Finnish sauna in Lapland, and what it costs

Heat, cold, and a rest in between

A sauna visit is a loop, not a single sit. You shower, sit on the wooden benches while someone throws water on the hot stones, step out to cool down, and go back in. Visit Finland puts the heat of a Finnish sauna at around 70 to 90°C and says you can stay “for 5-10 minutes, or for hours with cooling dips into a lake or the sea in between.” The steam that rises when water hits the stones has its own word, löyly, and it is the point of the whole thing.

In Lapland the cooling down usually happens outdoors. In winter the public saunas we checked keep a hole cut in the ice of a river, a stream or a pool beside the sauna, so the cold part of the loop is a short climb down a ladder into open water. You do not have to go in. Visit Finland’s advice is simply to “cool off when needed,” and a few minutes on the terrace in the snow does that too.

Sauna culture in Finland is on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, inscribed in 2020. UNESCO’s entry counts 3.3 million saunas in a country of 5.5 million people, and names electric, wood-heated and smoke saunas as part of the same tradition.

Finnish sauna etiquette, the short version

The rules are few and mostly about other people. These come from Visit Finland and from the resort site for Levi, which publishes its own guide:

• Shower before you go in. Levi’s guide puts hygiene first, and Kiilopää asks the same.
• Go through the door quickly so the heat and steam stay inside, and do not stand in the doorway.
• Ask before you throw water on the stones. Levi’s guide suggests it as the considerate way to share the steam.
• Keep your voice down. Levi’s guide calls Finnish saunas “usually peaceful and quiet.”
• Drink water. Visit Finland says you will sweat heavily, so drink plenty.
• Leave when you want to. There is no set time, and no prize for staying longest.

On clothing, Visit Finland says Finns typically go to the sauna in the nude, but “it’s perfectly ok to wear a swimsuit or a towel,” and that in groups men and women often go separately while families go together. A public sauna for visitors is a different case. Kiilopää’s smoke sauna, WNTR Sauna in Rovaniemi and Rovaniemi Sauna World are all mixed, and all three require a swimsuit. The birch bundle you may see hanging by the door is a vihta or vasta, which Visit Finland describes as a bundle for gently whipping yourself.

The ice hole, if you go in

Suomen Latu, the Finnish outdoor association that also runs Kiilopää, publishes safety advice for winter swimming. Never swim alone. Breathe calmly as you go in, because cold water can make you catch your breath at first. Wear a swimsuit, a hat and footwear, and gloves if you like. Start with short dips and lengthen them only as you feel able. If you come straight from the sauna, let your body cool first.

At Kiilopää the water past the steps is about 1.4 metres deep, and the paths between sauna and hole have heated mats but can still be slippery. It bans studded shoes in the sauna area, and its shop sells ice-swimming footwear.

Who should sit this one out

Suomen Latu’s advice is plain: do not go into the water when ill or after drinking alcohol, and if you are unsure whether winter swimming suits you, talk to your doctor first. We add nothing to that and claim nothing about health either way.

Children are welcome at some saunas and not at others. Kiilopää sells a child ticket for ages 4 to 12, and its own guidelines say children feel heat differently from adults and should not stay on the benches as long. The Rovaniemi sauna evening Lapland Safaris sells lists its suitability as “children over 15 years.” Rovaniemi Sauna World describes itself as suitable for all ages.

A crowded session is its own kind of discomfort. Kiilopää says the start of each session is usually the busiest and suggests arriving 5 to 10 minutes late for calmer changing rooms.

What a public sauna costs in Rovaniemi and Saariselkä

A ticket to a shared public sauna is the cheap end. A packaged evening with food and transport costs more than twice as much, and a private sauna is priced per group.

Rovaniemi Sauna World, at Lapland Winter Park, has eight unisex saunas, two jacuzzis, a hot tub and an ice dipping pool, with a free shuttle bus from Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village. Its sessions also last 1.5 hours. We could not see a ticket price on its own page or on Visit Rovaniemi’s listing without starting a booking, so ask before you go.

Kiilopää heats its smoke sauna Monday to Saturday in winter, in three sessions starting at 3.00 pm, 4.30 pm and 6.00 pm. Sessions can be booked for the current and the next week, new sessions open every Monday, and same-day places are sold at reception. Lapland Safaris says its WNTR package has limited capacity, 6 places for women and 6 for men, and advises booking ahead.

Where to take a sauna in Lapland

Your hotel or cabin may well have a sauna of its own. At Kiilopää, for example, the hotel sauna is free for hotel guests from 5 pm to 9 pm. The public saunas above add what a room sauna does not: a smoke sauna, an ice hole, and other people on the next bench.

• In Rovaniemi, WNTR Sauna sits by the Kemijoki next to the Ounasvaara ski resort, about five minutes’ drive from the centre, and Sauna World is at Lapland Winter Park. Things to do in Rovaniemi sets them against the rest of a Rovaniemi day.
• In the Saariselkä area, Kiilopää’s smoke sauna sits at the foot of Kiilopää fell by the Kiilopuro stream. Kiilopää says the Saariselkä SkiBus runs daily in winter between Saariselkä and Kiilopää.
• In Levi, the resort’s own site publishes the etiquette guide quoted above.

A sauna pairs well with the colder days out. After an ice fishing trip or a husky safari, it is the quickest way to feel your feet again. Our guide to what to wear covers the walk to the sauna in deep cold, and where to stay helps if a private sauna in your own cabin is what you want.