Historic saunas

Tokyo, Japan

A third-generation neighbourhood bathhouse a few minutes from Higashi-Mukojima station, open since 1951.

Tokyo, Japan

Kozenyu is a shrine-style sento in Setagaya, Tokyo, with a free wet-type sauna included in the entry fee.

Tokyo, Japan

Hotta-yu is a neighbourhood sento in Adachi's Nishiarai area, rebuilt in 2022 around its Showa-era tile mural.

Tokyo, Japan

Toshimayu is a shrine-style sento in Kita ward, built with the traditional miyazukuri roofline and a chimney.

Tokyo, Japan

A neighbourhood bathhouse near Tokyo Skytree, its bathing hall painted with murals of the tower and Mount Fuji.

Helsinki, Finland

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.

Helsinki, Finland

An 1880s sauna in the Lapinlahti hospital park by the sea, reckoned to be the oldest public sauna still working in Helsinki.

Helsinki, Finland

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.

Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki's last remaining public wood-fired sauna, operating continuously since 1928 in the Kallio neighbourhood.

London, United Kingdom

Ironmonger Row Baths near Old Street is Grade II listed, and its Spa Experience sits in one of London's oldest Turkish baths.

London, United Kingdom

Porchester Spa is a 1929 Turkish bath on Queensway in Bayswater, in a Grade II* listed building that keeps its original features.

London, United Kingdom

Better runs this thermal spa inside Wimbledon Leisure Centre, a converted bath house that first opened in 1901.

Gothenburg, Sweden

Hovås Kallbadhus has been a bathing place on Askimsviken since 1906, south of central Gothenburg.

Gothenburg, Sweden

Hagabadet Drottningtorget is a city spa and lifestyle club in vaulted rooms behind a 17th-century Gothenburg wall.

Helsingborg, Sweden

Pålsjöbaden is a city-run cold bathhouse on Helsingborg's shore promenade, with separate nude sides for women and men.

Helsingborg, Sweden

Kallis is Helsingborg's northern cold bathhouse, on the shore at Gröningen with roots back to 1865.

Turku, Finland

A rental sauna a few streets from the middle of Turku, in use since the 1960s and renovated since.

Turku, Finland

A Turku sauna house running since 1926, in the Kurjenmäki bath building since 1981 and in one family throughout.

Aarhus, Denmark

Grossererbadet is the wellness floor of Badeanstalten Spanien, the 1933 municipal bathhouse in central Aarhus.

Aix-en-Provence, France

A thermal spa in the centre of Aix-en-Provence, built over the town's Roman baths.

Alange, Spain

Roman thermal baths at Alange, in Badajoz province, still in use alongside nineteenth-century marble tubs and modern hydrothermal rooms.

Ålem, Sweden

Häggemåla bastuförening runs a village bathhouse outside Ålem that has been heated since 1946.

Alhama de Granada, Spain

A thermal spa three kilometres outside Alhama de Granada, where sulphurous water has been bathed in since Roman times.

Bad Fischau-Brunn, Austria

A historic spring-water bath in Bad Fischau-Brunn, with separate men's and women's basins in a k.u.k.-era setting.

Bad Griesbach i. Rottal, Germany

A four-star hotel in Bad Griesbach whose sauna sits in a rebuilt eighteenth-century Rottal farmhouse.

Bad Vöslau, Austria

A historic mineral-water bath in Bad Vöslau, where the Vöslauer spring surfaces from 660 metres down.

Bad Wilsnack, Germany

A brine thermal bath at Bad Wilsnack with eight saunas: three indoors and five built into Sennhütten, mills and granaries around 300 years old, among them a domed room seating u…

Baños de Montemayor, Spain

A thermal spa in the Extremaduran village of Baños de Montemayor, where the bathing sits alongside Roman remains kept under a domed vault.

Berkeley Springs, United States

The bathhouses at Berkeley Springs State Park are state-run spas fed by the town's warm mineral springs.

Berlin, Germany

A classic Berlin sauna that has run for more than fifty years, tucked away on Lutzowstrasse between Tiergarten and Schoneberg.

Bern, Switzerland

The Hammam Bern sits inside the Oktogon, the octagonal shell of Bern's first gasholder.

Blidö, Sweden

Blidö Badhusförening has run this island sauna since 1945.

Caldas de Reis, Spain

A thermal spa hotel in Caldas de Reis on the Portuguese Camino, built around springs in use since 1813.

Caldes de Malavella, Spain

The 1881 Hotel Balneario Vichy Catalan in Caldes de Malavella runs a 50-minute thermal circuit through its own spring water at 32-35 °C.

Canena, Spain

A thermal spa on a Roman-era spring in the olive country between Úbeda and Baeza, set in gardens of 45,000 square metres.

Chicago, United States

A 1906 Russian banya in Wicker Park, anchored by the Red Square hot room.

Cleveland, United States

The Schvitz is a Russian-Turkish bathhouse in Cleveland, running since the 1920s, with dinner upstairs included in admission.

Cuntis, Spain

Galicia's sulphur springs feed a thermal circuit at Cuntis, with indoor and outdoor pools and a separate heat suite.

Detroit, United States

The Schvitz has been a bathhouse on Oakland Avenue in Detroit since 1930, and it is the last historic one left in the city.

Duluth, United States

A 1920s Finnish steam-bath running continuously in downtown Duluth, the last of its kind in the city.

Düsseldorf, Germany

The sauna wing of Düsseldorf's Münster-Therme sits under the listed building's original vaulting: two Finnish saunas at 80°C and 90°C, a stone-benched steam bath at 42°C, histor…

Fortuna, Spain

A thermal bathing house at Los Baños de Fortuna, with two heated outdoor pools.

Geneva, Switzerland

A public bathhouse on a jetty in Geneva's harbour, looking out to the jet d'eau and the Mont-Blanc.

Granada, Spain

Arab baths on Calle Santa Paula in Granada, in a building where restoration uncovered a cistern several centuries old.

Guitiriz, Spain

A spa hotel of more than a century on a wooded Galician estate between Lugo and A Coruña, built over mineral-medicinal springs.

Haanja, Estonia

A working farm in the Haanja hills of Old Võromaa, keeping the UNESCO-listed Estonian smoke-sauna tradition.

Hamburg, Germany

Bartholomaeustherme is Baederland's adults-only wellness bath in a Jugendstil building in Hamburg-Barmbek.

Hannover, Germany

Hannover's oldest sauna, on the edge of the Stadtpark and the Eilenriede, in a building that went up for the 1933 garden show and was turned over to bathing later.

Häradsbygden, Sweden

A steam sauna in a small red cottage at Hagen, run by a village association formed in 1935.

Hepburn Springs, Australia

Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa sits on Spring Creek at Hepburn Springs, where mineral-water bathing has run since 1895.

Hot Springs, United States

The Buckstaff has worked Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs since 1912.

Jaraba, Spain

A thermal spa in the Mesa river canyons at Jaraba, drawing on mineral water that has been used here for more than 190 years.

Jukkasjärvi, Sweden

The Culture Sauna stands by the old homestead in Jukkasjärvi, a short walk from the Icehotel.

Jyväskylä, Finland

A 1951 quarry workers' sauna in the Halssila district of Jyväskylä, bought and restored by the local sauna society and back in use since 2019.

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.

Kyoto, Japan

A neighbourhood sento near Ginkaku-ji in Kyoto's Sakyo ward, using fully softened water in both the tubs and the washing stations.

Lahti, Finland

Two lakeside saunas, Anna and William, stand in the grounds of a manor hotel on Vesijärvi at Lahti.

Linderås, Sweden

Linderås bastu is a wood-fired sauna in the village of Linderås, in northern Småland.

Ljugarn, Sweden

A village beach sauna on Gotland's east coast, built as a wash house in 1923 and heated by an electric stove today.

Los Baños y Graena, Spain

A thermal bathhouse in the Guadix basin, below the north face of Sierra Nevada, with waters declared of public utility in 1869.

Malmö, Sweden

An open-air bathhouse on a pier reaching into the Öresund, in operation since 1898 and known locally as 'Ribban'.

Malungsfors, Sweden

Malungsfors badhus has heated its steam room since 1932, and a local association keeps it running.

Mondariz-Balneario, Spain

A Galician thermal resort trading since 1873, whose Palacio del Agua spa sells two-hour entries to people who are not staying at the hotel.

Neumarkt in der Steiermark, Austria

A small Heiltherme at Wildbad Einöd, where five springs feed every pool with thermal healing water.

New York, United States

An 1892 East Village institution still run alternately by two owners on rotating weeks, so vibe and rules shift week to week.

North Conway, United States

A restored 1890s barn on the Local Grocer campus just outside North Conway, with two Finnish saunas and cold plunges.

Paracuellos de Jiloca, Spain

A thermal spa open since 1848 on a sulphurous spring a couple of kilometres from Calatayud.

Putbus, Germany

The bathhouse of a historic hotel on the Greifswalder Bodden on Rügen, with a Finnish sauna, a steam sauna and a milder climate sauna beside a freshwater pool and two thermal br…

Rauma, Finland

Merska is Rauma's old sea-bathing house on the Fåfänga headland at Otanlahti.

Rudkøbing, Denmark

Badeanstalt Beach is Rudkøbing Badeanstalt, a bathing station built in 1926 at the harbour by the ferry berth.

Serneus, Switzerland

Hotel Bad Serneus has drawn on the Serneus sulphur spring since the 19th century, in a wooded valley near Klosters.

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Turkish Baths & Spa 1877 is a historic bathhouse in Sheffield's Broomhall.

Silkeborg, Denmark

Silkeborg's municipal bathhouse opened in 1920 and still runs much as it was built.

St. Gallen, Switzerland

Weiere Sauna sits in the old bathhouse at the Drei Weihern, on the hillside above St.

Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg's municipal baths of 1908, listed as a historic monument since 2017.

Sundborn, Sweden

Sundborns bybastu is the village bathhouse of 1936, in the old sauna and laundry building beside the dance floor on Grånäsvägen.

Sydney, Australia

A bathhouse in the restored 1929 Spanish Mission-style Seymour's Building on the Pacific Highway in Chatswood.

Tallinn, Estonia

A 1928 public bathhouse in Tallinn's Kalamaja district, designed by Aleksander Vladovski and still wood-heated almost a century on.

Tampere, Finland

Finland's oldest public sauna, in operation since 1906 in Tampere.

Varberg, Sweden

Varberg's kallbadhus stands on piles in the Kattegatt, rebuilt in 1903 after storms took the two before it.

Västervik, Sweden

Warmbadhuset is Västervik's 1910 bathhouse, closed in 1975 and reopened as a spa after a restoration begun in 2018.

Wien, Austria

Vienna's municipal bathhouse in Favoriten, open since 1926 and still running as a swimming hall, a sauna and a shower bath.

Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland

A sulphur thermal bath in a Belle Epoque building, with a hotel attached and one public entry to the pools and sauna.