Infrared and traditional saunas

A traditional sauna heats the air. You walk into a hot room. An infrared cabin heats you, with panels, at a much lower air temperature. People who hate the shock of 90°C often like infrared. People who want löyly will be bored in a panel cabin.

Infrared sessions are usually private, booked by the half hour, in a studio. Traditional rooms are often shared, paid as a day pass, and attached to a plunge or a pool.

Pick infrared for a first session, a quiet hour, or a workout add-on. Pick a stove sauna if you want the heat in your lungs, a cold plunge after, and a longer afternoon.

A studio named “sauna” inside a gym is often one infrared cabin next to the weights. That can be a good cabin. It is not a bathhouse. This directory keeps those listings out of the city “best of” pages so the two are not mixed together.

When a listing shows a temperature, it came from the venue’s own description. Ranges like 80–90°C are stove heat. Ranges like 140–160°F are often infrared. If we do not have a number we trust, the line is absent.