SAUNA CULTURE IN FINLAND

At Puusaun you can experience the Finnish sauna the traditional way: wood-fired heat, "löyly", and a swim in the lake, all year round.

SAUNAS DIRECTIONS

MORE THAN A TRADITION

ESSENTIAL PART OF DAILY LIFE AND CULTURE

Going to the sauna is part of daily life across the country, from home saunas to lakeside ones like Puusaun. There are around three million saunas in Finland, for a population of five and a half million.

WHAT IS "LÖYLY"?

"Löyly" is the steam that rises when water is thrown onto the hot stones of the sauna stove. It is the heart of the Finnish sauna. How much water you throw, and how hot the stove is, decides whether the "löyly" feels soft or sharp. Each of our three wood-fired saunas has its own kind of "löyly".

HOT SAUNA, COLD WATER

Part of going to the sauna is warming yourself up and then cooling down. You sit in the "löyly", step outside into the lake or the tub, then go back in. In summer you swim in open water; in winter you dip into the lake in the cold. The cold dip is part of the tradition, not a dare.

HEATED BY WOOD

All three saunas at Puusaun are wood-fired. The heat builds slowly, the "löyly" is soft and full, and the smell of burning wood is part of it. We heat the saunas by hand every day of the year.

GOING TO THE SAUNA

Our saunas are mixed saunas, bring a swilmsuit and a towel. Rinse off in the shower before you go in. Sit on the sauna benches, the higher up you sit the hotter it will feel. Throw water on the stones for more “löyly”, but ask others first. Take rounds of cooling down in the water and warming back up.

CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

A SAUNA IN THE PEACE OF NATURE

25 min

Rauma

20 min

Eura

28 min

Laitila

50 min

Pori

Puusaun sits on the shore of Lake Narvijärvi. From Rauma the drive takes a little over twenty minutes, and it's easy to reach from elsewhere in Finland too. The road runs through forest into a calm landscape, far from the noise of the town. It's easy to get here from nearby towns and from further away alike.

We started out as a family business and carried out a major renovation right away. We wanted to bring the old sauna up to a new level, keeping its traditional feel while adding practical spaces and comforts.

DIRECTIONS

CLOSER THAN YOU THINK