Welcome to the cool Saunablogger blog, stories from saunas around the world, from Finnish smoke saunas to luxury spa saunas. Not to mention hotel saunas! The Saunablogger has explored saunas in 41 countries, in a total of 179 saunas. You can also click on the map below to see where in the world they took place.
The Saunablogger articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, caving, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, and swimming.
All sauna-related articles:
| Vuosaari walk & swim On a dark, late November evening, I drove to Vuosaari in eastern Helsinki. I had to complete my daily steps, so walked through the neighbourhood. In a landscape of high-rise residential buildings -- maybe they should even be called skyscrapers in Finland at 26 floors. There was also the glow of the local shopping mall, and then ... the swimming hall. Full story November 2025, Vuosaaren uimahalli, Vuosaari, Helsinki, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Walking | |
| Swim in Loviisa.. at old people's home In my quest for swimming at different places, I ended up this time in Loviisa. They don't have a proper swimming hall, but they do have a small swimming pool at the Esplanad, a service house / elderly care home. It is open for the public a few hours on four days during the week. The pool is only 16 meters long, however, and quite shallow from one end, so not easy to swim. Full story November 2025, Esplanad, Loviisa, Finland Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool) | |
| Swim at the Neidonkeidas... a public swimming hall with food-fired sauna! Decided to drive to Lohja for a quick swim at the Neidonkeidas, the local public swimming hall. Full story October 2025, Virkistysuimala Neidonkeidas, Lohja, Finland; Lohjan jäähalli, Lohja, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Skiing (None) | |
| A Refreshing Dip at Åkeshov Swimming Hall It was a dark and rainy night when I made my way to Åkeshov sports hall for a swim :-) but the journey was surprisingly pleasant. Stockholm's public transport never cease to impress, the bus ride was smooth and comfortable, complete with USB charging ports on every seat. Full story October 2025, Åkeshovs sim- och idrottshall, Åkeshov, Stockholm, Sweden Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Swim by the fires Another cottage swim, this time by the light fires and a sunset. Wonderful! A bit cold though. Full story October 2025, Arkko summer cottage, Teisko, Finland Swimming (Outdoor, Waterbody-Lake); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Kangasala swimming hall Had to pick up the car from Kangasala, near Tampere, after the breakdown (alt.link). They had fixed it for mere 40€, though only a temporary fix: the heating system is now bypassed, so now heating in the rainy fall weather. But, on the positive side I managed to get a swim in a new place: the Kangasala swimming hall. Full story October 2025, VMS Racing, Kangasala, Finland; Kangasalan Uimahalli Kuohu, Kangasala, Finland Car; Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| October ski weekend at Levi It has been a while since I skied properly. I skied in July at an indoor ski resort in Madrid and Oslo, and in June also in Oslo. But after that in August and September only on some snow piles outside ice skating halls... so it was time to ski again! Last year for October I went for a day trip to Levi (alt. link), but while fun that was a gruelingly tiresome travel and way too short time in Levi. So this year I went for the whole weekend. Full story October 2025, Levi, Kittilä, Finland; Levi Hotel, Kittilä, Finland; Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland; Kittilän lentokenttä, Kittilä, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Walking; Hiking; Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Flying; Travel | |
| Kontula swimming hall Kontula swimming hall. Mixed feelings, a wonderful pool area. Is it new? Run by Urheiluhallit who usually run excellent facilities, very nice! Not so flashy dressing room and saunas/showers area, but ok. But outside... darkness, rain, suspicious people standing in the dark in the rain in the park as I walk by... gangs having some kind of fight, not sure how serious. Anyway, I am not usually afraid almost anywhere in the world, but now I felt a bit insecure here. Full story October 2025, Kontulan uimahalli, Kontula, Helsinki, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Secret sauna on an island Yesterday I sailed to a company event on my friends boat. The views going there in the morning and coming back in the night were wonderful. We also tested a secret sauna island far out south of Espoo. Full story September 2025, Gåsgrund sauna, Gåsgrund, Espoo, Finland Sailing; Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Beach, Outdoor) | |
| I ordered a snow taxi, again These are challenging times, these are September times. Full story September 2025, Ritorps ishall, Ulriksdahls idrottsplats, Solna, Sweden; Cyloq Arena, Sollentuna, Sweden; Medley Solna Simhall, Ulriksdahls idrottsplats, Solna, Sweden; Medley Sollentuna sim- och sporthall, Sollentuna, Sweden; Sundbybergs Simhall & Gym, Sundbyberg, Sweden; Arlanda, Sweden Skiing (None); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water, None); Sauna (Normal, None); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal); Flying | |
| Hämeenlinna's swimming hall Yet another swimming pool visit in nearby (max 1+ hour drive) swimming halls, as I've run out the ones closer. This time in Hämeenlinna. A large, quite nice swimming pool. The dressing room, shower, and saunas are really top notch. Really liked the glass walls in the saunas and the fact that they had not just a steam sauna but also an infrared sauna was really, really nice. Well done. Full story September 2025, Hämeenlinnan uimahalli, Hämeenlinna, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Infrared, Steam) | |
| Saksalan uimahalli - Saksala swimming hall in Lahti Given the loaner car I have this weekend... I can extend my driving range beyond towing distance. Hence a visit to Lahti, for a Sunday evening swim at the Saksala swimming hall. Full story September 2025, Saksalan uimahalli, Lahti, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Swimming in Salo Given that I still had the loaner car for an extra day, I felt it was an opportunity to use reliable transport now that it was available. I drove to Salo's swimming hall (link) after work. A long drive, hour and fifteen minutes, but a nice hall! Full story September 2025, Salon uimahalli, Salo, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool, Water); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Hanko's Luxurious Regatta Spa I continued my quest to swim in more places in the evenings after work. Inspired in part by having a reliable loaner car that can take me 100+ km away without a need to worry about breakdowns :-) But obviously mostly inspired by the desire to swim in more nice places. Full story September 2025, Hotel Regatta Spa, Hanko, Finland Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Sauna (Infrared, None) | |
| The 2M€ smoke saunas Tested the new 2M€ smoke saunas in Kuusijärvi that were opened today. They were very, very nice. Didn’t know they were opened today, just happened to want a sauna visit and Kuusijärvi was on my route. Full story August 2025, Kuusijärvi, Vantaa, Finland Sauna (Smoke); Swimming (Waterbody-Lake, Beach, Outdoor) | |
| Vršac castle and the Helvecija 1880 spa Vršac is a small city in northeastern Serbia, close to the Romanian border. The city has been built on the foothills of a striking hill, and on the top of the hill there's a castle dating back to 1439. It has been abandoned for centuries, but reconstruction started in 2009. The main tower of the castle is today in good condition, other parts remain as ruins. Full story August 2025, Vršac castle, Vršac, Serbia; Helvecija 1880, Vršac, Serbia Urban-Exploration (Historic, Castles, Ruins); Swimming (Indoor, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal, Steam) | |
This is the 1th set of articles. The next sets are set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, and set 14.