Sompasauna — Attraction in Helsinki sub-region

Easily the best thing in Helsinki and in my opinion one of the only essential things to see in the city if your time is limited.

A free for all sauna, open every day around the clock. 24/7, 365. You're not a customer and there is no personnel. It's a community.

The best time to visit is around 6pm when you will most likely bump into some people who know their way around and have heated up the saunas already. In the winter there may not be anyone around at night or during regular working hours, but in the summer it's very popular and there may be some people even at 4 in the morning.

If it isn't hot yet, you can warm it up yourself. Just saw some firewood using the tools and trash wood available on site and fire it up. Nobody works there, everyone you meet is there for going to the sauna.

Men and women go together, no swimsuit needed, but you can use one if you want to, most don't, so don't be surprised to meet naked people.

It started without permission from the city when a group of youngsters found a ditched stove and decided to build a shack around it to make a sauna. It grew from there and after a couple of years it won a culture award from the city and now has an official lease on the land and a registered association.

There are no showers, no locker rooms or any kind of services or personnel. A bunch of regular visitors try to keep everything in working order and decent.

It's safe there, any sexual harassment is strictly forbidden and will lead to immediate permanent ban and being too drunk is not tolerated. Drinking a couple of sauna beers is perfectly fine.

People of any color, gender, age or sexuality are welcome.

It's not an architectural masterpiece, a luxury health spa or anything like that. It's something better, more exotic, friendly and very welcoming.

Often you can hear the lions of the nearby Korkeasaari zoo roar in the evenings.

You can arrive by car, bike or walk 10 minutes from the Kalasatama subway station. The road goes through a huge construction area and halfway there you may think you are lost, but have...

It was my first time in Sompa Sauna since over 10 years. it’s good to see that it’s come from its ghetto alcoholic origins into a proper free sauna centre with three separate saunas!

However, you will not find a shower here, neither comfortable recliners to lounge upon. What you will experience however is an authentic Finnish sauna.

When I went there, they were all kind of tres authentic Finnish sauna Aficionados. The main issue I would say for many people is that some of the saunas are very hot indeed, +90 Celsius minimum when I went and there is even one that is 110 Celsius.

And what you find is a kind of unregulated environment where the hard skinned fellas ladle water onto the rocks to to create an environment of scorching steam that can cause your back and head to wince from the heat!

However, this high heat might have had something to do with the timing of my visit and the particular people who were there at the time.

I would definitely recommend Sompasauna to tourists in Helsinki over the more flash and pre- packaged commercial environments. So pack your bathing costume or not, prepare to look at more wangers than camel toes, make sure to bring a towel and prepare to immerse yourself in the slightly...

I lovely feel good sauna located very close to the middle of nowhere. This is really unique sauna because it's always open and it's free. It's made and maintained using community work and donations. So don't expect to find a five-star bathing salon here.

There are actually two wood-fired saunas here. A bigger sauna for at least 10 people and a smaller sauna for three people tops. In case you didn't catch it already this place isn't for fancy pants but if you're willing to visit here open-minded and full of feel good spirit in your heart you'll definitely find the best people and stories you'll ever meet or hear.

There isn't a shower or toilet here. You need to wash yourself at the ocean in order to clean yourself after sauna. This might be a bit challenging during winter season or other relatively changing weather conditions. All the fresh water here is for sauna stones because you should not cast salty seawater to sauna stones. Bring your own towel in case you don't fancy borrow other people...