Sauna culture around the world: seven traditions, one ritual

View outside Loyly in Helsinki looking over the water

While saunas are often seen as part of a modern wellness trend, they’ve long carried deeper cultural and emotional significance. In Finland, the sauna was once considered a sacred space. In Morocco, the hammam is where generations have gathered, and in Japan, onsen bathing is tied to purity, stillness and respect for nature. Saunas aren’t just wellness experiences but places for shared ritual. That might explain why so many people are now seeking them out.

In a time when we’re more connected to our phones than to each other, these slow, physical practices offer something we’re missing: real presence, shared space and a reason to sit still together. While not all these traditions are saunas in the strictest sense, they each centre around heat, ritual and the power of purposeful pause – whether through steam, sweat or soaking. Each is rooted in a particular place but many are now being thoughtfully recreated in the UK. Here are our favourites that you can try around the world and closer to home.

Finland, smoke sauna

The Finnish smoke sauna or savusauna is considered the oldest (and most revered) form of sauna in Scandinavia. They’re heated by a wood-burning stove with no chimney, filling slowly with smoke over several hours, which is then aired out just before bathing. Imagine long, quiet sessions interspersed with lake plunges, sips of beer and the soft whipping of skin with vihta (bundles of birch twigs) said to stimulate circulation.

But Finnish sauna is more than a place to sweat. For centuries, it was considered a sacred space and almost a second home. People were born there, healed there and prepared for burial there. Saunas offered the kind of quiet privacy rural life rarely allowed and became a space for both ritual and restoration. Even today, it’s treated with quiet reverence and it’s estimated that Finland has around 3 million saunas for a population of 5.5 million.

In Finland: Löyly in Helsinki offers both a traditional smoke sauna and a wood-burning sauna, allowing visitors to experience different facets of Finnish sauna traditions. After, guests can take a refreshing dip in the sea, even in winter when staff cut holes through the ice for the brave-hearted! There’s also a restaurant serving Finnish classics like meatballs and creamy salmon soup, making it a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the coastal views. loylyhelsinki.fi/en

In the UK: Fahrenhut Sauna in the Lake District runs traditional Finnish sauna sessions in a wood-fired hut on the shores of Ullswater. The smell of Pine and Aspen makes Fahrenhut the perfect wellness experience to connect with the stunning woodland. fahrenhutsauna.co.uk

Russia, banya

If Finnish sauna is quiet and contemplative, Russian banya is its louder, steamier cousin. Both use bundles of branches (vihta in Finland, venik in Russia) but the Finnish version is dry and gentle and the banya is all about intense, wet heat and a vigorous scrubdown. Temperatures run high (up to 90C) and sessions often include platza, a lashing with leafy venik to stimulate circulation and ease muscle tension. In Russian tradition, the banya is a place of cleansing both physically and spiritually. Folk medicine has long linked it to healing, while Orthodox customs made it a site for purification before religious holidays. Cold plunges or water buckets are a must and so are the social rituals: chatting, sweating, snacking on pickled vegetables and sometimes even knocking back vodka between rounds. It’s part therapy, part theatre.

In Russia: Sanduny Banya in Moscow is Russia's most iconic sauna location. Founded in 1808, it’s Russia’s oldest public bathhouse and is famous for its palatial interiors, soaring arches and ornate marble steam rooms. For over two centuries it’s been a place where Muscovites gather to sweat, scrub and socialise across generations. msk.sanduny.ru

In the UK: The Bath House - Banya London in Belgravia, London recreates the experience with traditional sauna, plunge pool, parenie leaf ritual and Eastern European snacks. They blend the best of contemporary thermal therapy with the timeless magic of banya. banyalondon.co.uk

Inside a wooden sauna cabin with tiered wooden benches — The Bath House, London

Estonia, smoke sauna

Often overshadowed by its Nordic neighbours, Estonia has its own sauna tradition, which is just as old and, in some ways, even more intimate. Though the Estonian smoke sauna shares similarities with the Finnish savusauna (no chimney, smoke-filled chamber, soft dry heat) the atmosphere is distinct. In Estonia the sauna is not just a ritual, but a sacred act of community and care, traditionally carried out among women. This is powerfully captured in Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, a critically acclaimed Estonian documentary that follows a group of women as they share stories, grief and laughter within the quiet warmth of a sauna. Though often mistaken as a Finnish export, Estonia’s sauna culture stands on its own: earthier, more communal and deeply tied to folk traditions.

In Estonia: Mooska Farm Smoke Sauna in Võru offers UNESCO-recognised smoke sauna rituals in a traditional timber hut, surrounded by forest. mooska.eu/mooska-farm/

In the UK: For a remote yet authentic experience, The Bracken Hide Hotel on the Isle of Skye features Estonian-style smoke saunas nestled in the Highland landscape. Or, for something even closer to home, Estonian company Iglucraft now delivers handcrafted home saunas across the UK so you can bring the curved timber warmth of a traditional smoke sauna to your own garden. iglucraft.com/en

Wooden sauna surrounded by forest — Iglucraft

Morocco, hammam

The Moroccan hammam is a social and sensory ritual. Inside a tiled, steam-filled chamber, bathers begin by applying savon noir – a slick black olive soap – before being scrubbed down with a kessa glove, then rinsed with warm water poured from brass buckets. Rooted in Islamic purification practices, the hammam is both functional and spiritual. Weekly visits were once the norm, especially before Friday prayers, and in many towns the hammam remains a place of intergenerational connection, storytelling and care. Being washed by someone else is a gesture of trust – intimate but communal.

In Morocco: Hammam de la Rose in Marrakech combines tradition with tranquillity. Set just outside the bustle of the Medina, it blends centuries-old rituals with a calm, softly lit interior that feels worlds away from the souks. Guests are guided through the full hammam ritual – from steaming to savon noir application and vigorous kessa scrub – followed by a rinse with warm water poured from brass buckets. Fresh mint tea awaits you at the end. hammamdelarose.com/en/

In the UK: For an authentic Moroccan hammam experience in London check out The Old Hammam & Spa in London. Guests can indulge in a full-body exfoliation using black olive soap and a kessa mitt, followed by a relaxing foam massage. The spa also provides access to a sauna, steam rooms and a cold plunge pool so you can experience the full Moroccan ritual of cleansing and relaxation. oldhammam.co.uk

Turkey, Turkish bath

Though it shares roots with the Moroccan hammam, the Turkish hamam is a different kind of ritual that’s more structured, spacious and architectural. Here, the experience unfolds in a sequence of marble rooms: from warm to hot to intense heat, centred around a heated stone slab called a göbek taşı. Picture foam massages, water poured from copper bowls and long rests in domed, echoing chambers. It’s part bathing, part meditative pause and long considered both a physical and spiritual cleanse in Ottoman culture.

In Turkey: Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı in Istanbul is a 16th-century bathhouse restored by architect Cafer Bozkurt, where every surface – marble, copper, stone – honours the sensory richness of the original experience. kilicalipasahamami.com

In the UK: Harrogate Turkish Baths bring the architectural grandeur of Turkey to Yorkshire. The ritual unfolds in a Victorian sequence of tepidarium, calidarium and laconium chambers. Guests move through progressively hotter rooms before ending with a bracing plunge. Opened in 1897, it’s one of the last remaining Victorian Turkish baths in the country, and still one of the most beautiful. turkishbathsharrogate.co.uk

Japan, onsen and sentō

While not technically a sauna tradition, Japan’s centuries-old bathing culture shares many of the same rhythms of immersion in heat and a focus on tradition. Rooted in Shinto purification practices and Buddhist ideas of cleansing body and mind, onsen (natural hot springs) were first recorded in the 8th-century Man’yōshū and have long been linked to healing, longevity, and seasonal change. Many are found in remote mountain regions, where soaking is as much about reconnecting with the elements as it is about warming the body.

Sentō public bathhouses developed during the Edo period as an urban equivalent, offering a ritualised form of communal cleansing. Etiquette is everything: you wash before entering, soak in silence and often sit quietly afterward with a bottle of cold milk. In literature and film, from Spirited Away to the novels of Kawabata, onsens symbolise transformation and return. While the tradition centres on water rather than sweat, many modern sentōs and resort-style onsens now include saunas, blending Japanese bathing with global wellness culture.

In Japan: For a refined onsen experience immersed in nature, KAI Alps by Hoshino Resorts offers outdoor hot spring baths framed by snow-covered mountains and larch forests at the foot of the Japanese Alps. The waters here are mineral-rich and pristine, feeding both open-air pools and hinoki wood baths indoors. For those seeking sauna alongside their soak, Hoshino Resorts also offers a forest sauna experience at its Yatsugatake property, blending dry heat with crisp mountain air and quiet forest views, proof that even in a water-focused culture, sauna has found its place. hoshinoresorts.com

In the UK: Fforest farm in West Wales has Onsen Domes which each include a private cedar-clad pod with an en-suite shower and a Japanese-style outdoor bathhouse featuring a sunken cast-concrete soaking tub, perfect for stargazing in the quiet countryside. The retreat also features a woodland Nature Spa with a cedar barrel sauna, wood-fired hot tub and cold plunge. coldatnight.co.uk/onsen-dome

Japanese-style outdoor bathhouse in a forest — fforest

Britain, new wave sauna culture

Britain doesn’t have a living sauna tradition like Finland or Russia, but that doesn’t mean it never had one. Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient sweat lodges in places like Wiltshire, suggesting that ritualised heat may once have played a part in prehistoric life here, too. Today, that connection is being reimagined as a new generation of coastal and city saunas has emerged across the UK. These spaces borrow from Nordic traditions but adapt them. Some offer guided rituals with breathwork and sound baths while others host spoken-word readings, DJ sets or communal silence. Many saunas now carry names with the word ‘social’ hinting at what people are really seeking: shared experience.

In the UK: SeaScrub Sauna in Margate is a standout. Set directly on the beach, this community-driven sauna offers private wood-fired sessions alongside guided group events. There are sound baths, new moon gatherings and seasonal rituals that blend heat, cold and connection. seascrubsauna.co.uk

International: CopenHot in Copenhagen channels a similar spirit with floating saunas, harbour swims and a communal, playful take on heat. Their popular “HotDays” sessions invite both locals and tourists to share these facilities, fostering a social atmosphere where guests can relax together and even make new friends. copenhot.com