A sauna’s simplest definition is “a room designed as a place to experience heat sessions”. This opens the door way up to get creative with how these rooms look, operate, and feel. Scouring the world, you can find some truly weird, odd, and quirkily placed saunas. Here are the most bizarre saunas in the world, each one stranger than the next.
Helsinki, Finland’s Hockey Stadium Sauna
In Canada, we love watching some hockey. It’s just our culture here. In Finland, they also have some love for the iciest sport out there. In Helsinki, you can watch a hockey game from a seat in a traditional sauna. Seating up to 20 people, it’s one of the more expensive saunas on our list available for roughly $3,000 to rent for a single night.
Sandhornoya, Norway’s Public Sauna
Outside seemingly in the middle of the wilderness is the world’s largest public sauna. In Norway, hundreds of people come every year to partake in this beautiful outdoor setting. Nestled in the forest near water, this strange sauna remains ready and open to the public.
Lapland, Sweden’s Ice Sauna
There are a number of ice or snow saunas in northern Europe where you can go, sit on wood benches, and roast around the cold. In Sweden, this one’s our favourite. It’s essentially an igloo constantly melting, which can be disappointing because it does eventually melt. Most igloo saunas, ice saunas, and snow saunas have an expiration date requiring constant reconstruction.
Lapland, Finland’s Gondola Sauna
In the home of saunas, people from all over the world come to Finland in want of a unique traditional sauna experience. In a ski resort village in Yllas, there’s a gondola sauna which rides a two kilometre ski lift to 800 metres above sea level. This is one sauna experience you’ve got to have if you visit!
Gothenburg, Sweden’s Underwater Sauna
In Sweden, this underwater sauna boasts high temperatures and some absolutely beautiful environment around it. Walls are made of glass, perfect for viewing. Look out at fish while you sweat in a sauna.
Milano, Italy’s Train Car Sauna
Inside the TermeMilano spa in Italy, train tracks sit and on these is a tram that acts as a sauna. Original carriage features remain including its pitched roof and a lot of the exterior. Inside, you’ll find benches and hot coals, accommodating up to 10 guests. Though it was designed as a moving sauna, city officials disagreed with this use and thus, this is now where it sits.
Helsinki, Finland’s Burger King Sauna
In Helsinki, they’ve taken the oddness of saunas to a whole new level as they have a fast food Burger King sauna. Grab your Coke, Whopper, and fries, and settle in while you sweat probably around a whole lot of fast food smell. Enjoy the 48-inch TV, media lounge, and shower room. Having opened in 2015, this is a sauna you probably will want to pass on – unless you’re a fast food superfan.
Den Bosch, the Netherlands’ Salt Cave Sauna
Deemed the strangest sauna in the world by several publications, the Netherlands’ salt cave sauna contain walls made from Himalayan salt. It’s pretty to look at and the salt cave also gives its’ own health benefits such as regulating blood sugar. This may be the most visually gorgeous sauna in the world, regularly featured on Instagram, Pinterest, and social media by sauna-loving influencers.