The best saunas in London

The best saunas in London can be found hidden down side streets of bustling neighbourhoods, or hidden in plain sight in bougie postcards. If you’re lucky enough to find one, you’re in for a treat – these saunas are a different breed from what you might be used to. Sleek with an almost cult-like fanbase, you’ll soon see why. Extreme temperature wellness has been a thing for centuries, but in recent years, the trend has reached new heights. In the capital, Londoners are looking for the best ways to sweat out the stresses of big city life and reap the rewards of high-heat exposure. According to Healthline, benefits that include potential pain relief, improved blood circulation and stress relief, and a recent viral post by Dr Mark Hyman, co-founder of Function Health and senior medical advisor at the Cleveland Clinic, reveals further benefits, including improved “cardiovascular fitness, increased heart rate variability, regulates blood sugar and blood pressure, improves sleep and increases endorphins”. Below, find the best saunas in London, where you can sweat, de-stress and slow down.

Arc

Go back just a few years, and if you’d told me I’d be signing up to spend my Friday night doing breathwork with strangers in a bikini before immersing myself in a teeth-chatteringly cold bathtub, I’d have told you to go and hop in one yourself. But it’s 2025, and “social wellness” has become common parlance, the health-conscious set swapping spin classes for group contrast therapy and inner-child activations in a bid to heal body and soul in one zeitgeisty swoop. I’d been curious about the social wellness club concept since I heard of Othership launching in NYC’s Flatiron District in mid-2024, but Arc is the first of its kind to arrive in the UK, setting up in January 2025 in a subterranean complex in Canary Wharf. Founder Alanna Kit was inspired by the banya sauna culture of her Ukrainian heritage, and wanted to reignite European sauna traditions in the UK by blending Eastern and Western philosophies with science. Available to both members and drop-ins (a three-class intro pack is £45), Arc offers “communal contrast therapy” sessions in which groups alternate between the UK’s largest sauna and eight stainless steel ice baths – silvery, sci-fi constructions that invite Matrix comparisons. The list of benefits is impressive – more energy, a faster metabolism, better sleep, sharper focus, boosted immune system, disease prevention, a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others – with guided or free-flow sessions on offer. I join “Ground and Calm”, a slower-paced class during which somatic teacher Stephanie Nightingale guides us between the sauna and baths using breathwork, meditation and even snippets of poetry. After gathering in a circular antechamber reminiscent of a campfire, we proceed to the sauna for an Aufguss ritual, where snowballs infused with sandalwood and verbena hiss over hot coals and towels are flung above our supine forms. We tap our temples with our fingertips, give thanks to our bodies for carrying us through the day, and are invited to check in with ourselves regularly. The ice baths aren’t exactly pleasant, but there is something pleasing about maintaining composure through them, and afterwards I feel not only weirdly proud of myself but also sharper, more benevolent and more grateful. For the truly bold, “Arc After Dark” sessions promise to get participants to “connect, vibe and party”, soundtracked by DJ sets. As befits Canary Wharf, it’s all a little bit bougie and a little bit extra – but I can’t deny the buzz of being part of this open-hearted community, even if just for an evening. Olivia Squire

Address: Level -2, Unit 46, Minus, 1 Crossrail Pl, London E14 5AR
Website: arc-community.com