10 authentic Scandi outdoor saunas hidden around Australia

Australia’s growing Scandinavian sauna culture invites you to feel the heat, embrace the cold, and reconnect with nature in breathtaking destinations.

Scandinavian-style saunas have gained popularity in Australia over recent years, with travellers embracing the health benefits of hot-and-cold therapy as part of their getaways. Beyond improving overall wellbeing, many of these experiences offer an opportunity to connect with nature, from bushland saunas to cold ocean plunges, both restorative and grounding. If you’re looking for an authentic Scandinavian outdoor sauna experience without leaving the country, here’s a list of some of Australia’s best.

1. Kuuma Nature Sauna, Tasmania

Imagine drifting into a secluded bay, steam rising from the sauna stones as you soak in the serenity of southern Tasmania. Kuuma , Australia’s first sauna boat, is a custom-designed pontoon blending relaxation and adventure. Once in a quiet cove, guests warm up in the sauna before diving into waters averaging 9ºC in winter and 17ºC in summer, or cool down using the shower bucket on deck.

Address: 40 Marina Dr, Barretta TAS

2. Floating Sauna Lake Derby, Tasmania

In the heart of Tasmania’s mountain biking haven, Floating Sauna Lake Derby offers a place to soothe tired muscles after a day on the trails. Perched on the edge of Briseis Hole’s tranquil waters, this floating sauna is architecturally designed for comfort and style. It blends Finnish wood-fired heat with Australian nature—a refreshing plunge into the freshwater lake.

Address: 99 Main St, Derby TAS

3. Håut Hutt, Victoria

Haut Hutt — Håut Hutt’s saunas are crafted using sustainably sourced Western Red Cedar.

Why settle for one sauna when you can have three? Håut Hutt in Victoria’s High Country offers a choice. Paloma, a permanent sauna in Porepunkah, features a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a peaceful garden, complete with a bucket shower and plunge bath. The nomadic saunas, Juniper and Mondo, travel to stunning spots along the Ovens River, where guests can take a crisp plunge into mountain-fed waters. To enhance your session, owner Harry suggests arriving early to ground yourself in the surroundings, hydrating well with their complimentary lemon-and-salt-infused water, and pacing yourself between cycles. He adds that autumn drapes the High Country in golden hues, making these sessions even more magical.

Address: 7127 Great Alpine Rd, Porepunkah VIC

4. Koho Floating Sauna, Victoria

Sweat it out while dolphins and seals frolic nearby at Koho Sauna on the tranquil Gippsland Lakes. Floating on a pontoon in Lakes Entrance, this wood-fired sauna offers front row seats to nature’s antics. Guests can alternate between the sauna, a daring plunge into the lake, or a brisk cold shower on the deck. For those wanting to linger longer, Idle Lake House, a floating accommodation next door, offers discounted rates when booking both experiences.

Address: 160 Esplanade, Lakes Entrance VIC

5. Sea Soul Sauna, Victoria

The highlight of Sea Soul Sauna is its invigorating ocean plunge, just a short jog across the sand. Guests are encouraged to relax in the sauna for as long as they feel comfortable, typically between 10 and 20 minutes, before taking the plunge. If feeling hesitant, staff are on hand to offer guidance and a motivational pep talk to help you take the leap! For the best experience, dry off before re-entering the sauna to improve sweating.

Address: Mordialloc Sailing, 12 Bowman Street, Aspendale VIC

6. Cedar & Salt, New South Wales

Cedar & Salt’s portable saunas bring Nordic-style heat to scenic spots like Palm Beach and Manly. With an ethos rooted in authenticity and a deep connection to the environment, guests are encouraged to unplug, de-digitize, and restore their minds and body, all while enjoying ocean views. With Australia’s coastline as its backdrop, Cedar & Salt’s mission is to bring the sauna experience to more people, creating social, shared rituals. Byron Bay you’re up next!

Address: Check the website for pop-up locations.

7. Blue Mountains Sauna, New South Wales

Surrounded by crisp mountain air and towering eucalypts, the team at Blue Mountains Sauna describes the experience as “giving yourself a warm hug" and a chance to reset both body and mind. Guests can embrace the traditional sauna cycle: warm up, take a cold plunge, then relax by an indoor fire or outdoor fire pit under the stars with a cup of tea. Bench towels are provided, but bring your own for drying off.

Address: 7 Quinns Ave, Leura NSW

8. Sauna Cult, Queensland

If you’re worried you won’t sweat enough, Sauna Cult has you covered—literally—with Finnish sauna hats to help enhance the heat. Its panoramic window offers breathtaking views, strengthening the connection to nature. Guests can use a bucket and ladle to create löyly, the signature Finnish steam, by pouring water over heated rocks. For those ready to embrace the complete hot-cold cycle, cold plunge barrels are set up on the deck, providing a refreshing and invigorating finish.

Address: 512 Brookfield Rd, Brookfield QLD

9. The Salty Finn, South Australia

Inspired by her Finnish heritage, owner Kate set out to bring the essence of Finland to Adelaide, adding, “If I can’t bring you to Finland, I will bring Finland to you." Embracing Scandi tradition, guests bask in the heat and steam before an icy ocean plunge. Kate recommends the experience on crisp winter mornings or beneath golden sunsets. Running from April to November, The Salty Finn offers communal and private sessions, popping up at various beach locations near Adelaide.

Address: Check the website for location details.

10. Alchemy Saunas, Western Australia

Alchemy Saunas at Port Beach is Perth’s ultimate destination sauna. It combines Finnish-style heat with the rejuvenating chill of the Indian Ocean. Located steps from the white sandy beach, it offers an authentic hot-cold cycle. If you time your session right, it’s the perfect place to recharge and catch one of Perth’s iconic sunsets.

Address: 42 Port Beach Road, North Fremantle

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Abandoned mills and forgotten paper plants are finding second lives – and helping redefine a city long underestimated.

Just 15 years ago, Federal Mills was a very different place. Once among the most significant industrial sites in Victoria, the historic woollen mill was one of a dozen that operated in Geelong at the industry’s peak in the mid-20th century, helping the city earn its title as ‘wool centre of the world’. But by the 1960s global competition and the rise of synthetic fabrics led to the slow decline of the industry, and Federal Mills finally shuttered its doors in 2001. Within a few years, the abandoned North Geelong grounds had become makeshift pastoral land, with cows and goats grazing among the overgrown grass between the empty red-brick warehouses. It was a forgotten pocket of the city, all but two klicks from the bustle of the CBD.

Geelong cellar door wine bar — Geelong has shed its industrial identity to become an innovative urban hub with reimagined heritage spaces. (Image: Ash Hughes)

Federal Mills: from forgotten factory to creative precinct

Today, the century-old complex stands reborn. The distinctive sawtooth-roof buildings have been sensitively restored. An old silo is splashed with a bright floral mural, landscapers have transformed the grounds, and the precinct is once again alive with activity. More than 1000 people work across 50-plus businesses here. It’s so busy, in fact, that on a sunny Thursday morning in the thick of winter, it’s hard to find a car park. The high ceilings, open-plan design, and large multi-paned windows – revolutionary features for factories of their time – have again become a drawcard.

Paddock Bakery andPatisserie — Paddock Bakery and Patisserie is housed within the historic wool factory. (Image: Gallant Lee)

At Paddock , one of the precinct’s newer tenants, weaving looms and dye vats have been replaced by a wood-fired brick oven and heavy-duty mixers. Open since April 2024, the bakery looks right at home here; the building’s industrial shell is softened by ivy climbing its steel frames, and sunlight streams through the tall windows. Outside, among the white cedar trees, families at picnic benches linger over dippy eggs and bagels, while white-collar workers pass in and out, single-origin coffee and crème brûlée doughnuts in hand.

Geelong: Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design

Paddock Bakery can be found at Federal Mills. (Image: Gallant Lee)

“A lot of people are now seeing the merit of investing in Geelong,” says Paul Traynor, the head of Hamilton Hospitality Group, which redeveloped Federal Mills. A city once shunned as Sleepy Hollow, and spurned for its industrial, working-class roots and ‘rust belt’ image, Geelong has long since reclaimed its ‘Pivot City’ title, having reinvented itself as an affordable, lifestyle-driven satellite city, and a post-COVID migration hotspot.

And the numbers stand testament to the change. In March 2025, and for the first time in its history, Greater Geelong became Australia’s most popular regional town for internal migration, overtaking Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Current forecasts suggest Geelong will continue to outpace many other Australian cities and towns, with jobs growing at double the rate of the population.

Tourism is booming, too. The 2023-24 financial year was Geelong and The Bellarine region’s busiest on record, with 6.4 million visitors making it one of the fastest-growing destinations in the country. It’s not hard to see why: beyond the city’s prime positioning at the doorstep of the Great Ocean Road, Geelong’s tenacity and cultural ambition stands out.

As Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design, Geelong is swiftly shaking off its industrial past to become a model for urban renewal, innovation, sustainability and creative communities. The signs are everywhere, from the revitalisation of the city’s waterfront, and the landmark design of the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre and Geelong Arts Centre, to the growing network of local designers, architects and artists, and the burgeoning roster of festivals and events. That’s not even mentioning the adaptive reuse of storied old industrial buildings – from Federal Mills, to Little Creatures’ brewery ‘village’ housed within a 1920s textile mill – or the city’s flourishing food and wine scene.

The rise of a food and wine destination

Restaurant 1915 is housed within a restored former boiler house. (Image: Harry Pope/Two Palms)

Traynor credits now-closed local restaurant Igni, which opened in 2016, as the turning point for Geelong’s hospo industry. “[Aaron Turner, Igni’s chef-patron] was probably the first guy, with all due respect, to raise the bar food-wise for Geelong,” he says. “People now treat it really seriously, and there’s clearly a market for it.” While Igni is gone, Turner now helms a string of other notable Geelong venues, including The Hot Chicken Project and Tacos y Liquor, all within the buzzy, street art-speckled laneways of the CBD’s Little Malop Street Precinct. Many others have also popped up in Igni’s wake, including Federal Mills’ own restaurant, 1915 . Housed within the cavernous boiler house, 1915’s interior is dramatic: soaring, vaulted ceilings with timber beams, exposed brick, a huge arched window. The share plates echo the space’s bold character, playing with contrast and texture, with dishes such as a compressed watermelon tataki, the sweet, juicy squares tempered by salty strands of fried leeks, and charred, smoky snow peas dusted with saganaki on a nutty bed of romesco.

The Woolstore , one of The Hamilton Group’s most recent hospo projects, opened in February. It occupies a century-old riverside warehouse and exudes a more sultry, fine dining ambience. Much like Federal Mills, the blueprint was to preserve the original brickwork, tallowwood flooring and nods to the building’s former life. That same careful consideration extends to the well-versed, affable waitstaff as well as the kitchen. Head chef Eli Grubb is turning out an eclectic mix of ambitious and indulgent mod Oz dishes that deliver: strikingly tender skewers of chicken tsukune, infused with hints of smoke from the parrilla grill, and glazed with a moreish, sweet gochujang ‘jam’; nduja arancini fragrant with hints of aniseed and the earthy lick of sunny saffron aioli; and golden squares of potato pavé, adorned with tiny turrets of crème fraîche, crisp-fried saltbush leaves, and Avruga caviar, to name but a few stand-out dishes.

Woolstore menu — Woolstore’s menu is designed for sharing.

Breathing new life into historic spaces

On the city’s fringe, hidden down a winding side road with little fanfare, lies a long-dormant site that’s being gently revived. Built from locally quarried bluestone and brick, and dating back to the 1870s, the complex of original tin-roofed mill buildings is lush with greenery and backs onto the Barwon River and Buckley Falls; the audible rush of water provides a soothing soundtrack. Fyansford Paper Mill is one of few complexes of its time to survive intact. It feels steeped in history and spellbindingly rustic.

“We were looking for an old industrial place that had some charm and romance to it,” explains Sam Vogel, the owner, director and winemaker at Provenance Wines which moved here in 2018. When he first viewed the building with his former co-owner, it was in such a state of disrepair that the tradie tenant occupying the space had built a shed within it to escape the leaking roof and freezing winter temperatures. “To say it was run down would be an understatement,” he notes. “There was ivy growing through the place; the windows were all smashed. It was a classic Grand Designs project.”

Provenance Wines moved to Fyansford Paper Mill in 2018. (Image: Cameron Murray Photography)

The team has since invested more than a million dollars into their new home. Where paper processing machinery once sat, wine barrels are now stacked. Vaulted cathedral ceilings are strung with festoon lights, and hidden in plain sight lies a shadowy mural by local street artist de rigueur Rone – one of only three permanent works by the artist.

While the award-winning, cool-climate pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay naturally remain a key draw at Provenance, the winery’s restaurant is a destination in itself. Impressed already by whipsmart service, I devour one of the most cleverly curated and faultlessly executed degustations I’ve had in some time. It’s all prepared in a kitchen that is proudly zero-waste, and committed to providing seasonal, ethical and locally sourced meat and produce under head chef Nate McIver. Think free-range venison served rare with a syrupy red wine jus and a half-moon of neon-orange kosho, shokupan with a deeply savoury duck fat jus (a modern Japanese take on bread and drippings), and a golden potato cake adorned with a colourful confetti of dehydrated nasturtiums and tomato powder, and planted atop a sea urchin emulsion.

handcrafted pieces — Bell’s handcrafted functional pieces on display.

The complex is home to a coterie of independent businesses, including a gallery, a jeweller, and its latest tenant, ceramicist Elizabeth Bell, drawn here by the building’s “soul”. “There’s so much potential for these buildings to have new life breathed into them,” says Bell, whose studio is housed within the old pump room. “Even people in Geelong don’t know we’re here,” she says. “It’s definitely a destination, but I like that. It has a really calming atmosphere.”

A Melbourne transplant, Bell now feels at home in Geelong, which offers something Melbourne didn’t. “If this business was in Melbourne I don’t think it would’ve been as successful,” she notes. “It’s very collaborative in Geelong, and I don’t think you get that as much in Melbourne; you’re a bit more in it for yourself. Here it’s about community over competition.”