ArticleFinland5 min read
How to Sauna Like a Finn
Löyly, lake dips and the art of doing nothing
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5.02 reviews
Finland has around three million saunas for five and a half million people. A short guide to the rules nobody will tell you, and the ones that do not exist.
Not a spa, a habit
For Finns the sauna is not a treat but a weekly, often daily, ritual. Apartment blocks have shared saunas booked by the hour, summer cottages are built around them, and in 2020 Finnish sauna culture joined UNESCO's list of intangible heritage. Nobody goes for the heat alone. The point is the rhythm: heat, cool down, sit, repeat, and talk, or not, as the mood takes you.
The word to learn is löyly, the burst of steam that rises when water hits the hot stones. A good löyly is soft and enveloping rather than scalding, and throwing it is a small social act: ask before you ladle, and do not be offended if the regulars prefer to do it themselves.
On our Lapland trips the sauna is a wood-fired cabin by a frozen lake, with a hole cut in the ice. You do not have to use it. But almost everyone does, once.
How a session goes
- Shower first, then sit on a small towel on the bench
- Ten minutes of heat, with a ladle or two of löyly
- Cool off: a lake, a hole in the ice, a roll in the snow or simply the porch
- Rest and drink water, then go back in; three rounds is usual
Naked or not
In the sauna one must conduct oneself as in church.Finnish proverb
About this story
Olivia OwnerAuthor
Northwind ToursPublisher
Reviews
Write a reviewAverage rating 5.0 out of 5
2 reviews- ANAroha Ngata5 out of 5 stars13 Sept
Wonderful writing about a place that is easy to get wrong. The sauna-then-sea tip made our trip.
- KMKwame Mensah5 out of 5 stars21 Jul
Used this to plan a week in the north and it was flawless. The quiet viewpoints you recommend were empty even in July.
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