Sweden
Gothenburg's sauna culture (bastu) benefits from the city's direct West Coast archipelago access and its Scandinavian wellness infrastructure. Frihamnen, the redeveloped harbour district, has become an emerging sauna hub with waterfront saunas and cold-plunge access to the Göta Älv river. The Bohuslän archipelago, 30–60 minutes from the centre, extends the sauna offer into island-based settings with sea bathing on bare rock skerries. Centralbadet and Scandinavium-area venues serve the year-round city-centre need. Gothenburg's Swedish sauna etiquette: swimwear in mixed sessions, swimwear-optional in single-gender at traditional bastus (check individual venues), sessions longer and quieter than Oslo's social floating-sauna culture.
Upper House at Gothia Towers (27th-floor spa), Hagabadet for historic bathhouse atmosphere, and Saltholmen Kallbadhus for a traditional outer-archipelago sea bath. Frihamnen hosts newer community-style sauna pavilions.
Yes — water quality is tested and the river is used for public bathing at several city-centre sites. Temperatures range from near-freezing in winter to 18°C in August.
Most traditional kallbadhus (like Saltholmen) run single-gender sessions, often nude. Modern floating and community saunas use mixed sessions with swimwear.
