Wellness and saunas in Norway
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Wellness in Norway is sitting in a hot sauna on the edge of a fjord, with steam wrapping around you, until the surprise of plunging into cold water wakes up your entire body. Instead of drying off, we get back to the sauna to do it again.
Norway’s wellness culture is built on temperature, weather, and water rather than on facilities. This is why most of it happens outdoors, and why you can do it in February as well as July.
We'll show you the country’s floating saunas and where to find them, swimming in the fjords, and Norway's spa hotels for anyone who wants a roof and a robe.
Slow down with these relaxing activities
Norway’s sauna culture
Norwegian sauna culture is about the contrasts: a hot sauna, then a plunge into cold water. Anything goes: a dip in a mountain lake, a swim in the fjord, or a roll in fresh snow in winter.
You’ll even find saunas in the fjords and forests, so a sauna here is less a spa facility than a place to sit still for an hour with a view.
The practical version: you heat up for 10 to 15 minutes, you get into cold water for a much shorter time than you expect, you come back in. Repeat two or three times. Nobody is timing you, and nobody is impressed by how long you stay in the water.
Saunas in Norway are a year-round activity, not only a winter one. Norwegians get into the fjord in every month of the year, and the coldest water often makes for the best sauna. Many of the best saunas are wood-fired, which means someone has been feeding a stove for an hour before you arrive.
Floating saunas
In recent years, floating saunas have been popping up all over Norway.
They’re exactly what the name suggests: A sauna built on a raft, sometimes sailing around or moored at the water's edge. The appeal is obvious once you're in one: views while you get warm, and the cold water is directly out the door.
Where to find them:
- Flåm on the Aurlandsfjord, with the fjord walls on both sides. Flåm Aurlandsfjord floating sauna.
- Oslo has the most saunas; all spread along the harbor and the inner Oslofjord. Some are member associations, while others are open to walk-in bookings.
- Bergen & Ålesund also have several saunas around the harbors and in the center.
Spas in Norway
If your idea of wellness involves less cold water, Norway's spa hotels are for you. Norway has several spas, and some of them are in buildings or hotels worth the trip on their own, including Hotel Union in Geiranger.
Read our full guide to the best spa hotels.
Swimming in the fjords
You can swim in the Norwegian fjords, but the water’s temperature is how the Vikings liked it: cold!
The western fjords' surface water sits somewhere around 13-17 °C at the end of a warm summer and drops to roughly 4-8 °C in winter. The inner Oslofjord is warmer in summer than the western fjords, because it’s shallower and less exposed. Meltwater from glaciers keeps some inner-fjord arms colder than the numbers suggest, also well into July.
A few things worth knowing before you get in:
- Fjords get deep fast. There is often very little shallow water between the shore and 20 meters of depth. Enter where there are steps, a ladder, or a pontoon.
- Look for a bathing spot rather than improvising. Most fjord towns have a designated one, usually with a jetty. In Oslo, you can find bathing areas at Sørenga and Tjuvholmen. Follow local signs with instructions, where possible.
- Watch the boat traffic. Fjords are waterways with ferries and express boats, so keep a safe distance from where boat traffic passes.
- Tides and current are modest in most of the fjords but real in narrows and river mouths.
- Don’t swim alone. Especially in colder months, always swim with someone else to keep safe.
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