A “sauna craze” has gripped the UK. Almost 100 “hot, sweaty saunas” have cropped up across the country in recent years – the “perfect counterpart” to cold-water swimming.
Despite having a legion of new enthusiasts, the sauna’s history can be traced back thousands of years. “Sweat houses” from as early as the Bronze Age have been “unearthed” in the UK and Ireland, said the BBC. Into the 20th century they were still commonly used to treat a range of ailments from respiratory conditions to arthritis.
The “modern-day sauna movement” has been propelled by the wellness sector, with a focus on the “myriad mental, social and physical health benefits”, said London’s The Standard.
Regular sauna sessions are said to help boost circulation, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and even make your skin glow, said Women’s Health. Typically heated to around 70-95C, the most “traditional” sauna is a wood-burning one, but there are also infrared saunas that warm your body to a more “tolerable” temperature.
For a long time, saunas were mostly “afterthoughts in hotel spas”, said The Observer. But in 2018, Liz Watson and Katie Bracher founded a “pop-up Finnish-style sauna” on Brighton beach using a converted horse box. This sparked a “wave” of saunas around the UK, often at the seaside or overlooking a lake so you can warm up after an icy dip.
Here are some of the best.
Beach Box, Brighton
The destination that “kicked off Britain’s outside sauna trend” now comprises three saunas: two in converted horse boxes and a third bigger cedar sauna, said The Times. With the sea “just a short hobble across the pebbles” Beach Box is the perfect setting for a swim/sauna combo – there’s also a plunge pool for cooling down afterwards.
Pool Bridge Farm, York
“Open-water swimmers will never want to leave Pool Bridge Farm”, said The Observer. Two shepherd’s huts have been “lovingly restored” and turned into saunas, and there are three “mirror-like lakes to paddle in”. Open all year round, visitors can splash about under the farm’s “strings of festoon lights” on icy winter nights.
Rooftop Saunas, London
It’s a “badly kept Hackney secret” that as well as housing east London’s “favourite skyward drinking den”, Netil House also features a collection of private sauna cabins and cold-water plunge barrels, said Time Out. When you’re finished, head next door to Netil360 for pizza and drinks.
Seaside Sauna House, Dorset
Down at the shingle beach in Seatown lies this charming wood-fired sauna, said The Observer. Consider timing your visit to coincide with the full Moon to join a “night-time sauna party on the beach” and book a room at the cosy Anchor Inn across the road.
Elie Seaside Sauna, Fife
“Perched on the dunes at Elie Harbour” in Fife, this converted horse box has floor-to-ceiling windows revealing sweeping views across Woodhaven Bay and Elie Beach, said The Times. The seaside town has a “thriving wild-swimming community” and this is a great place to “warm-up post dip”.