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Spa Sommelier
The harbour bath at Islands Brygge in Copenhagen under a stormy sky: wooden decks on the water, a red-and-white lifeguard tower and a bridge behind
Copenhagen

4 spas; in this city the cold water matters as much as the heat.

Photo: Daniel R. Witte, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Copenhagen: a 1917 bathhouse, wood-fired tubs, a saunagus club and a hotel pool

Copenhagen bathes cold first. Denmark counts more than 30,000 organised winter bathers in 115 clubs, and since 2002 the cleaned-up harbour has had its own baths, starting at Islands Brygge.

The city's indoor tradition is the municipal bathhouse, and one still works: Sjællandsgade Bad in Nørrebro, built in 1917 and now run by volunteers. It carries our Ritual tag. The saunagus clubs do not: the ritual takes its name from the German Aufguss.

We chose four, at least 1 km apart. Indre By and Nordhavn have no pick: nothing there passed with a bath, sauna or pool we could verify. Spectrum Wellness, in a hotel on Kalvebod Brygge, is the only pick with a pool.

Illustrated map of Copenhagen from Nørrebro to Sydhavn: the lakes, the inner harbour and the canals of Christianshavn, with Christiansborg, the Round Tower, Nyhavn, the Church of Our Saviour and a floating sauna drawn in cobalt ink 1234
  1. 1

    Nørrebro and Østerbro · Nørrebro, Sjællandsgade

    Sjællandsgade Bad

    LocalHistoricRitual

    The last bathhouse Copenhagen built, from 1917, now run by volunteers: tub baths, a sauna, a cold tub and saunagus on set days.

    BathhouseSauna

    Not publishedprice page unavailable · four days a week

  2. 2

    Christianshavn and Refshaleøen · Refshaleøen, Refshalevej

    CopenHot

    LocalNatureSocial

    Saunas and hot tubs heated with firewood on Refshaleøen, with cold plunges, changing huts and beer.

    Sauna

    Bookingprices on the booking page

  3. 3

    Islands Brygge and Amager · Kalvebod Brygge, in the Scandic Spectrum

    Spectrum Wellness

    BoutiqueModernTreatment

    A hotel spa on Kalvebod Brygge open to visitors: a 25-metre pool at 29 degrees, a Finnish sauna and steam, two hours for DKK 475.

    PoolSaunaSteamMassage

    DKK 475two hours, visitors

  4. 4

    Vesterbro · Sydhavn, Vasbygade

    Plugin Heat Club

    LocalModernSocial

    A saunagus club in Sydhavn: 75-minute guided sessions of heat and cold plunges, open from seven every day.

    Sauna

    Ticketsprices on the booking page

Checked 7 November 2026. Picks follow the same published rules in every city.