The real sauna can only be experienced in Finland, its country of origin. There are more than two million saunas (and only five million inhabitants) in Finland. "Sauna" is the only Finnish word which has spread into most foreign languages including English and German.

A Finnish sauna is totally different from the various sweat rooms found all over the world. A real sauna is a very hot (about 70-100 degrees Celsius, 160-210 degrees Fahrenheit) room in which you throw water on hot stones. Then you sit on the benches without any clothes and enjoy the purifying feeling. Males and females don't have a sauna together in Finland (except a wife and a husband).

For Finns the summer cottage with its sauna is the best place in the whole world. However, almost every family has an own sauna in a town, too. Nowadays even many people living in multistorey houses have own saunas. Houses have at least one sauna for the use of their inhabitants.

Most hotels have a sauna, sometimes also for use of non-hotel guests. We especially recommend spa hotels. Most of them have large indoor swimming pool departments, massaging showers, waterslides, saunas, steam rooms, outdoor pools and special pools for children. Usually all these activities are included in the room price which isn't higher than in other hotels. Other activities and health spa treatments are optional.

The Serena Indoor Aqua Park (20 kilometers from the centre of  Helsinki) has very good saunas, too. We highly recommend them to you. See http://www.serena.fi . Accommodation in Hotel Korpilampi http://www.korpilampi.com only 400 meters from Serena (very beautiful swimming pool department and nice saunas).

There are saunas for rent in Saunasaari (Sauna Island) http://www.saunasaari.fi/index_e.html almost in the hearth of Helsinki. Rentable saunas are for 4-40 persons. There are also sauna trips for single persons.

Sauna Bar in Helsinki (address Eerikinkatu 27) has two saunas. The sauna must be booked in advance: http://www.saunabar.fi .

Public saunas in Helsinki: http://www.hel2.fi/tourism/EN/Palvelut.asp?kieli=en&ASPID=7&ASPKATEGORIA=4&a=0&page=1

Café Tin Tin Tango in Helsinki (address Töölöntorinkatu 7) has a self-service laundry and saunas which may be booked for 1-10 persons (at least one day before your sauna bathing, 20 euros / 1 hour / 1-2 persons, 28 euros / 1 hour / 3-10 persons). Read more: http://www.tintintango.info/sauna.htm .

Helsinki's Bath House: http://finland-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/helsinkis_bath_house

The Finnish Sauna Society (Vaskiniemi in Lauttasaari, Helsinki) has two wood-heated saunas, two special smoke saunas and also an electric city sauna. Saunas are open for Helsinki Card holders. Prebooking is obligatory.

Finnish Sauna Society: http://www.sauna.fi

Virtual Finnish Sauna: http://home.comcast.net/~saunasisu/pukuhuone.html

Harvia (the sauna producer): http://www.harvia.fi/?lang=eng&prod_group=saunas

Visit Finland: http://www.visitfinland.com/w5/index.nsf/(pages)/Secrets_of_the_Sauna?OpenDocument&np=A

Cosy Finland - cosy home meals in Finnish homes, visits to cottages & saunas: http://www.cosyfinland.com

Rent the funny sauna boat named "Fin-Duck": http://www.fin-duckrent.fi/?page=home&la=en

BizarreOne Sauna Experience: http://www.bizarreone.fi/PDF_Englanti_100dpi/B1_sauna_w.pdf and http://www.bizarreone.fi/en-products-foreign.shtml

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4420629,00.html

Matkain: http://www.matkain.com/sauna/index.htm

The Ultimate World of Sauna: http://www.saunasite.com

Sauna words and pictures: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1895/saunat.html

Sauna facts in many languages: http://cankar.org/sauna/index.html

Sandy McCutcheon's Sauna Club: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/7708/sauna2.html

Sauna and its country of origin: http://www.sauna.org

Sauna links by TTE: http://www.tte.ch/finland/act/#84

Wikipedia Sauna: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna

Saunasaari (Sauna Island) in Helsinki: http://www.saunasaari.fi/index_e.html

Sauna Bathing World Championships: http://www.heinola.fi/FIN/Palvelut/Matkailu/Sauna_world_championships/

Sauna Village in Spa Hotel Holiday Club Turku Caribia (in Turku): http://www.holidayclub.fi/portal/english/spa_hotels/holiday_club_turku/pools___sauna_world/saunas/ and http://www.caribia.fi

All Scandinavia: http://www.allscandinavia.com/finnishsauna.htm

Arctic sauna adventures in Levi, Lapland: http://www.immelkartano.com/english/sauna.htm

Enjoying a Finnish sauna: http://www.holidaycityflash.com/finland/finland_sauna.html

Ezine Articles (Sauna and Finland): http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Sauna-And-Finland---A-Brief-History-And-Introduction&id=505234

Freeman Virtual Sauna: http://www.finns.org/freeman/sauna.htm

Home sauna room tips: http://www.divapor.com/sauna.php

Home sauna tips: http://www.homesaunatips.com

Hotel Lapin Pohtimo in Rovaniemi (very good saunas, a swimming pool and a lounge with a fireplace and a terrace, a traditional smoke sauna on the banks of a crystal-clear lake): http://www.laplandhotels.com 

Hotel Palace in Helsinki (extremely good saunas): http://www.palacehotel.fi

Hot Helsinki (sauna information): http://www.hothelsinki.fi/en/winterhelsinki/sauna.html

Herrankukkaro (special saunas: original smoke sauna, land smoke sauna, village sauna, malt sauna - recommended for groups): http://www.herrankukkaro.fi

Nature & Adventure Incentive (Finnish sauna culture in Kuusamo, Lapland, also a special ice sauna): http://www.ohjelmapalvelu.com

Peurunka Wellnes Tourist Center (saunas, a spa, accommodation, activities): http://www.peurunkacenter.fi

Pure inside out: http://www.pureinsideout.com/bathing-health-sauna-finnish.html

Rantasalmi Holiday: http://www.jarvisydan.fi

Rentable Viking Sauna in Humppila: http://www.viikinkisauna.fi/galleria.html

Ruka Safaris (sauna programmes): http://www.rukasafaris.fi/eng/index.php

Sauna Party: http://www.saunaparty.net

Sauna sounds by Michael Fletcher: http://www.kolumbus.fi/michael.fletcher/sauna.htm

Sauna village and sauna museum in Muurame: http://www.muurame.fi/saunakyla/

Serena Indoor Aqua Park (the biggest indoor water park in Europe): http://www.serena.fi

Spa holidays with sauna bathing: http://groups.msn.com/FinlandTravelClub/spaholidays.msnw

Sweat bathing: http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/sweat.htm

Tampere Sauna Society: http://www.sci.fi/~aris/saunas/english.html

The original Finnish sauna: http://www.ruthvilmi.net/hut/Project/Culture/Sauna/sauna.html

The Washington Post (Finland Diary: sauna): http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/finlanddiary/2005/06/the_finnish_sau.html

The Worldwide Traveler: http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/travel/europe/scandinavia/finland-sauna.htm

Universitas Helsingiensis: http://www.helsinki.fi/lehdet/uh/498b.htm

Uralic family home page: http://uralica.com/sauna.htm

Virtual Finland (The sauna as a national symbol): http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/sauna.html

Virtual Finland (Bare facts of the sauna): http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/saunajuttu.html

Washington Times: http://www.internationalspecialreports.com/archives/99/finland/26.html

Waterfront saunas for rent in Espoo (near the city of Helsinki): http://www.espootravel.com/xsl_taso2.asp?path=5687;5910;8547;10007

Welness & Sauna World: http://www.hallansaaga.fi/index_uk.htm