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In just seven months, I’ve become a travel writer and Nordic spa connoisseur. I started the year off with a visit to Destination Kohler in January 2024, then headed to Canada for a soothing dip at Strohm Nordic Spa in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Now, no vacation seems complete without the smoky steam of a sauna and the goosebump-inducing high of jumping into a 60-degree pool. But it wasn’t always that way.
As a kid, “playing the spa” meant squeezing artificially colored green goo from a drugstore bottle onto my face and rubbing cucumber slices on my eyelids, a routine I called a “mud mask.” Massages, as far as I knew, were for fashionable people. Manicures were something my cousins and I experimented with on each other’s fingernails.
But the Nordic spa tradition is more about wellness than beauty, which is why I love spas: I don’t think I could travel so often for work without hitting the sauna between flights and enjoying the benefits.
Strom Spa (Adrian Williams)
Nordic spa treatments, long thought to have health benefits, are usually “hydrotherapy” treatments, which involve alternating hot and cold water baths. Hydrotherapy involves alternating between hot and cold water and hot pools with dry saunas and steam rooms. You might also get a spinoff of hydrotherapy, such as Destination Kohler’s Fire and Ice treatment, in which you lie under a multi-head “Vichy” shower while the beautician uses a mitt to exfoliate your skin and slides peppermint-infused ice spheres down your arms, legs and torso.
Fire and Ice Treatment at Destination Kohler (Destination Kohler)
Treatments that combine hot and cold water are typically said to relieve muscle soreness, support the immune system, reduce inflammation and release endorphins, explains Simone Lyons, director of operations at Alyeska Nordic Spa at Alyeska Resort. Nestled in Anchorage’s beautiful Chugach Mountains, Alyeska’s recently renovated Wellness Center is Alaska’s first Nordic spa, where guests can rejuvenate after a long day of hiking or skiing.
Alyeska Nordic Spa (Alyeska Nordic Spa)
According to Lyons, Nordic spa culture has always developed in places with both natural springs of cold and thermal water, whether at sea level or in the high mountains. “For thousands of years, Nordic people have been inspired by the natural contrasts of the region and have harnessed the alternative therapeutic powers of hot and cold water,” Lyons explains.
So southern Alaska is naturally ripe for a natural spa setting, thanks to the beauty of the Pacific rainforest and sub-freezing temperatures. Lyons says Alyeska is surrounded by spruce and hemlock trees, and guests can soak in a variety of outdoor saunas and barrel hot tubs.
The Blue Lagoon (Megan DeMatteo)
Luckily, my first experience with authentic Nordic hydrotherapy was at Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, a geothermal pool and spa resort about 30 miles from Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. The lagoon was formed when wastewater from the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power plant was accidentally concentrated. While it’s not a naturally occurring geothermal spa as some have erroneously claimed, the mineral-rich milky blue waters of the Blue Lagoon provided the perfect tranquility to unwind from a 27-hour layover when I flew in there in 2018 on my way to a summer writing training program in Dublin. The steam rising from the saltwater pool beckoned me. I waded in the water, purchased an outrageously expensive mud pack, and then lounged in the resort’s cozy oversized robe. Not a bad introduction to spas, I guess. (Now you see why I’ve become a snob?)
The Blue Lagoon (Megan DeMatteo)
Nordic spas have been popping up in the U.S. and across North America in recent years, a trend Lyons attributes to a “steady growing” interest in wellness, natural remedies, and self-care. Of course, as a millennial, nothing makes me prouder than seeing the self-care trend sweeping the country. But the history of the Nordic spa goes beyond the latest TikTok fad.
Bridget Redman, a travel writer and cultural journalist who co-authored the International Spa Association’s spa textbook, explains that the popularity of the Nordic spa concept comes from a recent cultural obsession with cold baths, a connection that many may not realise, even though cold baths are a key component of Nordic spas.
“We’ve seen a surge in the popularity of cold baths over the last year, but it’s unclear whether this is a permanent trend or a passing fad,” Redman said, adding that he’ll be “very interested” to see whether more spas will invest in the infrastructure needed to make cold baths a part of spa culture.
Redman argues that it would be difficult for a spa to implement cold plunge because it would require a significant investment: “It’s not like just adding another type of facial or buying another piece of equipment.”
eugenesergeev via Getty Images
One of the most “old school” and iconic hydrotherapy spas is undoubtedly the Russian and Turkish Baths in New York City’s Lower East Side. There are no trends or fads to be found here. Founded in 1892, the historic baths feature a traditional Russian “banya,” or wood-heated steam room, as well as a Turkish steam room and an ice-cold plunge pool.
Photo by Diana Robinson via Getty Images
Visitors can also request an invigorating Plazza Oak Leaf treatment, which involves vigorously brushing the skin with oak leaves soaked in olive oil soap, a treatment that’s said to increase circulation and refresh and rejuvenate the body (in my case, after my first Plazza treatment in 2022, my skin was smoother and more radiant).
Why not take a dive into the Baltic Sea? (Megan DeMatteo)
Perhaps my most enjoyable Nordic spa experience of 2024 was a visit to Löyly in Helsinki in July. For just 25 euros you can book a public sauna in a stylish, eco-friendly waterfront building that doubles as a restaurant and social venue.
Loiri, Helsinki (Ulla Mäkelä / Visit to Finland)
Guests can alternate between three different Finnish-style wood-heated saunas, before cooling off with a dip in the Baltic Sea after a steamy soak.
The authors are genuinely passionate about these travel experiences and may be sponsored or compensated for some of the trips featured.
Megan DeMatteo is an independent journalist, editor, and creative writer currently based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Dwell, Fodor’s Travel, Sherwood News, Marie Claire, Insider, and more. Her first trip abroad was to Costa Rica, after which she studied in Valparaiso, Chile and Dublin, Ireland, where she performed a séance in Oscar Wilde’s former dorm room.
