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I picked 5 unique saunas in Finland for today’s post. There are many more, but I only focus on these five.

Finns are a sauna-crazy people and the places in which the Finns have built their saunas are absolutely ingenuous.

No place seems to be out of limits for the Finns.

I guess the Estonian guest in Hotel Martinshöhe was right when he said that Finns build saunas everywhere, even in a wardrobe, if need be.

Saunas have been built in or out of cars, combine harvesters, telephone booths, boats, barrels, airplanes, silos, skate ramps, onions, trailers, mopeds, trucks, pallet trucks, “aquariums” and gondola lifts.

Saunas can also be found underground (at a depth of 1410m), on the top of a crane, in an ice rink, in a burger restaurant, underwater and on top of a lake, on an island and on the seashore.

It is safe to say that Finns build saunas everywhere.

Saunas are also built out of different materials such as snow, ice, wood, girder, snag, concrete, clay, moss, steel or plastic. The sky is not the limit!

Snow sauna

Yes, you read that right, the Finnish Rovaniemi Arctic Snow Hotel has a sauna made of snow and ice. The walls of the sauna are about 2 meters thick and each time the sauna is heated the walls melt 3-5mm. The sauna in the sauna is about 70-80 degrees Celsius and can be heated up to 70-100 times.

The Arctic Snow Hotel also has sauna building called Snowflake with smaller saunas that can be reserved for private use by hotel residents. Snowfall is a larger sauna that can be booked by groups. The sauna is available for hotel residents in the mornings and evenings. There is also an outdoor hot tub in the area.

Price: 65 € / hotel resident / Finnish sauna / snow sauna / outdoor jacuzzi, there is a visitor’s fee.

Read more: Arctic Snow Hotel

The hockey Sauna

Sorry, only in Finnish, Sauna 3:20

How do Finns combine their two greatest passions, ice hockey and sauna? Well by building a sauna inside an ice stadium, of course! Hartwall Arena in Helsinki offers ice hockey fans a special sauna box that you can rent during hockey games. You can watch the game from your own sauna. Pretty luxurious!

Prices: from. 400 €

Read more: Hartwall Arena

Sauna gondola

The world’s only sauna gondola is located in Ylläs. One sauna session takes you to the top in about 20 minutes. The price includes the use of Finland’s highest sauna at 718 m, an outdoor jacuzzi, a room for relaxation and showers. If you are lucky, you can catch northern lights.

Price: 1350 € / gondola sauna + sauna department / Sauna department rental price from 150 €

Read more: Ylläs.fi

Skateboard sauna

Vuokatti is known for its unique “floating skateboard ramp sauna”. In other words, a floating sauna with a skate ramp. The place is called Vuokatti Water Sports Center (Vuokatin vesiurheilukeskus), and it also offers wakeboarding and stand up paddling. There are two skate ramps in different sizes, one for beginners and one for the advanced skateboarders. There is also a café on site.

Price: Wakeboard rental 39 € / h / person + sauna, sauna only 12 € / person

Read more: Vuokatin Vesiurheilukeskus

The moss sauna

Kymenlaakso, more precisely, Iitti has the only Moss Sauna in the world. It is built in a shape of a hemisphere. The sauna has different colored mood lights and offers various scents and sounds. You can even sing karaoke or watch TV whilst taking a sauna. The sauna accommodates 15-17 people and the terrace offers access to an outdoor jacuzzi or the lake (ice hole).

Price: 590 € / 3h / 5-15 person / additional persons 35 € / person.

There are also holiday cottages for rent.

Read more: Yli-Kaitalan Lomamökit

So, which one of these 5 unique saunas caught your attention?

Have you already been to any of these? Would you like to visit one? Let me know in the comments below!

P.s. All images have been used with permission.

*** Commercial cooperation ***

Relax-Sauna whisk is a Finnish family business in Suonenjoki. The company’s product, vihta (a whisk made of birch twigs) is made by hand in Finland, in our own garage. The material is food grade and recyclable Polyethylene.

Behind Relax-Sauna whisk is Alli, a woman who originates from Finland but now lives in Kaunisvaara, northern Sweden. She had come up with a vihta that does not generate waste and also does not involve cutting down birch branches. However, she wanted to focus on her music and could no longer afford the time to make sauna whisks.

What is RELAX-Sauna Whisk

The new owner of Relax-Saunavihta is Eveliina Vauhkonen. She saw the company’s sale notice 18 months ago. She showed the notice to her husband, who immediately told her to call Alli. A couple of weeks later, she travelled to Sweden to meet Alli. On that trip, she bought the Relax-Saunavihta business.

Alli’s wish was that the sauna whisks would in the future be made on the Finnish side in the border.

Eveliina’s husband is currently making the sauna whisks by hand in the couple’s garage. The children also help in the family business.

The family uses their own sauna every night. Evelina also has a cleaning company and finds that when her shoulders ache at the end of the working day, using the whisk relaxes muscles and alleviates pain.

Sauna whisk

The product has received good feedback from users. It feels real and does not generate waste.

It stimulates blood circulation and relaxes tense muscles.

You do not even have to sit on the sauna benches to use a whisk, you can do it sitting on the sofa.

At the moment, the company sells a birch scented sauna fragrance. Peat products are also on sale in the online store.

Sauna whisks are available in four colours: green, white, black and Finland, i.e. blue and white.

Relax-Sauna whisk guarantees all of the company’s whisks for a minimum of one hundred uses. Some people have used their whisks for several years.

These instructions are printed on the side of the Relax-Saunavihta packaging:

Wet the whisk before use.
After use, apply a couple of drops of shampoo to the whisk and rinse it in the shower.
Hang the whisk to dry till the next time.

User Experience:

We had women’s sauna evening some time ago and there we got to test the sauna whisk. At first, we all wondered about the look of the sauna whisk. Someone thought it looked a little suspicious.

I was the first to try it and was pleasantly surprised. The edges of the whisk pinch just like the twigs of a regular birch whisk do. If you closed your eyes, you could not really tell the difference.

When you use the whisk, you have to hold it firmly. If you use the whisk too gently, it does not bring the desired results. If you use the whisk for an extended period of time, the weight of the whisk may hurt your hand.

You should rock from side to side to ensure that the whisk reaches every part of your body, including your bottom.

You can run the whisk on your arms and legs, but you may need the help of a sauna buddy to use the whisk on your back. I do not think the sauna whisk reaches that far.

We were all disappointed that the whisk did not emit a lovely birch scent. But, of course, it could not, because it is plastic. A few of us thought of a way to bring the birch scent into the sauna experience. One of us put birch leaves in her nostrils and another hung a birch branch above our heads. They thought it helped.

We all said in unison that the whisk is good. Of course, it is not as good as the real thing. But if you live in a country where there are no birches or other deciduous trees then why not? Or if you use a public sauna where real birch whisks are not allowed. This whisk will not generate waste unless you beat yourself really hard.

Many may wonder why in the world you should buy a plastic sauna whisk. I came up with a few reasons why Relax sauna whisks are good.

Pros:

No waste
You may live in a country where birches do not grow or cannot be cut
You are allergic to birch
Ecological
Does not destroy trees
Perennial, lasts longer
The product can be disposed of with general waste

Cons:

Birch scent is missing
Using the whisk for an extended period makes your hand hurt
Does not feel authentic
The material is plastic
Not as beautiful as a genuine birch whisk

You can also order Relax-Sauna whisks from my shop. I ship to Europe, but international delivery is also possible. You can also order sauna products from shampoos to sauna textiles from The Sauna-Shop of The World of Sauna blog.

Read more: Sauna-Shop