We've Visited Spas/Saunas in Over 40 Countries. These top 10 Changed How We Think About Being Human.

Sophie Strauss, COO + Co-Founder of Sauna Camp

After traveling all over the world for about a decade and visiting dozens and dozens of sauna and thermal experiences, these are the absolute winners in my eyes! We're not ranking these by their amenities, their architecture, or their Tripadvisor scores. We're ranking them by one thing: how they made us feel when we walked out. Whether we were quieter, more ourselves, more present than when we walked in.

That's the only metric that matters to us. It's also why we built Sauna Camp.

Here are ten experiences (in no particular order) from 40 countries that we'll never stop thinking about.

Cascate del Mulino, Tuscany, Italy

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Sky Lagoon — Reykjavik, Iceland A cliffside geothermal lagoon overlooking the North Atlantic. The signature experience is a seven-step ritual moving between hot and cold, steam and sky. What sets it apart from Blue Lagoon is the drama of the setting as well as the amenities, the ocean horizon feels endless and the whole thing is built into the edge of the land like it grew there.

Our favorite part was the rain room and the salt scrub in the middle of the 7-step ritual. Our skin felt buttery soft after that. See More

QC Terme — Milan, Italy A thermal spa tucked inside a 19th century building in the middle of one of the world's most fashionable cities. The contrast is the whole point: marble, candlelight, thermal pools, and Milan happening just outside the door.

One of the rooms we called the "storm room" where they had rain and also a gigantic screen that was playing this psychedelic cinematic experience on all 4 walls. It was both trippy and relaxing at the same time. See More

Sauna Camp — Minnesota, USA An outdoor, community-first sauna experience that cuts their ice plunge right into the frozen Minnesotan lake. They have wood fired barrel saunas, one of which is the largest in the country, and a super unique and crazy fun outdoor experience for the whole family. Sauna Camp is located at a real summer camp just outside of Minneapolis that is closed for the winter season.

We would be lying if we didn't think the experience that we built is one of the most unique in the world! See More

Löyly — Helsinki, Finland The most architecturally celebrated public sauna in Finland. A wooden shoreline building designed to look like it washed up on the Baltic. In winter the contrast between the sauna heat and the frozen sea outside is as stark as it gets.

We loved seeing the Helsinki skyline and jumping right into the freezing water, yes it was still crazy cold in the summer when we visited. The building has a restaurant in it as well for those post-sauna munchies. See More

Rifugio Lagazuoi — Dolomites, Italy A mountain refuge sitting at 2,752 meters in the Italian Alps. In winter it is accessible only by cable car or by hiking. The sauna here is almost incidental to the setting. You are above the clouds in a stone hut that was used as a military outpost in World War One.

We stopped here and stayed at the Refuge during our Alta Via 1 Dolomites hiking trip and it was absolutely incredible. You have to make a reservation with them, but there is also lodging and a killer restaurant in the refuge if you want to make a whole day of it. You can even look down the mountain and see Cortina d'Ampezzo bustling below! See More

Commit Health Club — Utrecht, Netherlands A members gym and bathhouse that was built into an old church in one of the Netherlands' most livable cities. Less famous than anything else on this list (and the only gym) and completely unconcerned about that. The kind of place locals fiercely protect because once people find out about it, it'll change.

This gym and the sauna experience was so unique because of all the preserved church architecture. They still kept most of the elements untouched, which we felt was super respectful and honoring of the history there. Utrecht is just outside Amsterdam proper by a quick train ride. While it's expensive for a day pass, the experience is worth it. See more

Lonna Sauna — Helsinki, Finland A small island sauna accessible only by ferry, ten minutes from Helsinki's harbor. You have to earn it slightly, which makes the whole thing feel like yours once you get there. One of the most purely Finnish experiences on the list.

The island journey was lovely in our opinion and made for a quieter outside-the-city sauna vibe that you could access without needing a car or anything crazy. Stopped for a reindeer hot dog before we climbed on the ferry too since there's a market right by the port. See more

The Saturnia Hot Springs "Cascate del Mulino"— Tuscany, Italy Natural thermal waterfalls cascading into travertine pools in the Tuscan countryside. Free, public, and completely surreal. The water is warm year round and the setting looks like something a Renaissance painter made up.

Absolutely mind blowingly beautiful thermal pools right in the Tuscan hills. I've never seen anything like it. Go early in the morning if you can to catch the sunrise over the Tuscan hills and also beat the crowds. This place can get crowded since it is both so beautiful AND free to visit. Parking is tough too, so be prepared to walk a ways. See more

Badstuforening — Oslo, Norway A community sauna association on the Oslo fjord. Member-run, unpretentious, deeply local. The kind of place that exists because a group of people decided they wanted it to exist and then just built it. That DIY communal spirit is exactly what makes it worth traveling for.

Visited the Munch museum just before this, which is a 1-2 minute walk. Sometimes sauna experiences can be so serious and quiet, which isn't super our vibe. This one was not! It was fun, social, communal, and charming.

On one of the saunas they had a small climbing wall where you could fall into the water safely. You can also jump off the individual sauna buildings, which was a hoot. See More

Reine Fjordsøhus — Lofoten, Norway A boathouse sauna sitting directly on the water in one of the most visually dramatic archipelagos on earth. The Lofoten islands in any season are almost too beautiful to be real. Add a wood-fired sauna over the fjord and it becomes genuinely hard to describe to someone who hasn't been.

There was a group here who saw whales directly out the sauna front window THE WEEK BEFORE WE CAME. While we can't believe we missed that, the fjord and the sauna experience was stunningly beautiful with very different architecture inside and a calm atmosphere that helped us relax after driving around all week. See more