Finland’s 4 best sauna experiences
The most authentic sauna adventure in Finland is likely to come when a local invites you to a sauna party: a sure sign they are warming towards you (pardon the pun). Most visitors make do with the public saunas, but trademark Scandinavian inventiveness ensures that this experience varies in some fascinating ways. Here are a few of the best places to turn up the heat in Finland:
1. Helsinki’s state-of-the-art saunas
Once Finland’s capital sported hundreds of public saunas: today, following decades of ailing attendance, sauna-going is again the in-thing. A couple of cool new saunas have opened up: Kulttuurisauna combines influences of Japanese and Roman bathing culture as well as Finnish, and Löyly Design Sauna is a colossal, contemporary take on Finnish wooden architecture that comes with a great bar-restaurant.
2. The ultra-traditional sauna, Tampere
Finland’s oldest in-use sauna is Rajaportti, a tradition-steeped spot west of central Tampere, on an isthmus between two lakes below a sylvan park. Built in 1906, the dinky place is frequented almost exclusively by Finns on a break from the daily grind, with the original traditional woodsmoke heating system still intact. There is no better insight into the nation’s sauna-going nuances than be gleaned than on the benches here.
3. The underground sauna, Herrankukkaro
The village of Herrankukkaro on the archipelago southwest of Turku is something of a sauna Mecca. Amongst its steamy boasts are the world’s smallest smoke sauna and the world’s largest underground smoke sauna. The latter is a cosy 124-person capacity hut with six levels of benches: part of a cute coast-flanking spa complex where you can take a dip in the sea afterwards.
4. Lapland’s strange saunas
The further you travel into Arctic climes, the more common these 80°C escapes become – and some Lapland’s offerings are pretty wacky. In the capital, Rovaniemi, a sauna raft called m/s Erkin Arkki emerges during their brief summertime to glide on the river nearby. Guests can dine under the midnight sun (or the northern lights, if their luck is in) on the deck, and take a dip in the chilly waters en route.
Also in Rovaniemi, the Arctic Snow Hotel sauna, open only between December and March, is – rather incredibly – constructed entirely from snow and ice. Further north at Ylläs ski resort you can be transported between-piste in the planet’s one-and-only sauna gondola.
But perhaps the most quintessential Finnish sauna experience lies in remote Kiilopää near Saariselkä. Recline in the woodsmoke sauna that sits at the end of a dead-end lane, then leap into an ice hole: that’s pretty much as Finnish as it gets.
Luke Waterson is author of the Finland chapter in the Rough Guide to Europe on a Budget. Compare flights, book hostels and hotels for your trip, and don’t forget to buy travel insurance before you go.
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