These 3 Cities Are Some of the Best Places to Experience Finland's Famous Sauna Culture

“It’s no coincidence that Finland is both the happiest country in the world and the one with the most saunas,” Jukka said as he rattled off the panacean benefits attributed to sauna therapy: improved circulation, glowing skin, reduced dementia risk. “Sauna therapy spikes serotonin and dopamine levels. It’s basically healthy MDMA.”

In 2020, UNESCO recognized Finnish sauna culture on its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity alongside cultural touchstones like Turkish coffee, Argentinian tango, and the French baguette. The Nordic nation’s variety of public saunas is dazzling. Some are as sleek and luxurious as a Beverly Hills day spa. Others are free and feel more like anarcho-punk communes. There are clothing-optional saunas, floating lake saunas, and saunas with gourmet restaurants attached. Most public saunas only charge a few euros, and many Finns go daily.

Of course, the pleasures of Finland extend well beyond sweaty serenity. Fishing villages scattered along the Baltic coast are among Europe’s most romantic small towns, with windswept harbors, cobblestone streets, and candlelit cafés. In Helsinki, Michelin-starred dining comes at a fraction of what you’d pay in other Nordic capitals. Plus, after all that detoxing, you can indulge in draughts of Karhu, reindeer tartare, and generous pours of aquavit.

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Tampere | Helsinki | Porvoo

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Tampere

Tampere was once Finland’s industrial powerhouse, nicknamed the Manchester of the North. Today, the charming university city is more famous as the Sauna Capital of the World. While coastal towns like Helsinki, Porvoo, and Turku were outposts of the Swedish Empire, Tampere is several hours inland and feels quintessentially Finnish.

Saunas

Saunas in the region date back roughly 10,000 years, when people dug pits in the tundra, covered them with animal hides, and heated stones at the center. Today, the oldest public sauna in Finland is Rajaportti, founded in 1906. Here, a dedicated saunamestari (sauna master) stokes a birch-fired oven that fills the chamber with dry heat and a subtle forest aroma. Between rounds of löyly (Finnish for sauna steam), patrons unwind in a cozy lounge over light snacks and craft beer.

Gaze at the passing ships as you schvitz at Saunaravintola Kuuma, where floor-to-ceiling windows frame tranquil views of Lake Näsijärvi. Take a plunge in the harbor after your sauna session. In winter, water temperatures hover just above freezing, often with a delicate crust of ice to break through. The jolt of adrenaline from diving in, especially after the warmth of the sauna, could revive a corpse. Kuuma is also a popular brunch spot, with an excellent buffet of smoked fish, Finnish cheeses, and charcuterie.

Rauhaniemi Folk Spa lies on the outskirts of Tampere, tucked between dense forests and the shores of Lake Näsijärvi. A favorite among the city’s university students, the sauna exudes a lively and social ethos, especially in winter, when a bar kiosk sits on the frozen lake. The lake’s frigid, revivifying waters are just steps from the saunas. Don’t miss the yurt sauna, inspired by ancient Finnish traditions, and consider booking a vihta treatment, in which an attendant lightly smacks your body with bundles of birch and juniper leaves to release oils onto your skin that promote circulation and healing.

Where to eat in Tampere

Villit ja Viinit channels the hyper-local ethos of New Nordic cuisine, sourcing all its ingredients from purveyors in Tampere and its environs. In place of citrus, the bartenders use crushed wildflowers to lend acidity to cocktails. The bar also stocks rare Finnish gins and craft beers. If available, try the whiskey infused with foraged chanterelle mushrooms — the dram tastes like the essence of the Baltic forest. Villit ja Viinit offers a rotating menu of seasonal small plates to complement the cocktails. The night I visited, I savored a bowl of porridge layered with pork belly and finished with a drizzle of chive oil.

The menu at Ravintola Nonni is as playful as the restaurant’s name, which is Finnish slang for “it’s all good.” Many plates riff on Asian and Italian dishes with Nordic ingredients. My Arctic cod, bathed in fragrant tom yum broth, came with a Thai-style salad that swapped tropical papaya for kohlrabi, a cold-climate cabbage. The most memorable dish of the night was the “fish hoax,” a convincing vegetarian take on smoked salmon. The wine is as delightful as the food, featuring rare bottles from Georgia and Southern Italy.

Finland drinks more coffee per capita than any country in the world, and the baristas at Kahwe Coffee treat their craft with the dedication of Olympic athletes (and they compete in international barista competitions). Kahwe sources its beans from Ethiopia and South America and expertly roasts them in-house. Kahwe has an impressive selection of Geisha beans, a notoriously delicate variety prized for its floral and complex flavor profile. While I usually favor espresso, I recommend the pour-over at Kahwe.

If you’re keen to sample rare Finnish ingredients prepared with imagination and exceptional talent, book a dinner at Ravintola Apaja. The building was a horse stable in its former life, a past subtly echoed in the warren of tiny, beautifully furnished dining rooms. The three-hour tasting menu begins and ends with a glass of Champagne, and chef Juuso Ahvenainen changes the menu about 10 times a year. The succession of small plates — treats like smoked elk heart, sous-vide pike-perch, and pike ceviche with pickled lingonberries — sparkles with all the bravura of world-class New Nordic cuisine.

Where to stay in Tampere

Tampere is a compact, walkable city, and the Radisson Blu Grand Hotel Tammer places you just a short stroll from the downtown core. At the breakfast buffet, don’t miss the mustamakkara, a local blood sausage that’s something of a Tampere institution. Olympia Theater, down the street from the hotel, pulses with live music throughout the week. Finland is a nation of unapologetic metalheads, and the band playing the night I visited Olympia unleashed such furious energy that Mötley Crüe or Pantera would have bowed in reverence.

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Helsinki

The Swedish Empire founded Helsinki in the 16th century to compete with the lucrative maritime trade of Tallinn, the ancient Estonian capital. Today, Helsinki is a stylish seaside city that is a global sustainability leader, where neoclassical facades loom above third-wave coffee shops, public saunas, and craft cocktail bars.

Saunas

Sompa Sauna was founded by two hiking buddies who stumbled upon an abandoned sauna and restored it by hand. There’s no entry fee, no dress code (clothing is optional), and the eclectic mix of visitors adds to the laid-back, countercultural charm. The saunas themselves are compact, beautifully built, and ripping hot. After a hard sweat, guests cool off in the icy waters of the Baltic. Unlike most Finnish saunas, Sampa doesn’t have a café, but patrons are welcome to bring beverages.

On the other end of the spectrum, USVA Spa, inside the Hotel NH Collection Helsinki Grand Hansa, epitomizes chic refinement. Clad in plush robes, guests sip artisanal teas brewed from Finnish herbs and apply botanical skincare products lovingly made by owner Anna Velten. The honey-salt scrub left my travel-weary mug looking at least 10 years younger. The lounge houses a collection of Sami art and artifacts collected by Anna on her travels through Lapland.

Löyly, one of Helsinki’s largest and most iconic public saunas, strikes a balance between upscale design and a relaxed ambiance. The main sauna — a spacious, mixed-gender chamber perched above the Baltic Sea — features wall-mounted buttons that release bursts of steam at the touch. For a more traditional experience, head to the locker rooms, where you’ll find smaller, gender-segregated saunas. In winter, the staff at Löyly cut holes into the sea ice for fearless patrons seeking the complete cycle of heat, cold, and euphoria.

Where to eat in Helsinki

The Room by Kozeen Shiwan earned a Michelin star just months after opening — a remarkable feat for any restaurant. After honing his craft in acclaimed New Nordic kitchens, chef Shiwan returned to his Kurdish roots, crafting a tasting menu showcasing the flavors of the Levant. With bright gold hair and a gleaming grill that would make Nelly jealous, Shiwan is a gifted entertainer, telling vivid stories about each of his glittering dishes. After I finished dinner, several glasses of Champagne deep, I offered Shiwan the highest compliment I could think of: “You’re the Jimi Hendrix of gastronomy, chef.” I meant every word.

Every ingredient in the kitchen of Restaurant Skörd comes from Finland, including the fruit wines. An intimate restaurant ideal for a date, Skörd changes its menu daily based on what the chef discovers at the local farmers’ market. I pride myself on being a food geek, but I found myself mystified by ingredients like pickled salsify root, rowanberry coulis, and pike-perch caviar. Finland is too cold for grapevines, but Skörd serves wines fermented from local subarctic berries. The bilberry wine tastes like an exceptionally fruity malbec, while the gooseberry bubbly is the color of sparkling rosé and is as joyful as a kir royale.

Trilby & Chadwick, hidden behind an unmarked metal door, exemplifies the old-school pageantry and exalted mixology of a superb speakeasy. In a dimly lit salon adorned with oil portraits and antique furnishings, patrons sip inventive riffs on classic cocktails, each named after a literary legend. (I didn’t even glance at the menu before ordering the Bukowski and the Hemingway.) Eschewing social media vanity, Trilby & Chadwick enforces a strict no-photography policy.

As a whiskey writer, I keep an ear to the ground for new distilleries wherever I roam. While Finland has traditionally favored clear spirits like gin and aquavit, Helsinki Distilling Company proves that even the most unexpected corners of the world can produce remarkable whiskey. The Frontier Corn whiskey is an homage to old-school Kentucky bourbon, crafted from a rare cold-climate corn. (I only wish they’d named it Finntucky.)

Where to stay in Helsinki

Solo Sokos Hotel Pier 4, on the edge of Helsinki’s waterfront, is a minimalist masterpiece of Nordic spruce and Viitasaari granite. The water views from the floor-to-ceiling windows in each room are as sweeping as those from the Lido deck of a cruise ship. Each room has an espresso machine, and breakfast is a smorgasbord of smoked fish, jams, and fresh bread.

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Porvoo

The sleepy fishing town of Porvoo less than an hour from Helsinki is blessed with handsome architecture, exceptional dining, and fresh sea air. It has long been a favorite weekend retreat for Helsinkians. Founded by 14th-century Swedish colonists, it’s the second-oldest town in Finland, after Turku.

Sauna

Kannonnokka Sauna is a car ride from Porvoo, but the extra effort rewards visitors with a sauna carved into a rock face. After a sauna and cold plunge, admire the Grottabacka forest from the terrace’s jacuzzi. It’s worth visiting in the evening, when you can gaze at the vivid stars after a sauna marathon.

Where to eat in Porvoo

The dishes at Restaurant Vår, a Michelin-starred restaurant on a sleepy cobblestone street, are as gorgeous as the town of Porvoo itself. Chef Niko Lehto amalgamates coastal Finnish ingredients like pike-perch, kohlrabi, and seabuckthorn with gourmet goodies from Italy, France, and Japan. I ordered the tasting menu with a wine pairing, and highlights included fresh scallops dressed with juniper sauce and pike-perch tempura heaped with bright orange roe. After dinner, I relaxed in the beautiful dining room with a glass of jaloviina, a Finnish spirit that blends brandy with a neutral grain spirit.

Tucked behind Porvoo’s ochre-hued wharf warehouses, Salt is a casual restaurant focused on fresh seafood. The salmon blini comes with generous spoonfuls of salmon roe, a nod to the culinary influence of nearby Russia. While Russian blini are crepe-like, Finnish blini are heartier, more like a small pancake. Pair the fish with a draught of Borgå Pilsner, the local session beer.

Where to stay in Porvoo

The Runo is a boutique hotel a quick walk from Porvoo’s waterfront and Porvoo Cathedral, a Nordic Gothic masterpiece emblematic of the town. The small, comfortable rooms are ideal for a romantic getaway, and a complimentary sauna crowns the penthouse. Try the Salmiak liqueur, a black liquorice-flavored digestif, at the lobby bar.

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