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In Finland, sauna is more than a stress-buster. It’s more than a medical miracle, too, though saunas can ease a range of complaints, from high blood pressure to poor circulation. In Finland, sauna is practically a religion—an integral part of the Finnish “circle of life” since the Stone Age. Saunas were once used for childbirth, to cure the sick, to celebrate bridal showers, and, finally, to wash the dead. Even heroes of the Kalevala, Finland’s national epic, took saunas.
Today, there’s at least one sauna for every one of five million Finns. Families and friends meet for weekly saunas in homes and apartments. Or they congregate in public establishments like Helsinki’s Kotiharju Sauna, the city’s oldest wood-fired sauna, or Tampere’s Rajaportii Sauna, Finland’s oldest, built in 1906. In summer, Finns head to their lakeside or seaside cottages to hunker down in rustic outdoor sauna houses and cool off in fresh, clear waters. They frequent villages and islands where sauna-bathing is the central activity, like Saunasaari, just off Helsinki’s coast. Or they journey to the far north, to Lapland, to take saunas in traditional wood Sami huts, or aboard the world’s only gondola sauna high above the Ylläs ski resort.
Throughout the year, in cities and rural outposts, Finns gather in saunas—not only to sweat out the physical and mental toxins of day-to-day life, but to connect with each other, and with the spirit of löyly, the healing mist that rises, incense-like, when cold water is thrown on hot, stone-covered sauna stoves.
The Finnish sauna experience might sound intensely private or insular, but it isn’t. Finns actually delight in sharing sauna culture with visitors. There’s even a company—Cosy Finland—that arranges Sauna Evenings year-round for foreign visitors. Guests join English speaking Finnish hosts—ranging from young artists or professionals in their 30s to well-traveled retirees—at their homes in Helsinki, or in Mikkeli, Tampere or Turku, about two hours away. The three-hour evening includes chit-chat on sauna lore (including, perhaps, a tale about the household’s resident sauna elf), instruction on sauna use and etiquette, and an actual sauna, with or without the hosts, depending on your modesty threshold. Afterward, there’s a customary light meal of sausages, beer and soft drinks, or coffee and pastries. Guests gain a deep understanding of how integral, even holy, the sauna experience is to Finns, whose humor and easy-going charm practically guarantee a fun evening.
If you’d rather design your own sauna experience, there are plenty of opportunities. Virtually every hotel and inn throughout the country has at least one sauna. Deluxe establishments usually have several – separate men’s and women’s saunas as well as a VIP sauna, which business execs and other groups can book. Since visitors are usually out sightseeing, big-city hotel saunas are often empty. Want to banish jet lag, or relax after a long day of sightseeing or shopping? Step into a sauna for 20 minutes, and emerge rejuvenated.
In addition to hotel saunas, there are spas and wellness centers throughout Finland. Only 20 minutes north of Helsinki, the Flamingo Spa is a mile and a half outside Helsinski-Vantaa International Airport. Along with swimming pools and hot tubs, there’s a fragrant spruce-wood sauna, and a bio-sauna featuring lower temperatures and higher humidity.
In the heart of downtown Helsinki, an even more authentic sauna experience awaits visitors at Yrjönkatu Swimming Hall. Two blocks from the Kamppi bus station, the hall is across from the Art Deco-style Hotel Torni, a notorious haunt of World War II British spies. Dating from 1928, the renovated hall has a Neoclassical-style swimming pool surrounded by columns plus several men’s and women’s saunas. The saunas and pool are clothing optional. In fact, a note on the website states that “bathing suits have been allowed since 2001.”
Truly adventurous types can head to one of Helsinki’s public saunas. Up until the 1940s, Helsinki had as many as 120 public saunas. Today there are just three: Kotiharju Sauna, Sauna Arla and Sauna Hermanni. All are in the Kallio, a working class neighborhood that’s a 15-minute metro or tram ride northeast of downtown.
Opened in 1928, Kotiharju Sauna is Helsinki’s oldest wood-fired public sauna. Though the Helsinki Culture Capital Foundation helped renovate the establishment in 1999, be forewarned: this isn’t the Ritz-Carlton. Upon arrival, you’ll see groups of ruddy faced men lounging outside, towels wrapped around their waists and smoking cigars, beneath a red neon SAUNA sign. If you’re tempted to turn tail, persist—and be rewarded. Inside the crowded foyer, you can pay for your sauna, rent a pefletti, or towel, and arrange for a washerwoman. You can even make reservations for a cupping session—a recently revived, if archaic procedure, during which a therapist uses a cupping hatchet to make small cuts in your back and places glass cups fitted with bulb syringes over the cuts to draw out “bad blood” and release “feel-good” endorphins. Cupping is considered perfectly safe and aficionados say the procedure energizes them, but it’s definitely not for germophobes or the squeamish.
Upstairs in the women’s section, the simple dressing room has about 50 old wood lockers with keys and rag rugs on the floor. I had brought along a bathing suit, but quickly noticed that none of the sylph-like 20-somethings flitting around the women’s dressing room had a stitch on. So, I followed suit, stripped bare as the day I was born, and dove in. In the industrial looking wash room with its row of showerheads, I lay on a table covered with plastic sheeting, while a washerwoman, Minna Ilvonen, scrubbed me, back and front, with pine-scented soap and a stiff brush, and hosed me off. Then I stepped into the sauna—a large amphitheater like room with concrete risers covered with narrow wood slats. I was not alone. Though the tradition of giving sauna bridal showers died out a century ago, it’s now being revived. Hence the gaggle of 20-somethings who filled the dressing room.
Once in the sauna, the girls left their boisterousness behind. We smiled and nodded politely to one another, then closed our eyes and leaned back to take in the löyly. And what steam it was! After experiencing electric saunas, I understood why Finns swear by wood-fired saunas. Not only is the air softer, moister, and gentler on the nasal passages, but the smell of burning wood seems to transport you to a deep, dark Scandinavian forest.
For the next two hours, I followed the classic sauna routine: I’d sit and sweat for about 15 minutes, then cool off in the shower, then head back to the sauna for 15 minutes, then repeat. At one point, a woman asked me to thrash her, head to toe, with a silver birch whisk, known as a vasta or vihta. I happily obliged, and was lightly flogged in return, a process that opens the pores, sloughs off dead skin and gets the circulation going. Later, I learned that it’s good manners to comply when someone asks you to swat their back (or any other parts of their anatomy). After three or four rounds of sauna, I showered and dressed, leaving the girls behind to braid each others’ hair, exchange gossip, and feast on traditional post-sauna snacks, including beer and soft drinks, in the dressing room. Walking out into the cool air of a spring evening in Helsinki, I felt completely spent, but also incredibly clean, relaxed and rejuvenated. Why, I almost felt Finnish.
The international dialing code for Finland is 358.
Top Saunas in Helsinki:
Cosy Finland – Established in 2005 by Finnish native Kirsti Sergejeff, the company offers Cosy Finland Sauna Evenings hosted by Finnish couples and families in Helsinki and nearby cities. Cosy Finland also offers Finnish Home Dinners, Ladies’ Evenings (dinner and “girl talk” with a Finnish lady), Sunday Lunch Visits and even Overnight Stays. Celebrating Helsinki’s designation as World Design Capital 2012, Cosy Finland has launched Finnish Design Experience, with dinner and a visit to a well-decorated Finnish home. The company also custom-designs Finnish experiences. Visits, with dinner, start at 58 Euros. Sauna Evenings cost 69 Euros. Viherlaaksonranta 10, 02710 Espoo. 40-596-5434. kirsti.sergejeff@cosyfinland.com. www.cosyfinland.com
Kotiharju Sauna – Founded in 1928, Helsinki’s oldest wood-fired sauna offers the city’s most authentic public sauna experience. Open Tuesday-Friday, 2-8 p.m., Saturday, 1-7 p.m. Washerwoman Service: 7 Euros. Cupping service upon request. Sauna Fees: 10 Euros (adults), 7.5 Euros (students, seniors), 5 Euros (children 12-16). Harjutorinkatu 1, 00500 Helsinki. 09-753 1535. www.kotiharjunsauna.fi
Sauna Arla – Founded in 1929, and popular with natives and visitors alike, Sauna Arla has both natural gas and wood-fired saunas. Open Wednesday-Sunday, 2-8 p.m. Towels, whisks and refreshments available, or bring your own. Washerwoman on request. Sauna Fee: 10 Euros. Kaarlenkatu 15, 00530 Helsinki. 09-719-218. arla@arlandsauna.net. www.arlansauna.net
Sauna Hermanni – Opened in 1950, Sauna Hermanni is the most modern public sauna, with men’s and women’s sauna areas featuring crisp blue and white tiles, and state-of-the-art IKI stoves. Towels, grilled sausages, fair-trade coffee, and organic bread (“if the wife has time for baking”) are available. Open Monday-Friday, 2-8 p.m., Saturday noon-6 p.m. Washerwoman and/or massage therapist on request. Sauna Fees: 8 Euros (adults), 7 Euros (seniors), children under 12 free. Hameentie 63, 00530 Helsinki. 09-701-2424. www.saunahermanni.fi
Saunasaari – At the northern tip of Vasikkasaari Island, just a 15-minute ferry ride from Helsinki’s downtown Market Place, this establishment has three authentic savusauanas, or smoke saunas, patterned after Finland’s oldest wooden saunas, built without chimneys. The company runs regular excursions, including round-trip ferry fare, a sauna and a salmon dinner. A buffet sells coffee and light snacks. Fees: 45 Euros (without meal), 75 Euros (with meal). Helsingin Saunasaari Oy, PL 105, 00161 Helsinki. 50-525-0393. info@saunasaari.fi. www.saunasaari.fi
Yrjönkatu Swimming Hall – Downtown’s historic Neoclassical-style swimming facility has electric, wood-heated and steam saunas as well as a swimming pool. There are separate hours and days for men and women. Fee: 12 Euros (includes swimming pool, sauna, private cabin, bathrobe, towel). Yrjönkatu 21b, 00100 Helsinki. 09-310-87800. www.hel.fi/hki/Liv/en/sports+facilities/swimming+halls/yrjonkatu+swimming+hall
Saunas Outside Helsinki
Flamingo Spa & Wellness Centre – Just 20 minutes north of Helsinki, next to the Jumbo shopping center, this spa and wellness center is part of a large entertainment complex including a waterpark, bowling alley, fitness center, casino, nightclub and restaurant. The Sokos Hotel Flamingo (www.sokoshotels.fi ) is also on the premises. Spa is open to adults 20 and older, Monday-Friday 10-9, Saturday, 10-9, Sunday, 10-8. Fees: 29 Euros (Monday-Thursday), 37 Euros (Friday-Sunday), extra hour 4 Euros. Tasetie 8. 01510 Vantaa. 358. 20-778-5225. www.flamingospa.fi
Rajaportii Sauna – Finland’s oldest public sauna since 1906. Open Monday and Wednesday, 6-10 p.m., Friday, 3-9 p.m., Saturday, 2-10 p.m. Café on premises. Sauna Fees: 4 Euros (adults, Monday, Wednesday), 6 Euros (adults, Friday, Saturday), 1 Euro (children, 7-16), under 7 free. Pispalan valtatie 9. 33250 Tampere. 358-3-222-3823. www.pispala.fi/rajaportinsauna/index.en.php
Ylläs Gondola Sauna – Take a sauna aboard a four-person ski gondola at the Ylläs ski resort in Finnish Lapland. 1500 Euros. Café Gondoli, Vaeltajantie 2, 95980 Ylläs/Ylläsjärvi, Lapland. 40-544-7743. yllaskammi@iso-yllas.fi. www.yllasravintolat.com
For More Information
www.visitsauna.fi