Public spas, baths and saunas in Europe: readers’ travel tips

Our tipsters make a splash with steamy suggestions for hot water bathing from Finland to the Azores

Armed only with a towel, a bundle of firewood (click here), a pack of sausages and some spring water (to drink and throw on the stove), I went one evening with my Swedish friends to the tiny, do-it-yourself Sompasauna. Built by volunteers, it’s 15 minutes’ walk from the Kalasatama metro in Sompasaari, Helsinki. Free to use, it’s open day and night all year round and kept spotless. There are no lockers, showers or staff, so it’s real back to nature stuff. After enjoying the sauna, we went for a swim in the Gulf of Finland, then had a convivial barbecue with other visitors.

Georgian splendour, Tbilisi

The old town of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, has a great selection of traditional sulphur baths. Orbeliani is the most popular, and the beautiful facade of tiled mosaic is a landmark. Inside are private rooms that you can book by the hour. These include hot and cold pools, saunas and showers. You can also get a massage. Rooms cost from €14 an hour, depending on their size and comfort.
Julia Barbosa

Urban cool, Berlin

Close to Potsdamer Platz, Liquidrom-Berlin is a fabulous crown-like space-age structure with various types of sauna (Himalayan, Japanese and Finnish). The floating pool with its underwater ambient music calms the soul immediately as well as helping you to feel really cool. We spent a wintry evening enjoying a break from the hubbub of the city, returning to Potsdamer Platz on the stroke of midnight, refuelled for the night ahead.

Affordable wallowing, Iceland

Reykjavik’s Laugardalslaug geothermal bath complex is publicly owned and has none of the glamour of nearby tourist versions, but is a fraction of the price (£6). On a bitterly cold February day, my girlfriend I and took a bus there wearing the snug woollen jumpers we had bought when we arrived in Iceland. We shivered between swimming in the big, warm pools and taking turns on the slide. We lay on our backs in the hot shallows while snow swirled in the wind. Friendly Icelanders chatted and laughed in the hot tubs. She agreed to marry me that day, and that place seems like a strange and lovely dream.