Stockholm to Launch First Publicly Run Sauna in June

Stockholm plans to open its first publicly run sauna in June, a pilot project aimed at providing ‘sauna for all’ and easing the city’s acute shortage of accessible waterfront sauna facilities.

The new sauna, located in the Hornstull neighborhood on Södermalm island, will operate without membership requirements, distinguishing it from most existing saunas in Stockholm which are privately owned or belong to member associations with waiting lists extending years.

‘We wanted a sauna that was 100% accessible, so no membership. Accessible to the city’s residents and our guests,’ said Pia Karlsson, project manager at the City of Stockholm’s transport office, in an interview. The project has a budget of 5.5 million Swedish kronor (£436,573).

The city’s move responds to a growing demand for public sauna access. While many Stockholmers regularly use saunas, joining a popular waterside sauna can be as difficult as entering an exclusive private members’ club, with thousands on waiting lists and new slots disappearing within minutes.

The Swedish capital has relatively clean water, a geography spanning multiple islands, and a strong sauna culture—boosted by Sweden’s 2025 Eurovision entry ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ (Just Take a Sauna). Yet the city has been slow to develop publicly accessible quayside saunas.

Many existing saunas remain behind locked doors, privately owned by member associations or individuals. The scarcity contrasts sharply with neighboring Nordic capitals.

In Oslo, Norway, despite a surge in popularity, same-day sauna spots are relatively easy to find at the Oslo Sauna Association’s seven floating saunas. In Helsinki, Finland, where sauna bathing is considered essential, public and community-run saunas are abundant.

Stockholm’s new sauna arrived by tugboat on Tuesday. It occupies a site on the shore of Liljeholmsviken, shaded by weeping willows, where users can swim. The location previously housed Liljeholmsbadet, a 1930s floating public bathhouse removed last year after falling into disrepair.

The city is also building a sauna jetty adjacent to the new facility, which will remain open to non-sauna-goers.

The green-colored building, designed by architect Dinell Johansson and built by Marinbastun—the same company that built the Oslo Sauna Association saunas—takes inspiration from Stockholm’s historic painted wooden water pavilions.

‘A thought that we had with us from the political mission was sauna for all and a place for everybody,’ Karlsson said. ‘We are a public pontoon and a public space on public land. We wanted that to permeate the site.’

While inspired by research trips to Finland and Denmark, Karlsson said the vision for Stockholm is part of a broader ambition. ‘We know that we are not the first … but then we thought we could be best,’ she said.

The sauna is part of a wider quayside strategy by Stockholm authorities to open up the city’s waterfronts, including new swimming areas, walkways, and seating areas.

The city is also planning new guidelines that would require all sauna slots in the city center to be fully publicly available for booking, moving away from the membership model.

The proposed booking rules have drawn criticism from some sauna associations, which argue they could undermine the membership model that provides cheaper rates for regular users.

Karlsson said the city and privately-run models ‘complement one another’ and that the city’s pricing will not undercut other saunas.

The sauna costs 150 kronor (£12) for a 90-minute session—higher than guest sessions at many private saunas, raising concerns about affordability. Initially all users pay the same rate, but Karlsson said the city will explore discounted pricing for students and pensioners once demand is clearer.

Mathias Leveborn, from Sthlm Sauna, which has a waiting list of 20,000 for membership across its saunas and 13,000 for one site in nearby Vinterviken alone, said demand for more sauna spaces was huge.

He said his company waited more than a year for approval of a new project in Södermalm, due to open in September. ‘It is great that Stockholm is finally starting to catch up with other Nordic countries. Basically, diversity is good,’ he said.

Svante Spolander, operations manager at the Swedish Sauna Academy, said: ‘Interest in sauna has increased markedly in Sweden in recent years and people have to wait a long time for access to a sauna bathhouse. So it is very positive that more places are being built so that more people can benefit.’

The original article was amended on 17 May 2026 to correct the Eurovision entry: the song ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ (Just Take a Sauna) was Sweden’s entry in 2025, not Finland’s. The performers, KAJ, are from Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority.