‘A place for everybody’: Stockholm to open its first publicly run sauna

There is little doubt that Stockholm is a city of sauna-goers. All year round, from early morning to late into the night, the city’s residents can be seen emerging from wooden huts, a trail of woodsmoke coming from the chimney, and lowering themselves into the deep brackish waters of the Swedish capital’s shoreline. But, for locals and visitors alike, getting access to one of these saunas can be a bit like getting into the world’s most exclusive private members’ clubs: the most popular waterside venues have years-long waiting lists of thousands and when new places open up they disappear in minutes. While a proportion of spots are sometimes bookable to non-members, they are difficult to come by. The sauna arriving in Hornstull, a water-facing neighbourhood on the island of Södermalm Photograph: Robert Flinkenbro In an attempt to change this, the city of Stockholm will in June open its first publicly run sauna with the mission of bringing “sauna for all”. The new facility, in Hornstull, a water-facing neighbourhood in the largely residential island of Södermalm, is a pilot project which authorities hope will be the first of many city-run, membership-free saunas. Pia Karlsson, project manager from the City of Stockholm’s transport office, said the 5.5m Swedish kronor (£436,573) project had been born of a desire to move away from the prevailing model of “sauna for the few”. The municipality had wanted a sauna that was “100% accessible, so no membership. …