The holidays have come and gone, yet spring still feels far off. If you’re looking for a way to melt the winter blues, a destination sauna experience may be just the thing. If you don’t mind taking some heat, check out these five spots, which offer a refreshing break from the cold and gray, each in their own unique ways. Note: Be safe and always check with your doctor first.
📸: Getty Images
Docked on Lake Union, just northeast of Gas Works Park, you’ll find Seattle Sauna’s floating cedar sauna. Seattle Sauna provides towels, changing rooms and secure dry storage — just bring your swimsuit, flip-flops, a water bottle and robe for between sessions.
Bookings are 90 minutes, starting at $64 per person with space for up to 10-12 people with private options. Arrive 10-15 minutes early for the Nordic-style guided experience, which begins with warming up in the sauna via a wood-fired stove. Next, you’ll step out and cold plunge with an outdoor shower or waterfall bucket. Lastly, you’ll head to the rooftop deck to rest, rehydrate and take in the view. Repeat! End your session with a good rinse under the outdoor showers.
📍2401 N Northlake Way, Seattle
🕙 Monday-Friday:12:30-10 p.m., Saturday & Sunday: 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
📸: Getty Images
There’s no better cold plunge than the sea! For Whidbey-based mobile sauna Good Medicine, the waters of Mutiny Bay are part of the experience.
Parked along Robinson Beach — located in the central part of the island — social sauna sessions are $40 per person for 90 minutes and hold up to eight people, with private rentals at different price points. But the communal aspect is part of the draw, with the business’s mission focusing on creating a space that fosters community.
Bring your swimsuit, towel, flip-flops and water and rejuvenate while you warm up with Douglas fir, alder, cedar and donated off cuts from local carpenters crackling in the wood stove.
Know before you go: there are no showers or restrooms, plan accordingly!
📍Robinson Beach: 6020 Robinson Rd., Freeland
🕙 Saturday: 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Sunday: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
📸: Getty Images
Admittedly, Bow is a bit of a haul, but at $20 per person for a 60-minute session that seats four people at the most — it’s a real deal. Nestled into gardens and dwellings for yoga classes and treatments, such as hot stone massages and Reiki energy healing, the barrel-style sauna booking also includes changing rooms, restrooms and an outdoor cold plunge shower.
For those wanting to add on a session to their spa treatment, Bow Sanctuary has the option of a private infrared sauna experience for $35 for 45 minutes. Bring a water bottle and swimsuit for your session and, afterwards, hot moist towels are provided for freshening up.
Bonus? Head north after your session for a scenic ride up and down Chuckanut Drive or enjoy a delicious meal and shopping in the towns of Bow and Edison.
📍3533 Chuckanut Dr., Bow
🕙 Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Friday & Saturday: 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
📸: Getty Images
Take an overnight trip to Port Townsend and book a sauna at Soak on the Sound for the ultimate R&R getaway.
While Soak on the Sound offers private infrared sauna sessions at $44 per person for 45 minutes, the private soak and sauna suite is what puts this warm-up experience on the map.
The suite offers a 90-minute session for up to two people at $180. The booking is private and can be enjoyed by parties of up to eight people, with each additional person after two costing $70 per person. The suite provides access to a Finnish steam sauna, saltwater soaking tub and Himalayan salt wall. Also included? Towels, filtered water and a shower — for cold plunging and cleaning up at the end. All you need is a swimsuit and water bottle.
📍242 Monroe St., Port Townsend
🕙 Monday & Tuesday: 3 p.m.-9 p.m., Wednesday & Thursday: 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday & Saturday:10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
📸: Getty Images
Change up your sauna scenery with a trip to Fyre Sauna, set up in a working hazelnut orchard that also cultivates truffles.
Situated near Woodinville, you’d be remiss to skip out on a wine tasting at one of the areas many wineries afterward (note: it is not advisable to drink before a sauna session). As for the experience itself, the Scandinavian-style dry sauna is equipped with a löyly bucket for hot rock steam and aroma therapy.
To cool off, pop outside and dunk in one of the free-standing tubs or utilize the cold outdoor shower for plunging or rinsing off post-session. Pack a swimsuit, towel, water bottle and flip-flops if you choose. Community sessions are 60 minutes at $35 per person, but multi-session passes and private rentals are also available for up to 12 people.
📍14123 Redmond-Woodinville Rd. NE, Redmond
🕙 Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
