Three saunas stand in the woods on the Tervatoppila estate in Oulu: a VIP sauna and two smoke saunas, Iso-Savu and Pikku-Savu, with a hot tub in the yard. The stoves are lit year round, and a booking includes the Tervatupa cabin and its fireplace. The place is hired by one group at a time, minimum ten people.

Lohja, Finland

Two lakeside saunas on the shore at Aurlahti, looking out over Lohjanjarvi and open through the year. You can buy a ticket for a public mixed shift or hire the saunas privately; swimwear is worn. Women and men have separate changing rooms with showers and lockers.

Helsinki, Finland

Two traditional smoke saunas on the northern tip of Vasikkasaari, with the Helsinki skyline across the water. Sea swimming and a hot tub sit beside them, and the RÖK summer kitchen cooks over open fire and smoke. A boat runs out from the Market Square on summer weekends, and the island is also let for private events.

Tampere, Finland

A wood-fired yurt sauna on the Näsijärvi shore at Kaupinoja in Tampere, sharing the beach with the older public sauna there. Walk in during opening hours and pay the sauna tender directly, or use a ten-visit card. Swimming is from the shore, year round.