Harrogate Outdoor Sauna Opens: £16 for 50 Minutes

Two new outdoor saunas opened in the north of England in the past fortnight, one in Harrogate and one on a farm outside Lancaster. A London council is asking suppliers whether saunas in its parks could make money, and an award-winning Pembrokeshire sauna that lost its harbour site has put in plans for a beach nearby.

Cold Bath Plunge opens in Harrogate: wood-fired sauna, three plunge tubs, £16

A new outdoor sauna and cold water site called Cold Bath Plunge has opened in Harrogate, The York Press reported on 1 October. It sits off Crag Lane beside the Bamber & Brown café and took its first visitors on Friday 25 September. There is a wood-fired sauna, three cold plunge tubs each kept at a different temperature, hot and cold showers and changing cubicles. The site is off-grid and in woodland.

Sessions last 50 minutes, cost £16 and have to be booked in advance; it opens Wednesday to Sunday. The founder, Guy Coates, grew up in Harrogate and says he plans regular free sessions for local community groups. He chose the town for its spa history, which goes back to the discovery of its first mineral spring in 1571.

Three tubs at different temperatures make this a good place to start if you have not plunged before: begin in the warmest one and work down. Our sauna and cold plunge explainer covers how long to stay in each, and the session planner helps you plan rounds to fit a 50-minute slot. Report at The York Press.

Sauna Mökki opens on a farm at Halton, near Lancaster

Sauna Mökki, a wood-fired, off-grid outdoor sauna, has opened at Whinney Hill Farm in Halton, the Lancaster Guardian reported on 8 October. Between rounds you cool off in a cold bath or under a cold shower, then sit outside in open countryside. It opens Thursday to Sunday. The four founders, Katy Davies, Stuart Mayor, Samantha Smith and Hannah Ford, say they had been driving more than an hour to reach outdoor saunas in Wales, the Lakes and the Dales, and they plan to add memberships later.

The report does not give a price, so check the Sauna Mökki website before you go. For other saunas in the North West, see saunas in Cumbria and saunas in Manchester. Report at the Lancaster Guardian.

Richmond council looks at electric saunas in its parks to raise money

Richmond council in south-west London is researching outdoor saunas as a way to raise income, the BBC reported on 3 October. It has issued a notice asking suppliers how the outdoor sauna market works and whether sites would be “commercially and operationally viable”, with a deadline of 22 October. The council says it prefers lower-impact options, including electric heaters rather than wood-burning ones.

The backdrop is money. A new government funding formula will cut the council’s core funding by £29m a year by 2029, which is 58% of its central funding, and it is trying to save £39m a year by the same date. Nothing has been proposed yet, and the council says planning, environmental impact and the benefit to residents would all shape any plan. If electric versus wood-fired matters to you, our comparison of the two sets out the differences in heat and feel. What is already open in the capital is in saunas in London. Report at BBC News.

Hwyl Outdoor Sauna applies for Coppet Hall beach after the Saundersfoot refusal

Hwyl Outdoor Sauna, the mobile wood-fired sauna that won Sauna of the Year 2026/27 at the Wales Prestige Awards, has applied to move to Coppet Hall beach, the Western Telegraph reported on 7 October. The sauna had two years’ temporary permission overlooking Saundersfoot harbour from June 2024. In July, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park committee refused to let it stay there permanently, citing harm to the conservation area, reduced public access to the promenade and an unresolved flood assessment.

The new site would sit between the Coppet Hall Beach Centre and the tunnel to Wisemans Bridge, on the Hean Castle Estate, next to an existing café, surf shop, toilets and an outdoor cold shower. Owner Kerry Evans is still appealing the earlier refusal, and a petition to save the sauna has passed 620 signatures. Planners will consider the new application at a later date. A sauna on wheels can move when the permission runs out; our sauna trailer guide explains how these units work. For coastal saunas already trading, see saunas across the rest of Britain. Report at the Western Telegraph.