The trips you need to book if you love saunas and wellness
For those who like their wellbeing on the wild side, there’s nothing more satisfying than escaping to nature for a go-slow sauna session. Rural retreats, from off -grid cabin to luxury hotels, are adding wild saunas to the mix, often next to water with a cold swim thrown in. Inspired by Scandinavia where having a sauna in nature is the ultimate luxury, these British boltholes are offering slow, sensory escapism which is less about the trappings and more about taking time out. Sarah de Vere-Drummond, co-founder of Kip Hideaways, has certainly noticed an increased appetite for wellness related amenities: ‘Until recently saunas were rare on our site - now around one in ten new listings include one, often paired with a cold plunge or outdoor shower using heat and cold to boost circulation, calm the mind, and reconnect with the elements,’ she says. With so many hotels and rental houses building saunas to satisfy this need, it can be tricky to decipher which the very best are – so we have rounded up our favourites to help you on your way.
Emma O’Kelly, author of Wild Sauna (£16.99 Wild Things) picks the best spots in the UK to relax, reset and work up a good sweat.
MAY WE SUGGEST: Our pick of the best country house hotels across the UK
Brook Newland1/10FForest
With its Georgian farmhouse, coastal cabins, glamping pods and the celebrated Albion Aberteifi hotel, Fforest offers places to stay with nature and good food in and around Cardigan, Wales. This year, a wild spa with sauna, hot tub and cold plunge opened on the farm. Here, locals and guests can sweat, soak and lounge in a woodland clearing, and for those who like a freshwater dip, the river Teifi is a ten-minute stroll away. The coastal site, above Penbryn beach comes with sunset geodesic domes, a cottage, a beach cafe and a four-person sauna from where it’s a 10- minute walk down to the sea.
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Catriona Parmenter2/10Inshriach
Inshriach House is an Edwardian pile with a Scandi feel, thanks to the pine forests, clean rivers and magnificent mountains (the Cairngorms) which mimic Nordic beauty at its best. When Walter Micklethwait took over the 200-acre farm from his grandparents in 2008, he fixed it up on a shoestring. The main estate house sleeps 18 and for couples, a shepherd’s hut, a bothy and log house fitted with wood burners and lanterns offer an off-grid escape. Guests can share a 10-person loghouse sauna and dip in the pure fresh waters of the River Spey and Walter’s quirky distillery and bar offer post-sauna refreshments.
Simon Buck3/10Secret Sauna
The location of the Secret Sauna is only revealed 24 hours before you book. Until then, all you need to know is that it’s on an island, in the middle of the River Waveney on the Norfolk/ Suffolk border. Should you be staying at Wainford Mill House, a self- catering maltings near Bungay, you’ll have a head start, for they all belong Anna Hammond and her husband who bought the lot pre-pandemic along with a 1950s grain silo which houses a coffee brewery and cafe. The mill sleeps 16 and to getting to the sauna is part of the fun. In Finland, walking down the sauna path, or sauna polku through nature is part of the ritual and with its fairy lights, fire pit and glimpses of the snaking river, the path to Secret Sauna does not disappoint.
Holly Farrier4/10Architects Holiday
Architects Holiday is just that; architect Will Gowling’s forest retreat features elegant, design-led cabins and saunas clad in shingles which echo local Sussex grain stores. Hill Cabin, Cabin X and Yogis Cabin huddle close to a swimming pond and stream for cold dipping and guests have access to the Drying Shed sauna which seats four. It sits on Gowling’s 23-acre family farm which also has a café and delightful farm shop. In January, a new Bather’s cabin will feature its own private spa, with sauna, rooftop hot tub, ice bath and shower offering privacy amongst the trees.
Lough Neagh Mirror Houses5/10ÖÖD
ÖÖD means ‘nights’ in Estonian, and its Mirror Houses offer plenty of these in beautiful locations from the US to Norway to the UK. It teams up with hotels, vineyards, golf clubs, farms and estates to create mirrored cabins in the wilds, many of which come with saunas, (like they would back home) along with barbeques and outdoor showers. New to the UK are mirror houses at Lahill Craig Farm, St Andrews and ÖÖD on the Lough - two houses and a ‘wee’ sauna on a farm on Lough Neagh just outside Belfast.
Finn Beales6/10Wern Derys
In lockdown, artist Jim Ursell built ‘a serious temple space’ in which to take refuge and sweat. He reclaimed local cedar, treated it with Japanese technique Shou Sugi Ban and paired it with 450-million-year-old sandstone, taken from what was an ancient sea lagoon less than a mile away. He bought a stove and built an indoor cold plunge which is fed by a bore hole. The sauna is part of Wern Derys, the country retreat Jim and his wife Georgie, a painter, own near Hay-on-Wye. There’s a byre that sleeps four and a two-person cabin called the Boodge which are kitted out with the couples’ artworks and Georgie's handmade quilts. The sauna offers sunset views over the Malvern Hills and a hot tub allows for star gazing - a rewarding pastime since Wern Derys is in a dark sky area.
One Slow Sunday7/10Finn Lough
Finn Lough is the kind of wild spa you might find in Finland or Japan. Occupying a 100-acres of woodland in the Fermanagh Lakelands of Northern Ireland, it has been offering nature-based luxury for more than 40 years. Guests come to switch off in lakeside cabins, villas and suites and relax in the Shoreline spa. A highlight is the Elements Trail Spa which takes guests and non-guests alike on a two-hour thermal journey through the forest. Starting with a magnesium float bath and herbal sauna, bathers move through a lakeside hydro pool and a Finnish sauna high above Lower Lough Erne before ending up in the hot tub and the relaxation room.
@suzanneblackphotography8/10Wynd House, Elie
The private garden sauna at Wynd House,a historic family home in the East Neuk of Fife, offers sweeping views over Elie Harbour and its bay of golden sand. Guests can climb down the sea garden ladder for a ‘dook’ in the sea, where at high tide, water laps the sea wall. Wynd House is close to several other seaside saunas and tidal pools, and a Wynd sauna experience will likely involve seaweed too, as your host Fiona Houston, is a seaweed expert. Wynd House offers one B&B room, Wynd Cottage sleeps up to five people, with two more cottage rooms available Spring 2026.
Glebe House9/10Glebe House
With its five-star chef, elegant interiors, swimming pool and stunning hilltop spot above the east Devon coast, Glebe House is every inch the luxury weekend retreat. Now, wanting to add something grounded and peaceful that complements the surroundings, owners Hugo and Olive Guest have added two cabins (pictured) and a sauna to the mix. The cabins have fittingly tasteful décor, in keeping with the rest of the house, and the sauna is tucked in the woods. It’s free for guests and has a changing room, an outdoor shower and a cold plunge pool. Coming soon is Sauna &Dine - a one-hour session followed by either breakfast, lunch or dinner.
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Oban Finn Beale10/10Inverlonan
On the shores of glassy Loch Nell, 15 minutes from Oban on Scotland’s spectacular west coast, are Uisge, Beatha and Sitheil - three architect-designed bothies with wood-burners and huge windows. They are (now famous) destinations on the 200-acre Inverlonan estate which promotes nature-facing slow living. Guests can arrive by boat, shower outdoors, brew coffee over the fire, and have access to a hidden sauna near the loch. Food hampers and BBQ boxes filled with local produce can be ordered on arrival and there’s also a wild dining experience in a secret lochside spot.
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