Sauna and Swimming in Helsinki

Sauna here is an ordinary part of a week, not a spa treatment, and the swim afterwards is the point of it. There are public saunas around the city and on the islands, and the sequence is always the same: get hot, get into the sea, sit down, repeat. Nobody is performing and nobody is timing you. It is the most Finnish thing you can do in an afternoon.

What it isAn everyday habit, not a treatment

The sequenceHot, cold water, rest, repeat

On the waterLonna, about 7 minutes from Market Square

Boat trip that includes oneThe RIB tour, with lunch

SwimmingCold, brief, and the whole point

SeasonSauna all year; comfortable swimming in summer

How it works

You wash, you go into the hot room, you sit until you have had enough, you go outside and get into the water, and then you sit somewhere and cool down before doing it again. Two or three rounds is normal. There is no schedule, no treatment and no attendant telling you what to do next. Bring a towel and a swimming costume; mixed public saunas are used with costumes on, single-sex ones usually without, and if you are unsure, look at what everyone else is doing and copy it.

The heat is dry with steam thrown on as required. If it is too hot, sit on a lower bench — the difference between the top bench and the bottom one is considerable. Nobody minds if you leave after five minutes.

The swim

Cold, short and much better than it sounds. The sea around Helsinki is cool even in the warmest month — July averages about 18 °C in the air, and the water lags well behind that — so you go in, you make a noise, and you come out. Go in gradually rather than jumping, keep it brief the first time, and get warm again properly afterwards. People do it through the winter here as well, when the sea around Helsinki can freeze; that is a local habit and not something to attempt on a first visit.

On the water

Lonna has a public sauna on it and sits about seven minutes from Market Square by JT-Line boat in summer, which makes it the easiest island sauna to reach for an evening — see the Vallisaari and Lonna page. Isosaari, about 40 minutes out, also has sauna and cabins.

The one boat trip on this site that builds the whole thing in is the RIB tour: a speed boat out into the archipelago with life jacket and goggles supplied, landing on an island for a snack lunch and a public sauna, with a guide talking about the plants and the birds along the way. It runs about three and a half hours in English, Finnish and Swedish, and it meets at Café Marina Bay, Kanavaranta 4. It is the only boat here that lands anywhere at all, which is why it appears on this page and not on the others — the RIB page has the detail, and the alternatives are on the decision page.

Etiquette, briefly

Shower before you go in. Sit on a towel. Keep your voice down. Do not photograph anybody. Leave when you have had enough rather than when the person next to you does.

Local tip

Do the sauna at the end of the day, not the start. Everything after it feels slower, and a cold swim at four in the afternoon will end your plans for the evening whether you intended it to or not.

Check dates & book

We are an independent guide, not a boat operator and not a ferry company. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and are affiliate links — if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a sauna on the water in Helsinki?

Yes. Lonna, about seven minutes from Market Square by summer boat, has a public sauna, and Isosaari has sauna and cabins.

Which boat trip includes a sauna?

The RIB tour, which lands on an island for a snack lunch and a public sauna over about three and a half hours.

Do I have to swim in the sea?

No, but it is the point of the sequence. Go in gradually, keep it brief and get warm properly afterwards.