Field notes
Sauna guides
The directory tells you where the rooms are. These pages tell you what kind of heat you are walking into, what to bring, and how to spend the hour.
Start here
How to choose a sauna
A practical way to pick a public sauna: heat type, crowd, cold plunge, and what the review count actually tells you.
Tradition
What a Finnish sauna visit is like
Löyly, the ladle, the cold rinse, and the pace of a proper Finnish sauna session in the United States.
Heat
Infrared and traditional saunas
The real difference between an infrared cabin and a stove sauna: temperature, time, privacy, and who each one suits.
Jjimjilbang
A first visit to a Korean spa
How a Korean spa day works in the US: the uniform, the hot rooms, the cold pool, and the food.
Tradition
Banya and bathhouse basics
What to expect in a Russian banya or a modern American bathhouse, from the parilka to the cold plunge.
Practical
What to bring to a public sauna
The short packing list for a public sauna, bathhouse, or Korean spa, and the things that should stay home.
Contrast
How to use a cold plunge
A plain method for the cold plunge after a sauna: how long, how to breathe, and when to skip it.
Manners
Sauna etiquette that matters
The few manners that keep a shared sauna pleasant: showers, towels, silence, and the ladle.