Stockholm has become a true sauna city. In just a few years, floating saunas have popped up in the city centre, sauna clubs by the lakes and wood-fired saunas at manor houses around Lake Mälaren. Here is an honest overview of the different kinds – and how to pick the one that suits your group.
Four kinds of sauna in Stockholm
Most saunas fall into four groups. Which one suits you depends on whether you want to sauna among others, try it with friends or have the whole sauna to yourselves.
- Public saunas with session booking – you buy a spot in a shared sauna for a set session.
- Sauna clubs – run by members, often with some sessions open to guests.
- City saunas along the quays – floating or by the docks, close to the metro.
- Private saunas for groups – the whole sauna is booked by one group.
Public saunas and sauna clubs
Hellasgården in the Nacka nature reserve is a classic by Lake Källtorpssjön, with bookable sessions and both separate and mixed times. Tanto Bastu by Årstaviken on Södermalm is run as an association with sessions open to the public. Hornstullsbastun by Bergsunds strand has booked sessions, and Sthlm Sauna in Vinterviken is member-run with some sessions open to others.
The upside is the price and the atmosphere – you sauna with Stockholmers who do it every week. The downside is that you share the sauna with strangers and follow set session times. Always check current times and rules on each sauna's website, as they change with the season.
City saunas along the quays
Along Söder Mälarstrand there are several saunas right by the water, including Bastubryggan with its floating saunas and the small Lilla Sauna by the dock. Eden on Kungsholmen and Stockholm 1897 by Djurgårdskanalen are also central. They are easy to reach by metro and work well before dinner in town.
The view here is urban – city lights and boat traffic – and you dip in Lake Mälaren or the canals.
Indoor bathhouses and spas
If you want several kinds of sauna, a pool and relaxation indoors, there are classic bathhouses like Centralbadet and Sturebadet in the city centre. They suit a rainy day or a spa visit, but you won't get a cold dip in a lake there.
A private sauna for your group
For hen parties, stag dos, birthdays and company groups, a private sauna is often the best choice. You don't share with others, you decide on music, food and swimwear, and you can stay all evening. Several saunas can be hired in full, such as Eden and Saunify's saunas by Lake Mälaren and Trälhavet.
Sjöbastun is our option: a wood-fired sauna raft out on Lake Drevviken, about 100 metres from the shore and 20 minutes from central Stockholm. The whole raft is yours for three hours, for up to 12 people. You row out in the boat that's included, swim straight from the raft and have the lake to yourselves. In winter you walk out across the ice and dip in an ice hole.
What makes Sjöbastun different
Most saunas in and around Stockholm sit by a quay, in a bathhouse or in a shared facility. Sjöbastun is the opposite: a private sauna in the middle of nature. The raft lies out on Lake Drevviken, surrounded by water and shoreline, with no neighbours and no other guests. Once you have rowed out, it is just you.
It is the combination that matters. You get the privacy of your own sauna – you decide on music, food, drinks and swimwear, and nobody else is watching – together with the full nature experience around you: the wood fire, the stillness of the lake, a dip straight from the raft and the view across the water. In a sauna by the quay or a session with strangers, you rarely get both.
- Completely private: the whole raft is yours for three hours, for up to 12 people.
- Nature around you: out on the lake, about 100 metres from shore.
- Wood-fired and swimmable all year: summer swims and a winter ice hole.
- Close: 20 minutes from central Stockholm.
How to choose
- On your own or as a couple, and want to meet locals: choose a public sauna or a club.
- Short on time and close to the metro: choose a city sauna along the quays.
- Rainy day and spa: choose an indoor bathhouse.
- A group that wants privacy, with your own food and drinks, and to be out in nature at the same time: choose a private sauna by a lake, like Sjöbastun.
- Ice swimming: choose a sauna by a lake that freezes, not in flowing water.
