Helsinki Sauna Guide: Löyly, Allas Sea Pool and Kotiharju

In a country of 5.6 million people with more than 3.3 million saunas (inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list), visiting Helsinki without stepping into a sauna is like visiting Rome without eating pasta. The word sauna itself is the only Finnish word to have entered the global English vocabulary, and central Helsinki offers three completely different public sauna experiences depending on whether you want contemporary seaside architecture, harbour-front swimming lanes or a 1920s working-class wood-fired stove.

1. Löyly (Hernesaarenranta 4, Southern Waterfront)

Designed by Avanto Architects in 2016 as a faceted sculptural cloak of 4,000 heat-treated pine louvres rising from the rocky southern shoreline of Hernesaari (reached in ten minutes from the centre on Tram 6 to Eiranranta plus a short walk, or Bus 14/18), Löyly (named after the Finnish word for the hot steam that rises when you ladle water onto sauna stones) is Helsinki's flagship seaside sauna. One two-hour mixed-gender booking gives you access to three distinct saunas, including a rare, dim, tar-scented traditional smoke sauna (savusauna) heated for hours without a chimney before guests enter, plus two wood-fired saunas, alongside a fireplace relaxation lounge, wide tiered seaside sun decks, a restaurant serving classic salmon soup and jasper meatballs, and a direct metal staircase descending into the Baltic Sea (with a hole kept ice-free in winter for polar plunges). Crucial tip: Löyly sells out days in advance; book your timed two-hour slot online before flying to Helsinki (towel, seat liner and organic shampoo are included in the ticket; bring a swimsuit).

2. Allas Sea Pool (Katajanokanlaituri 2a, Right Beside the Market Square)

Floating directly on the harbour next to the SkyWheel and the Suomenlinna ferry pier, Allas Sea Pool combines three large panoramic electric saunas (men's, women's and mixed/event) with three outdoor swimming pools on a floating wooden deck: a 25-metre heated freshwater pool kept at 27°C all year round, a children's pool in summer, and a filtered Baltic seawater pool kept at the exact ambient temperature of the sea (ranging from 1°C in January to 20°C in July). No advance reservation is required for standard daytime swim-and-sauna entry.

3. Kotiharjun Sauna (Harjutorinkatu 1, Kallio, Since 1928)

For the most authentic, unvarnished local experience in town, ride the Metro to Sörnäinen in bohemian Kallio to visit Kotiharjun Sauna, the last continuously operating traditional wood-fired public neighbourhood sauna in Helsinki, fired every morning since 1928 with massive one-metre birch logs heating a towering stone stove. Separate men's and women's floors; afterwards, join locals sitting outside on the pavement bench wrapped in white cotton towels cooling down in the evening air.