How the Olladay Sauna Index ranks saunas

Every sauna is scored out of 100 from 15 facts it publishes about itself.

Newest check: 21 October 2026.

The rules

Nobody can pay to rank. The code that scores a sauna never sees whether it is on Olladay, claimed or paying.
Every fact comes from the sauna’s own website or its own booking page, never another directory, a press article, Google, TripAdvisor or Instagram comments. Each one links to the page it came from, with a short quote and the day it was checked. A fact without all three is not used.
A sauna is ranked once all 6 required facts are known: heat source, cold water, session length, price per minute, days open a week and book online. The rest are listed as not yet assessed, with what is missing.
A bonus fact a sauna does not publish scores 0. Ties go to the sauna with more facts known, then by name.
Price, session length and online booking come from the sauna’s directory listing when the index has not checked them yet. The listing was checked against the sauna’s own website too.
Google ratings are shown live beside a sauna, labelled, and are never part of the score.
Reviews from a finished Olladay booking count once. Open reviews, where the guest confirmed their email and gave a visit date, count half.
A best page stays out of search results until at least six saunas on it are ranked.

People’s Choice

Each county’s best page also runs a People’s Choice vote for the year. Anyone can vote for any sauna in the county, ranked or not, once per email address per county each year, after confirming their email. Votes are shown apart from the index and never change a sauna’s score. Nobody can pay for votes, a sauna can’t vote for itself from its own email address, and a sudden run of votes for one sauna waits for Olladay to check it before it counts.

The score

Heat: 25 points

Fact	Needed to rank	Points
Heat source	Required	wood: 12, electric or gas: 8, infrared: 2
Temperature	Bonus	80°C or more: 5, 70 to 79°C: 2
Löyly (water on the stones)	Bonus	yes: 4
Aufguss or sauna-master sessions	Bonus	yes: 4

Cold: 20 points

Fact	Needed to rank	Points
Cold water	Required	sea, lake or river: 20, cold plunge or ice bath: 12, cold shower: 4

Time and value: 20 points

Fact	Needed to rank	Points
Session length	Required	45 min or more: 6, 30 to 44 min: 3
Price per minute	Required	up to 75% of the median: 14, up to the median: 10, up to 125% of the median: 6, above that: 2 The cheapest standard adult shared session over its length, against the median of ranked saunas in the same country.

Setting and comfort: 15 points

Fact	Needed to rank	Points
On the water	Bonus	yes: 5
Changing rooms or huts	Bonus	yes: 3
Showers	Bonus	yes: 3
Most people per session	Bonus	at most 8: 4, at most 14: 2

Access: 10 points

Fact	Needed to rank	Points
Days open a week	Required	7 days: 4, 5 or 6 days: 3, 3 or 4 days: 2, 1 or 2 days: 1
Open before 08:00	Bonus	yes: 2
Open until 20:00 or later	Bonus	yes: 2
Book online	Required	yes: 2

Guest verdict: 10 points

Fact	Needed to rank	Points
Guest reviews	Always scored	10 × (B − 1) / 4, where B = (10 × 4.0 + the sum of ratings) / (10 + the number of reviews). With no reviews every sauna gets 7.5.