According to UNESCO, the Finish sauna culture is an intangible cultural heritage. The first saunas were pits dug into the ground during the Stone Age. The Iron Age saw the rise of above-ground smoke saunas, which, as you would guess, are wood-burning saunas without a chimney.
Rajaportti Sauna shows how early last century, cities built saunas to welcome guests. Early this century, cities built Ferris wheels, enticing guests with high-flying city views from private gondolas. The Helsinki Sky Sauna does both.
Finland is known for its Nordic Sports, like the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, home to the world’s cleanest air and 500 km of cross-country ski trails. Ylläs is also home to Finland’s largest ski resort, longest gondola, and the world’s only ski gondola sauna!
The sun doesn’t set for more than 45 days in Finnish Lapland over the summer, giving you endless opportunities to chase the Midnight sun. However, you’d be remiss if you missed a ride on a Sauna boat.
The Finns don’t stop the saunas just because the lake freezes over. At Pyhäpiilo Sauna World, they build ice saunas and keep the good times rolling. You and your nine closest friends can sauna in a block of ice and then jump into a frozen lake.
Deep winter comes after the lakes freeze, and the sun doesn’t rise for much of December and January. That doesn’t mean that you stay inside. Instead, you head outside to watch one of the greatest light shows on Earth, the Northern Lights.
If you’re looking for a Finnish family sauna, you could do worse than the Levi Hotel Spa. There are seventeen pools of varying shapes, sizes, and temperatures, water slides, and of course, saunas. It’s one of the largest saunas in Finland and definitely a family affair.
When staying at the Levi Hotel Spa be sure to book the Junior, Sammal, and Kumpu suites, as they all have in-room saunas! Our suite’s jetted tub (in addition to in-room sauna) made us question why we’d ever leave our room!