How much does a sauna session cost?
By the Find My Sauna team·
Updated ·
6 min read
A sauna session can cost nothing at all, or as much as a nice dinner. The heat is much the same either way. What changes is the city, the kind of place, the time you go and what comes with your ticket. Here are real prices from venues across Europe, and how to pay less.
The short answer
It depends mostly on the city and the kind of place. In the venues we checked in October 2026, a session at a public sauna cost £11 in London, €16 in Helsinki, 60 zł in Kraków and 155 Kč in Ostrava, and a few volunteer-run saunas are free. Day spas cost more: €29 for three hours at a spa in Bologna, for example. Going off-peak, buying a multi-visit card and bringing your own towel are the easiest ways to pay less.
Real prices
These are published prices from each venue's own website (for Sompasauna, the City of Helsinki's listing), checked in October 2026. Prices change, so check before you go.
| Venue | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sompasauna, Helsinki | Volunteer-run wood-fired sauna, open all day and night | Free |
| Winogrady city pool, Poznań | Finnish and steam sauna, on top of a pool ticket | 0.70 zł a minute |
| SaunaRelaxBar, Ostrava | Small independent sauna with a plunge pool | 155 Kč for 60 minutes |
| Paskál bath, Budapest | Neighbourhood thermal bath with Finnish saunas | 4,700 Ft on weekdays |
| Kotiharjun sauna, Helsinki | Wood-heated public sauna from 1928 | €16 |
| Community Sauna Baths, London (Camberwell) | Shared sauna and cold plunge | £11–22, depending on time and length |
| Termy Krakowskie Sodowa, Kraków | Eight heat rooms, sauna ceremonies | 60 zł an hour, 110 zł with no limit |
| Bains Municipaux, Strasbourg | Historic city baths, pools and wellness area | €24 |
| Bologna Spa & Wellness, Bologna | Day spa with saunas and pools | €29 for 3 hours, €42 for the day |
| Széchenyi bath, Budapest | Famous thermal bath with five saunas | 13,200 Ft Monday to Thursday |
| Sauna Smíchov, Prague | Private outdoor sauna for up to six | 1,990 Kč for 2 hours, whole group |
City and country
Where you are matters more than anything else. Sauna prices broadly follow the local cost of living, so an hour in Ostrava costs much less than an hour in London. In Poland, Czechia and Hungary many city pools and baths have saunas, which keeps cheap options easy to find. Where public saunas are newer, as in much of the UK and the US, there are fewer of them and more design-led places charging more.
Even within one city the spread is wide. In Budapest a weekday ticket at Paskál, a neighbourhood bath, is 4,700 Ft, and its price list has no separate sauna charge. A standard weekday ticket at Széchenyi, the city's best-known bath, is 13,200 Ft, nearly three times as much.
Type of venue
Roughly from cheapest to most expensive:
- Volunteer and community saunas. Free or low-cost, often outdoors and basic. Some, like Community Sauna Baths in London, are not-for-profits.
- Saunas at city pools. Usually a small add-on to a swim. The Winogrady pool in Poznań charges by the minute.
- Independent sauna clubs and public saunas. Priced by the hour or the visit, often with sauna-master ceremonies included.
- Thermal baths and big sauna parks. Many rooms and pools, priced by the day or by several hours.
- Day spas and luxury bathhouses. You pay for comfort, design and service as much as for heat.
Our guide to spa day vs sauna compares what each one gives you for the money.
Time of day and length
Many saunas charge more at busy times. Széchenyi's standard ticket is 13,200 Ft Monday to Thursday, 14,800 Ft on Fridays and weekends and 15,800 Ft in peak periods, and an early-bird ticket for entry before 9:00 is 10,500 Ft on weekdays. Sauna Wisła, a floating sauna in Warsaw, prices its slots by day and hour and says the early part of the day is cheaper.
Length matters too. Most people need about an hour for two or three rounds, so a short, cheap slot is often all you need. See how long to stay in a sauna before paying for a whole day.
Private or shared
Booking a sauna just for your group costs more in total but can be cheap per head. Sauna Smíchov in Prague charges 1,990 Kč for two hours whatever the group size, up to six people. Six friends pay about 330 Kč each, roughly what an hour costs at many shared saunas in the city. Two people pay the full amount.
Towels and other extras
The headline price isn't always the whole price. Check whether these are included:
- Towels and robes. SaunaRelaxBar in Ostrava charges 50 Kč for a towel and sheet, Bologna Spa €4 for a towel and €6 for a robe, and Termy Krakowskie also charges for towel hire.
- Lockers and cabins. Usually included, but some baths charge extra for a private changing cabin.
- Going over time. Hourly saunas charge for overstaying. At Termy Krakowskie it's 5 zł for each extra 15 minutes.
- Treatments. Massages, scrubs and whisking are almost always on top.
Our guide to what to wear in a sauna has a packing list, so you can bring your own and skip the hire fees.
Memberships and concessions
If you go every week, a pass pays for itself quickly. Community Sauna Baths sells a £23-a-month membership that halves the price of sessions, and a £45-a-month pass for unlimited off-peak visits. Termy Krakowskie sells ten unlimited-time entries for 700 zł, against 110 zł each one at a time.
Ask about concessions, too. Kotiharju charges €13 instead of €16 for students and pensioners, Community Sauna Baths has concession prices from £5, and Termy Krakowskie offers students two hours for 40 zł.
How to pay less
- Go on a weekday morning or early afternoon.
- Book the shortest slot that gives you two or three rounds.
- Bring your own towels, robe and flip-flops.
- Try the sauna at your local pool before paying for a spa.
- Buy a multi-visit card or membership if you'll go often.
- Fill a private sauna with friends rather than booking it for two.
- Look for free or volunteer saunas, especially in Nordic cities. Our guide to public saunas explains where to find them.
Where to find a sauna
Every listing on Find My Sauna links to the venue's own website, where you'll find its current prices. A few good-value places to start:
Nordic Spa Kraków
Kraków · Lakeside saunas
Dandár Gyógyfürdő
Budapest · City thermal bath
Pływalnia Miejska Winogrady – sauny
Poznań · Pool sauna, pay by the minute
Frequently asked questions
How much does a sauna session cost?
In the venues we checked, a public sauna session cost from 155 Kč in Ostrava to £11 in London and €16 in Helsinki. Day spas cost more, and a few volunteer saunas are free.
Why are some saunas so expensive?
You are paying for the setting, the extra pools and rooms, towels and robes, and staff. The heat in a cheap sauna is just as good.
Is it cheaper to go to the sauna at a swimming pool?
Usually, yes. Many city pools charge a small extra fee for the sauna, and some charge by the minute.
Is a sauna membership worth it?
If you go weekly, often yes. In the examples in this guide, memberships and ten-visit cards cut the price per visit by about a third to a half.
Do you have to pay for towels at a sauna?
At many saunas, yes, unless you bring your own. Check the price list before you go.
