Heat it up

A travel blog is not worth its name if it does not advocate something. So here is my take on travel: we need more saunas.

Of course, you would expect that from a Finn. But here is my take on the best sauna areas in the world:

1. Rauhaniemen kansankylpylä, Tampere (rauhaniemi.net) (photo)

Their website sucks but they do have the best sauna in the world. It’s large, and you can choose from cool to steaming hot since the sauna has four levels of seating. Perfect with kids. Swimming available in a beautiful lake.

2. Mondorf Domaine Thermal (mondorf.lu), Luxembourg

This place has about a dozen saunas with Finnish names (it wasn’t me...). The perfect place to explore what we Finns call German sauna culture (swimming suits are not allowed but anything else goes). Swimming in an apparently natural warm and salty source available.

3. Uimastadion, Helsinki

A public swimming paradise built in the ‘40s for the Olympics that only took place in 1952. This is how saunas should be for a real enthusiast: small and tight. They have a website organised by the city but let’s not get into that.