As the UK comes out of a heatwave and into the rain, you might feel like you took being hot and sweaty for granted. Although you can’t control the weather, there are places specially built for you to bask in intense heat, and, unlike the sun, sitting in a sauna won’t leave you burned.
Saunas are getting more and more popular as more people are discovering the health benefits that they bring – in fact, the number of public saunas in the UK has doubled since 2023 according to the British Sauna Society. These wooden boxes have even been getting involved in London’s nightlife scene. Safe to say, this isn’t just a wellness fad.
Spaseekers, which does exactly what it says on the tin, has been doing some research into the world’s sauna capitals, where there are an abundance of high quality hot rooms to enjoy. And it turns out, one of them is right here in the UK.
In order to determine where the best saunas are, Spaseekers looked at reviews for hundreds of popular cities and had a look at how many of those reviews referenced saunas, and what the average rating was. From this, the site was able to do some number crunching and give each city a ‘sauna score’ out of 100, and then rank the cities in order.
For instance, the top ‘sauna destination’ on Earth was Riga in Latvia, which had a sauna score of 90. That’s pretty impressive. But where in the UK stood out?
Leeds, with a score of 63, made its way into the top ten, sitting comfortably at seventh place. Leeds is a city full of culture, but, according to Spaseekers it’s also perfect for a relaxing stay, even if you’re less of a sauna type and prefer a cold-plunge.
Birmingham came in 15th overall, sitting at 47/100 on sauna-bility. Being such a big city, it’s no surprise that there’s a wealth of high-quality spas to choose from in Brum.
Finally, Glasgow was the third best city for sauna hunters in the UK, with what Spaseekers describes as ‘strong ratings and growing interest in wellness getaways’.
Whilst a break to any of these cities spas will undoubtedly leave you feeling calm, and sweaty, if you prefer a more rural sauna experience, we’ve got just the thing. Have a look at our list of the best wild saunas in the UK, curated by an expert.
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