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We have compiled a master list of the best sauna-links on the internet. Please feel free to browse through our reviews of the sites listed below.
Major information resources:
Mihael Cankar wrote the first copy of his „The Finnish Sauna" more than ten years ago. At the dawn of the internet in 1994, there was next to no sauna information on the internet. He anticipated an interest in saunas and wrote down some fine information. He deals with a wide range of subjects, including a brief introduction, how to build your own, history, sauna dictionary and briefly covers the widely popular topic of sex (or rather the lack of it) in saunas.
He brings together his own account of saunas and that of others (by reproducing certain magazine/book articles).
The site is light on clutter and high on information. Well done, chap! He also promotes some interesting books on his site, which are worth a read. Reading is light and an absolute pleasure.
In the additional information section, he lists an impressive list of Sauna Associations and a fine collection of high quality links.
http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/sweat.htm
The excellent site by Mikkel Aaland is a neutered version of his book called The Sweat. It deals with different types of steambaths and provides first hand accounts of the author's own visits to the Turkis sweatbath, details about all different types of saunas and historic accounts.
The facts are well researched and written down in a wonderful fashion. Apparently he spent three years, pilgrimaging around the world, visiting different saunas, taking photos and writing. The book was first published 1978 and the excerpts from the book bring the wonderful world of different cultures and backgrounds to every internet dweller, with a twist towards saunas.
http://www.kalle.com/sauna_faq.html
Kalle Hoffman is living in the United States, but he is of Finnish roots and a big fan of the traditional finnish sauna. His site has been up for over ten years. The most important part of his site the correspondence with various sauna owners. He is posting the sauna themed emails as part of his FAQ.
The site has a lot of information on building your site. What is great is that the information is not only theoretical, but actually comes from real people, who have lived through it themselves and talk from experience. You can find schematics and photos of a range of saunas and sauna details.
http://www.saunarelaxation.com/
Sauna Relaxation is a very comprehensive resource if you are looking to build your own sauna and are researching the options. Good stuff!
http://www.sauna.fi/englanti/englanti.html
The Finnish Sauna Society was founded in 1937 and has around 3100 members. It is an organization to enjoy saunas (they have their own saunas) and to promote them. Allegedly they publish information in various forms, organize seminars and support scientific research.
The website has some interesting information on the development of saunas, some sauna related articles, an illustrated guide to using a sauna and contacts of some other sauna societies throughout the world. The Finnish Sauna Society is a part of the International Sauna Society, which organizes the International Sauna Congress every four years.
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=26074
virtual.finland.fi is a site dedicated to promoting Finland and tourism in it. Since saunas are such an important part of life in Finland, they of course also have information on the sauna. They say: „The sauna is part of the Finnish identity and a national institution which still blossoms in the 21st century. / . . . / Sweating in a sauna, a sweat lodge or a furo bath is not primarily a physical act of cleansing, but a ritual that relaxes the body and soothes the mind. ‘Re-creation' best describes what the refreshed mind experiences after bathing in the steam. "
The site has a lengthy write-up of saunas, how they got started, different types of saunas. While the main article is excellent and strong on information, the subarticles about the history of the stove is great (has pictures of different historical stoves). It also has a recommended illustrated guide of how to enjoy the sauna. A very nice site overall.
http://www.saunasite.com/index-en/engindex.htm
This site concentrates on building a sauna, although it also has some general information. The building info is quite excellent and has lots of cute illustrations with cartoon reindeers acting as sauna users. There also are tables and graphs to communicate some important information on saunas.
What does the building part of the site cover? It does not quite go into the details of plumbing (which would be completely unnecessary). But it does cover all the sauna specific basics, ventilation, insulation, sauna benches, sauna stove stones and best practices.
The „Questions and Answers about Sauna" section is great! It has lots of information (hundreds of letters and their replies). Also, the „Reader's online pages" section has postings of sauna users and plenty of commercial posts of people who are selling sauna goods in local markets.
The site has some information on saunas and quite uniquely some lore stories of saunas. There are some good links on their site, but unfortunately many of them are quite outdated and no longer working. They have posted some results of sauna competitions and links to their coverage by BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/414887.stm).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna
Wikipedia has information of the general sauna experience and the history. It does not only deal with Finnish saunas, but also discusses other forms of saunas. Special depth is given to how widespread saunas are in different regions and countries. The article also details habits that are common on the local level in different regions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammam
Although the Hamman (Turkish sweat bath) and the Finnish sauna are similar in many aspects, they look, feel and are very different. It is somewhat similar to your typical spa steam bath, but the background, saunagoing habits and traditions are very different. Therefore Wikipedia has a separate article for it. Worth a read.
Fun:
http://mbjork.home.cern.ch/mbjork/gase/events/saunaab_test/saunaab_test.htm
The Saunaab is a Saab 900 automobile, converted to be a sauna. Visit the website of the amusing idea, the people who actually decided to go ahead with it and the crazy process of actually turning a car into a sauna. The site has a story of the Saunaab, lots of photos of the building process and details of the design decisions made. Go check it out!
http://www.primitiveways.com/sauna.html
This PrimitiveWays has an interesting article of the building process of the most primitive sauna of all. One like they used to be made way back in time with a wooden frame or hole in the ground, covered with animal skins. The article has interesting pictures of the building process of this tent-like sauna and a story to go along with it.
Commerce:
Harvia has a mindboggling range of products, including Electric Heaters, Control Units, Woodburning Stoves, Saunas, Cauldrons, Water Heaters, Fireplaces, Fireplace inserts, Iron Stoves, Sauna Products and more. They do not only have pictures of their products, but also have some 3D virtual views of saunas.
The founder of Harvia was Tapani Harvia (1920-1998). The Harvia homepage says "In the army he was always the one who dictated the pace of throwing water on the sauna stones. At the request of those who became impatient with Tapani Harvia's style of sauna bathing, he was actually granted his own private sauna shift. " Even more than that - he managed to take his childhood memories of a constantly heated sauna stove that was excellent engineering-wise and from the user perspective. It delivered a nice soft bath. It was forged by the village blacksmith. Supposedly he got his idea to turn saunas into his business from there and the idea took off very well. If you are looking to order an sauna, looking at what Harvia has to offer, is well worth it!
Finnelo has a wide range of standard offers for Finnish saunas, steam and infrared saunas. They also do customer Finnish saunas and ship the details to you. They say that the company history spans back to 1919.
http://www.nordicsauna.com/store/site/?CFID=198075&CFTOKEN=82369900
Nordic Sauna has an online shop, where you can order sauna heaters, prefabricated sauna rooms, sauna kits, infrared saunas, sauna accessories (thermometers, ladles, buckets, lights, stones, oils, essences and a lot more).
This is another online shop and also carries a lot of products. Definetly something you should look at when you do not have local sauna shops or when you need to order some products online.
Other languages:
http://www.saunamaailm.ee/ (Estonian and Russian)
An excellent resource with online shop, saunas for rent, galleries and sauna articles.