Discover Scotland's top seven wild saunas

West Coast Wellness's wild sauna on Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute | Rosie Barge

What is a wild sauna? Let’s start by saying what it’s not. A wild sauna is not tucked away in a forgotten corner of a gym – dark, smelly and claustrophobic. It’s not an add-on to a costly spa, where guests in fluffy robes and disposable slippers sip prosecco. It’s not a space where bathers with gadgets track their heart rates. Many wild saunas perch – sometimes literally – on Britain’s untamed fringes; they battle unpredictable elements to offer a healthy hit of outdoors and an exhilarating blast of hot and cold – with the latter coming from sea, lake, river, ice bath or outdoor shower.

Often honed out of horseboxes or trailers, wild saunas are novel sanctuaries where you can while away an hour, semi-naked and sweaty, watching nature perform in glorious Technicolour. The wild sauna ‘movement’ (we can call it that now that there are more than 200 and counting such saunas around the UK), takes most of its cues from Nordic bathing cultures, from Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, where sauna is a way of life, and steam, or löyly, the nations’ lifeblood.

At the helm is a new generation of pioneering ‘saunapreneurs’ who stoke wood-burning fires in all weathers in order to deliver a dose of health and happiness to others. These trailblazers cite studies that show how sauna reduces cardiovascular diseases, eases pain, boosts immunity and improves our mental health. They know that persuading bewildered authorities and undynamic councils to offer affordable ‘wild wellness’ for all is a form of quiet activism. It may also be the future for our nation’s ailing health.

I visited tons of saunas for my new book. On every trip, from Ayrshire to Argyll, no sooner had I boarded the train home, than another sauna opened behind me. I met a rich tapestry of bathers – women in wetsuits, teenagers, triathletes, recovering addicts, young, old, newbies and veterans. All of them told me how sauna helps them manage loneliness, pain, anxiety, depression; how they’ve made new friends, found new communities, grown less awkward in their bodies and learned to embrace the long, dark British winter.

Wild Sauna by Emma O'Kelly, a guide to the UK's best outdoor saunas is published by Wild Things Publishing | Wild Things Publishing

I hope this list will tempt you to try a wild sauna or two. When it does, the fire will draw you in, the warmth will feed your soul and the heat will wrap its arms round you like a long-lost friend.

THE GREEN GODDESS WILD SAUNA, ARRAN

The Green Goddess Wild Water Sauna, a converted vintage truck that operates from Drumadoon Farm Estate, at Blackwaterfoot Beach, Arran | Dave Bennett

What better way to enjoy the Isle of Arran than through the steamy windows of a vintage truck converted into a sauna, especially when beaches, streams and natural pools offer cold dips in such abundance? One such location, Blackwaterfoot Beach, has direct access to the clean waters of Drumadoon Bay, and both the bay and the sauna truck belong to the 640-acre Drumadoon Farm Estate. The sauna moves around the estate as part of Drumadoon’s travelling spa, a new concept that includes whiskey barrel cold plunges and Swedish Hikki hot tubs, a chill-out tipi with a fire pit, changing tents, outdoor showers and a composting loo. wildsauna.scot

WEST COAST WELLNESS, ARGYLL & BUTE

West Coast Wellness's wild sauna on Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute | Rosie Barge

The renaissance of Evanachan Farm reads like a fairy tale. When all four Barge siblings came back to the family home on Loch Fyne during the Covid-19 pandemic, they swam in the loch and dreamed of how they could move back to Scotland and make successful lives on a much-downsized sheep and dairy farm. Pooling their skills – among them are a doctor, an architect, a caterer, a brewer, a boat builder, a fish farmer, a yoga teacher and a nonagenarian grandmother - West Coast Wellness was born, offering yoga, wild swimming, hill walking, nourishing food and community. The Lochside Sauna was a natural addition, built from reclaimed timber from the 350-acre estate.

westcoastwellnessuk.com

SALTBOX SAUNA, OUTER HEBRIDES

Travelling between Lewis, Harris and Uig, Saltbox is currently the only wood-fired sauna in the Outer Hebrides. | Immerse Hebrides

Travelling between Lewis, Harris and Uig, Saltbox is currently the only wood-fired sauna in the Outer Hebrides. It’s the brainchild of Norma MacLeod, an STA Open Water Coach and ex-competitive swimmer based in Stornoway who co-founded Immerse Hebrides, which runs retreats, swim tours and boat trips around the islands and knows their most scenic spots. Servicing them with a mobile sauna was a natural next step. Now there’s a permanent sauna, with space for ten, offering rituals and ceremonies at Bayble Beach on Lewis, with plans for saltboxes on other islands too. altboxsauna.co.uk

ARISAIG SAUNA, INVERNESS-SHIRE

The view from Arisaig Sauna | James Gillies

James and Rebecca opened Arisaig Sauna in 2024 and it has quickly become known for its intense heat, regularly reaching 90-100°C. Surrounded by trees and crystal-clear waters, guests enjoy stunning views of the Skerries, Eigg, and Rum, along with a signature coffee scrub; made with locally sourced grinds this is a by-product of the collaboration with Glenfinnan Coffee Co, started by James and his brother Iain. A tarp hanging from two trees constitutes a changing area, there’s a suspended watering can shower and a saltwater and seaweed bath. And the sea. It’s tricky getting in at low tide (rock shoes are a must), but at high tide it’s perfect for an exhilarating ʻdook’.

arisaigsauna.com

HOT TOTTIE SAUNA, ARGYLL & BUTE

The Hot Tottie van at Luss, Loch Lomond. | Theodora Van Duin

Full disclosure: a ‘hot tottie’ in Glaswegian is a hot jacket potato, and there’s nothing untoward about Kieran Izzett and Conlan Nimmo’s sauna on the shore of Loch Lomond. Located at Luss, on a private estate, it offers spectacular views across the loch to Ben Lomond while an adjacent river is great for a cold dip. The boys are cold-water swimmers, and they get plenty of Glaswegians stopping by along with locals and swimming groups from Luss. Their idea? To replicate the old bath-house tradition where people meet up, in a beautiful setting for modern times. hot-tottie.com

NOWHERE SAUNA, PERTHSHIRE

The Nowhere Sauna, beside the Mill Pond at Comrie Croft, Perthshire | Seth Tinsley

There’s a secret activism in the sauna community against the go, go, go mentality – and Lauren Gentry and Susanna Macintyre, founders of Nowhere Sauna, encourage it. ‘There’s a pressure point in society, and the awareness of wellness is a response to where we are at,’ says Susanna. ‘There’s a need to stop, a need for space for a different flow.’

With their partners, they built a six-seater horsebox sauna and placed it beside the Mill Pond at Comrie Croft. This 231-acre farm near Crieff offers accommodation, home-grown food and drink, and activities and relaxation in the great outdoors. Nowhere Sauna draws a creative crowd of parents, artists, musicians and freelance workers who all want to connect with something bigger than themselves.

nowheresauna.com

SOUL WATER SAUNA, EDINBURGH

Soul Water Sauna has wild saunas at Portobello and Granton in Edinburgh. | Marc Miller

When she moved to Edinburgh, Kirsty Carver launched a ‘time bank’ and built a community that would exchange time and skills instead of money. Many of this community came with her when she opened Soul Water Sauna on Portobello Beach in 2022. It’s still there, and such is its popularity that Kirsty opened a second, bigger Soul Water Wild Spa at the other end of Edinburgh in Granton in 2024. Here, one sauna named Big Bear holds up to 18 people and its sibling Little Bear holds up to eight. There are showers, changing rooms, cold plunges made from beer stills, a beach and windswept views of the Firth of Forth plus a range of sessions based on traditional sauna rituals. Beside it is The Pitt, a not-for-profit community-facing outfit that brings together a food market, coffee shops, bars and a music and events space. soulwatersauna.com

Wild Sauna: the best outdoor saunas in Britain is out now, £18.99, from wildthingspublishing.com). Readers can receive 20% off and free P&P with discount code SCOTLANDONSUNDAY.