Saunas and steam rooms in Toronto offer a taste of our multicultural influences. Bathers can travel the world while staying within the city's limits: to Turkey for a traditional Turkish bath, Russia for a banya, and to Korea for a relaxing jjimjilbang. Besides our specialty sauna offerings (if those aren't your thing), the 416 has plenty of top-notch spas to choose from for an afternoon spent soaking in tranquility.
Here are my picks for the top saunas in Toronto.
TURKISH BATHS
Hammam Spa
Hammam Spa is the only facility in the 416 that offers a traditional Turkish bath, a ritual that involves relaxation in a warm steam room filled with cool and hot air, followed by a bath on a marble table in a very hot, candlelit room.
RUSSIAN BANYAS
South-Western Bathhouse
Mississauga's South-Western Bathhouse offers an authentic banya made of cedar with varying levels of heat in different areas of the spa. There's a brick stove within the sauna, as any traditional Russian spa should have, and tea room offerings for when you're done.
Sanduny Spa
The Sanduny Spa has a few key rules for your visit: take your time to relax, and enjoy a cold plunge once you've finished. For this North York banya, a few hours in the sauna can be as rewarding as time spent running. Try the Sauna Whisk to burn calories while you rest.
Vladimirskie Bani
The facilities at Vladimirskie Bani in Vaughan centre around a shallow pool surrounded by park benches, vines, and other greenery. There, bathers can refresh from their time in the banya or prepare for a long sit in the wood and stone sauna (also equipped with enough space to lay down while you sweat out all your stress).
Steamul Sauna
Steamul Spa is the only location on this list that provides the option for co-ed, family, and single sex services. While the type of customer may change from day-to-day, these Russian and Finnish spa services are there every day to cleanse your system and relax your mind.
KOREAN JJIMJILBANG
Seoul Zimzibang
The word jjimjil, in English, loosely translates to heating, an apt title for the process of entering a Korean spa. Traditional jjimjilbangs involve a commitment to healing through heat, whether in the form of hot tubbing, sitting in steam rooms or mineral sauna rooms. Seoul Zimzibang is the only spot in the city that provides the practice of relaxing in six mineral sauna rooms, each of which provide different therapeutic benefits for the body.
SPAS
Body Blitz
In between bouts of cold-plunging, resting, and showering in Body Blitz's über-relaxing water circuit, bathers are invited to spend some time in the spa's infrared sauna for a tranquil escape from the outside world.
Novo Spa
Yorkville's Novo Spa is home to a practice they call Steam Bed Body Therapies, a process that begins with exfoliating the entire body before laying the client down on a steam bed for a body wrap and foot/head massages. The entire experience mimics the relaxing properties of a traditional steam room, though amped up for the individual.
Spa My Blend and Ritz-Carlton
The tranquil environment at Spa My Blend - white walls, green tea-infused vitality pools - is enough to start the experience of true relaxation, though bathers often return for the location's aromatherapy steam rooms and luxuriously spacious sauna.
GYMS
Equinox Fitness
Equinox Fitness is the only gym in the city that provides spa services to non-members. The complete service list includes all types of facials, massages, and specialty treatments (like their seaweed body wrap), alongside their restorative sauna, an awesome start or finish for any good workout.
Did I miss any? Leave your picks for the top saunas in Toronto in the comments.
Photo via Hammam Spa on Facebook.