The Sauna Holiday Is Europe's Hottest New Travel Trend
Millions of travellers are now booking trips specifically to sweat. Sauna holidays — from Finnish lake cottages to Norwegian Arctic retreats — are one of the fastest-growing segments in European tourism.
The idea of a holiday built around sitting in a hot room and jumping in cold water might sound peculiar to anyone who has not tried it. To the millions of Europeans who have, it is one of the most restorative, grounding, and deeply pleasurable ways to spend a few days — and the fastest-growing segment of the wellness travel market.
Sauna holidays are not a new concept. Finns have been retreating to lakeside summer cottages for sauna weekends since the early twentieth century. What is new is the internationalisation of the concept: Brits, Germans, Dutch, French, and American travellers now actively seek out sauna destinations as the centrepiece of their trips.
What Is a Sauna Holiday?
A sauna holiday is any trip where sauna experience is central to the itinerary rather than incidental. This can range from:
- A weekend in a Finnish smoke sauna cottage, with private lake access and wood-fired heat
- A luxury Arctic spa retreat in Lapland or northern Norway, combining sauna with Northern Lights viewing
- A city wellness break in Helsinki, Tallinn, or Oslo, staying near urban public saunas
- A group sauna tour that moves between multiple sauna destinations in one country
- A sauna-integrated hike, where trail cabins in Norway or Sweden include wood-fired saunas
The variety of sauna holiday formats has expanded enormously in the last five years, making the concept accessible to solo travellers, couples, families, and groups alike.
The Market Is Booming
Visit Finland reports that wellness tourism — heavily anchored in sauna culture — grew by 43% between 2021 and 2024. Airbnb data shows that listings featuring saunas generate 20–30% more bookings and command a premium of up to 35% over comparable properties without them.
In Estonia, the capital Tallinn's tourist board has integrated sauna culture into its official marketing strategy, positioning the city as a "sauna destination" alongside its medieval old town. In Norway, domestic sauna tourism grew by 28% in 2024 as urban Norwegians sought out remote coastal and mountain sauna experiences.
Top Sauna Destinations
Finland remains the undisputed capital of the sauna holiday. Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland — Europe's fourth largest lake system — is ringed with traditional cottage saunas. The town of Tampere, which calls itself the sauna capital of the world, has a concentration of public saunas that is unmatched anywhere.
Norway has reinvented the sauna holiday for the twenty-first century. Floating saunas in Oslo fjord, Arctic saunas in the Lofoten Islands, and timber lodge saunas in the mountains of Telemark offer experiences ranging from accessible to genuinely remote.
