Sauna is the hottest place in Finland

If you visit Finland and leave without experiencing sauna even once, you have missed an essential part of the local culture. For many Finnish people sauna is a part of everyday life and it is enjoyed at least once a week.

Many Finns have a sauna in their own home. If they haven’t had it in the first place, they might have built it in their apartment – for example where their walk-in closet used to be! In apartments the saunas are electric, but in the countryside it’s often heated with wood and it gives the nice, softer heat.

If you get invited to a Finnish summer cottage you can be sure to find a sauna there. I’m not even sure if a summer cottage was considered a proper one if there was no sauna. At least the owners would be asked frequently “So, when are you going to build the sauna here?” It is expected.

Sauna by a lake. A place to relax and unwind.
Photo by Visit Finland Image Bank

It is quite magical in the summer when you can first enjoy the hot sauna and then go swimming in the clean waters of a lake or a sea. And then go back to sauna again. Back and forth!

Sauna in a Hostel

Many Finnish hostels provide their guests the real sauna experience. Many have included it in the price and you share the sauna with other guests (men and women bathe separately). Or then you can rent the sauna for yourself. Here is a complete list of all the hostels in our network that have saunas.

Smoke sauna

This gorgeous sauna building below is in the Lakeland area in the village of Joutsa at Hostel Vaihelan tila. It's a smoke sauna, so it takes a whole day to heat and therefore they are not used on daily basis. 

Here's another smoke sauna (in Finnish "savusauna"). This one is at SKO-hostel in Savonlinna, which is also in the Lakeland area.

There's a hostel called Hostel Ahopää in Saariselkä, Lapland. The hostel is part of Kiilopää Fell Centre and they offer you the experience of smoke sauna few times a week. They also have "normal saunas". Here's an introduction the all their sauna facilities.

Kiilopää Fell Centre is a home to Hostel Ahopää too in lovely Lapland.

Sauna by a Lake in Lapland

Hostel Visatupa is a real gem for anyone who loves nature and wants to experience the countryside in Lapland. They have a very good sauna too, it's right by a lake. In the winter you can even try ice-swimming!

Sauna at Hostel Visatupa in Lapland

Let's have a look inside

Without people there though...

There's a log or two ready for the next time the sauna is heated at Hostel Koskelan lomatalo in West Finland

Cozy sauna at Hostel Hirvikoski in Toholampi

City saunas

Many city hostels offer the traveller a chance to enjoy this Finnish tradition too.

The pictures below are from two hostels in Helsinki. First there's Eurohostel that has just recently renovated their saunas to resemble a very traditional Finnish smoke sauna. It is electric though. And the morning sauna is included in the accommodation price.

Also Hostel Domus Academica, located in central Helsinki, offers its' guests a morning sauna. Plus a refreshing swim in the pool.

Want to learn more about sauna? Start by reading an article '10 Sauna Tips for Beginners' on VisitFinland.com.

And if you wonder about the health effects sauna has, here's some information at Visit Sauna website.

HI Membership goes sauna!

Hostelling International members, make use of your membership even outside the hostels while in Finland: Forum Sauna in Turku gives you a 10% discount on all sauna and spa treatments


See you in sauna!


by Kati


updated in October 2014

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There is more to Lapland than reindeer and snow

Inari is one of the Samí municipalities in Finnish Lapland. Inari is a vast area consisting of several small villages. The Sámi are the only indigenous people of the European Union and they had already lived in Lapland long before settlers from the south arrived. The area inhabited by the Samí lies within the northern parts of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The traditional sources of income are reindeer herding, hunting and handicrafts, which are still practised together with e.g. tourism. 

In the actual centre of Inari village is *Siida, the National Museum of the Finnish Sámi, an important place of interest for the Samí culture. Siida is also the locale for a January event Skábmagovat, the indigenous peoples’ film festival.

Siida is the National Museum of the Finnish Sámi, a very interesting place where you end up spending hours.

Skábmagovat is not the only film festival in the area. In June the town of Sodankylä hosts the Midnight Sun Film Festival, founded by the Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki. It is a very important festival for independent cinema, however, don't expect big-money blockbusters in the nightless night, but prepare yourself for films that will give you food for thought. While the January film festival takes place under the Northern lights and when there is only around 2 to 3 hours of daylight, the Midnight Sun Film Festival screens films 24 hours a day in the season when the sun does not set.

Expect to see these relaxed animals around: reindeer.

Inari has plenty of hostel accommodation on offer all year round. Hostel Jokitörmä is in the village of Kaamanen, which is a small village north of centre of Inari. There are only few hundred residents in the village, so it is a very peaceful destination.

Northern lighs, or Aurora Borealis, spotted here are Hostel Jokitörmä in the Kaamanen village.

Hostel Ahopää is part of the Kiilopää Fell Centre that lies on the border of a huge National Park, which is perfect for cross-country skiing during the winter months and hiking in the summer. You can also enjoy smoke sauna and in the winter try ice-swimming.

Hostel Ahopää is part of the large Kiilopää Fell Centre.

Getting to places in Lapland is easy. An overnight train takes you comfortably from Helsinki either to Rovaniemi or Kemijärvi from where you can move on either by coach or by a hire car. Hostels mentioned are close to the route of Eskelisen Lapin Linjat Coaches, which can even take you all the way from Helsinki to Inari. You can also continue your journey as far as to the banks of the Barents Sea.

There nearest airport is in Ivalo. There are daily flights to Ivalo from Helsinki or even places abroad. Also the airport in western Lapland in Kittilä is an option when travelling to destinations in Inari.

And once in Lapland you should definitely try this! Snowshoeing is great fun. At Hostel Ahopää you can rent the equipment needed for this as well as for cross-country skiing. 

* P.S. Are you an HI Member? Siida Museum gives you a discount in the entrance fee if you are. Read more here.

Enjoy Lapland!