“Are you two from London?”
A greying middle-aged man in swimming trunks smiles at me and my partner from across the wooden benches of one of Margate’s barrel saunas. I wonder what has given me away. Has living in the capital for almost a decade given me an insufferable psyche? Is it the swimsuit I’m wearing?
Apparently not. “Nah, it’s just only Londoners that come here, that’s all,” he laughs.
As an increasing amount of saunas pop up all over the UK as a means of hot and cold therapy that soothes and reinvigorates our minds (more on that later) it’s hard to deny that the cultural pastime (which is what it is now, for sure) has exploded –particularly in the capital. So much so that towns and cities that Londoners flock to, like edgy seaside town Margate, are accommodating this new trend.
Sorry, but Savasana isn’t your cue to slip out.
But it's not just the South that's been hit by the craze, though. According to the British Sauna Society, there are now over 100 Finnish-style saunas across the UK — double the number from 2023. Numbers are expected to double again to 200 by the end of 2025.
The red-hot popularity of saunas was perfectly exemplified to me by the pure impossibility of getting a booking in London, in fact. Margate and London aside, though, sauna hotspots are popping up all over the UK. From Soul Water Sauna, a wood-fired location on Edinburgh’s shoreline, to a hut hidden away in the Falmouth woodlands in Cornwall.
The perception and purpose around sauna visits has shifted. I used to think of a sauna trip as part of a spa day activity. Indulgent. Novel. Not often embarked upon. Now, the purposes behind a visit to the sauna have changed, becoming somewhere to unplug on a more regular basis, incorporated into your regular fitness and wellness routine. Sauna therapy – particularly combined with cold plunge – has also been proven by experts to relieve aches and pains, support relaxation, as well as improve cardiovascular health.
It’s also, some have said, a place to meet people – whether it’s romance or community and new friends you’re searching for. According to Tinder, mentions of sauna dates have increased by 35% year on year this March. Some users have even said that they’d opt for a sauna and ice first date over more conventional options. It provides a digital-free zone to hang out in an authentic way – ironically, the way that night clubs, bars and restaurants were before dating apps made being “present” that much more difficult. Plus, the feel-good endorphins that come from a sauna session seem to encourage connection.
When I visit Hackney Community Sauna on a sunny Sunday, I don’t see potential hook-ups happening per se, but I do witness lots of dating DMCs. As I change, one woman is confiding in her friend about her girlfriend’s distant behaviour, wondering whether their relationship is going to survive. While I dip in the ice bath, a man is outlining to his friend why his open relationship isn’t quite working out in the way that he hoped. He’s concerned she prefers one of her other partners to him.
And the confessional vibe wasn’t limited to romantic relationships. While I chilled out in the Saunaverse – one of 10 saunas as part on Hackney's Community site – soft conversation is actively encouraged. I hear another woman confide the ways in which her flatmate had let her down during a recent move.
The barriers are down in a very non-online, non-judgmental way – which is undeniably an ideal way to meet a new romantic partner, or new friends. So while a visit to the sauna can definitely be a valuable solitary experience, connection and the building of community both seem to be inevitable.
Especially as, particularly in the case of Gen Z, many of us are opting for a sober socialising experience – or at least moving towards wanting one as an option – the younger generation consume about one-third less beer and wine than previous generations. This is part of a prioritisation of both physical wellbeing and mental health. Not to mention serious dating app fatigue. Sober or dry parties are also becoming more common, as are concepts such as mindful drinking.
According to relationship therapist, sexologist and regular sauna visitor Madalaine Munro, you’re more likely to prioritise and appreciate your health and wellbeing as a sauna goer, so meeting someone there makes your alignment when it comes to wellness more likely.
She adds that the absence of alcohol and access to social media in saunas “lends itself to deeper, more attuned conversation as you go through a shared experience together, of sitting together in heat, navigating a sensory environment, perhaps moving between hot and cold.
“It supports an unspoken intimacy as you are each going on your own internal and external journey of navigating the heat and your nervous system responses.”
When it comes to the impact on our bodies and minds Madalaine explains that a sauna visit may help us depart from social anxiety and make more authentic connections – so why not seek out a romantic connection in the heat?
“Saunas help the body shift into a parasympathetic state which supports relaxation, openness, and presence,” she explains. “For those who tend to live in their heads or experience social anxiety, the embodied nature of a sauna can gently bring you into a more grounded, regulated state, and in this state, authentic connection becomes far more accessible.”
A woman who works at the Hackney Community Sauna tells me that the ultimate ice breaker in sauna culture is asking the group around you if they’re comfortable with you pouring more hot water over the rocks, increasing the intensity and known in Finnish culture as löyly. “Conversation often follows from there,” she tells me.
Sauna morning raves are sweeping New York, with London’s answer being Peckham’s Sauna Social Club, which offers “ambient sauna” events held on Friday and Saturday nights, where DJs soundtrack the session. Visitors can chill on sofas between sauna and cold plunge spells, with mushroom tea and low-alcohol beers served. It's undoubtedly a sober curious generation's answer to a night out. Why shouldn't this lead to a few romantic matches?
When I visit, I’m told that they are considering adding a solo sauna event to their already exciting roster – which already offers “social” sauna slots and yoga-infused “wellbeing” slots in addition to its “ambient” option. The potential solo sauna sessions would not explicitly be for dating, but admittedly would certainly further lend itself to that kind of pursuit.
You could also say there's a sauna for everyone, with many throwing sessions for non-binary and trans members of the community to give individuals a safe space, and others including “grief saunas” as a way for queer and non-queer people to come together and process trauma.
Whether they’re built on city rooftops, in old public baths or under a railway arch, these saunas are providing a space to meet, sweat and forge connections across generations. My friend tells me a local man gave her florist recommendations for her Grandma's birthday at a sauna in Devon. Another befriended a retired lady from Norway with a Moomin towel.
Jamie and Olivia, who own Cheltenham's woodland Scenic Sauna, tell GLAMOUR that they've seen a true community build since they opened the sauna. Customers have started WhatApp chats to plan trips together, and the word community itself no longer feels like “a meaningless word, over marketed and limp”.
“Genuine friendships have formed and the most potent thing is these friendships are not formed around wealth or status but around the way they feel together in the sauna,” they say. "How they feel when they talk and see each other, without phones, social media or the hangings of modern life.
"Everyone meets the same in the sauna and the ice. We all struggle and bond over it. Those connections feel so simple yet profound. We see it every week. More and more people being stripped back to their core humanity by the hot and the cold and bonding over it."
So in an age where online dating, swiping and finding feels increasingly daunting and isolating, perhaps the community and connection provided by a sauna session is an excellent new one to meet a romantic match. Steamy.
