Smoke saunas in Finland

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.

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.

Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki's most architecturally striking public sauna, a timber-lattice building on the Hernesaari waterfront with direct sea access. The smoke sauna and wood-heated sauna sit side by side, both opening onto the Baltic. There is a restaurant on site for afterwards, and it earns the hype.

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.

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.

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.