For many Finns, winter is the time for swimming in freezing water, in holes cut in the ice. There’s even a national championship. What on earth makes people want to do this?
Several new sauna buildings have impressively transformed parts of the Helsinki waterfront, increasing the number of public saunas where visitors and locals can go for an authentic Finnish sauna experience – and a bracing dip in the Baltic Sea.
On Sauna Day bathers can get steamed up in venues not normally open to the public, including luxury saunas, rustic wooden saunas, a tube sauna, and a Mongolian yurt.
Just say yes: If you want to get to know Finnish culture, don’t be intimidated by the sauna. With our beginner’s guide, there’s nothing to it.
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