Try sweating at 80 degrees and then jumping into ice-cold water: you’ll find winter a lot more bearable! These saunas in and around Munich not only offer plenty of relaxation, they also feature some surprising extras – from snow cabins to sauna ships.
Münchner Stadtwerke has lots of great pools, but Dantebad is truly unique: in summer it has the city’s biggest outdoor pool, and in winter it’s the only place where you can swim outdoors in water that is heated to 30 degrees. And the winter outdoor pool at Westfriedhof also has the advantage of a great sauna area: in addition to the classic Finnish sauna, there’s also a not-so-hot sanarium with a view of the starry sky and a log cabin sauna. Afterwards, you can cool off at the ice fountain or the cold plunge pool.
The oldest and for some the most elegant indoor swimming pool in Munich is Müller'sche Volksbad. It opened at its location in Haidhausen back in 1901 and many of the original elements have been preserved to this day. While the rooms with the pools and changing rooms are reminiscent of Art Nouveau, the sauna area feels a little like Ancient Rome. The Roman-Irish sweat bath with its various rooms heated at different temperatures fits in well here. One particular feature of the sauna landscape is the sight-protected open-air courtyard, while the 34-degree circular pool inside is another impressive facility.
Müller'sches Volksbad, Rosenheimer Strasse 1
www.swm.de/muellersches-volksbad
The sauna area at Prinzregentenbad in Bogenhausen district is the largest in Munich, covering a surface area of 1,300 square metres. Here you have a choice of several saunas, a steam bath and a sanarium. The highlights are definitely the whirlpool, the open-air terrace with plunge pool and the Asian Zen garden, while on a matching theme you can book an Ayurveda massage in the wellness area next door. This is the only place that offers a combination of summer pool, ice rink and sauna – so if you fancy a round of skating before your sauna session, this is definitely the place to go!
Prinzregentenbad, Prinzregentenstrasse 80
Munich’s Olympic Swimming Pool (Olympiaschwimmhalle) has been a listed building since 1998 – and a lot of changes were made when the facility was renovated a few years ago: not only were the swimming pool and sauna refurbished to incorporate the latest technology, some cool extras were added too. These include the snow cabin in the sauna area, where you can actually cool off in the snow after your sauna session, and the Inspiration Sauna – where you can enjoy a little doze while listening to relaxing music. And for those who like it really hot, there’s actually a 100-degree sauna here, too!
Olympia Schwimmhalle, Coubertinplatz 1
www.swm.de/olympia-schwimmhalle
That’s right: the lakeside sauna centre Monte Mare actually has a boat anchored alongside it in Tegernsee (lake) which acts as a wonderfully inviting sauna – an absolutely unique experience! There’s nothing better than to jump straight into the lake after you’ve had your sweat – the water there is always cold. And there are other saunas for anyone who prefers to do without the sway of the boat: from the Panorama Sauna you have a wonderful view of the mountains, while in the cooler 65-degree Sauna for the Senses you sweat to meditative music. Monte Mare also has a whirlpool, relaxation loungers in the boathouse, a fireplace lounge and a winter garden, but the most striking feature is the unique view it offers of one of the most beautiful lakes in Bavaria.
Monte mare Seesauna, Hauptstrasse 63, 83684 Tegernsee
Definitely worth a trip: Erding just outside Munich is home to the largest thermal spa in the world! In addition to a wave pool and a slide landscape with an amazing 27 water slides, there’s naturally a huge sauna landscape in store for guests here, too – with as many as 35 saunas and steam baths. The huge sauna area at Therme Erding also has numerous restaurants and bars, and you can even rent your own relaxation area. The total surface area of this spa extends to 430,000 square metres. If you want to see everything, plan to spend the whole day – or you can even stay overnight at the integrated Therme Hotel.
Therme Erding, Thermenallee 1-5, 85435 Erding
Bad Aibling is a traditional peat pulp health resort located to the south-east of Munich near Rosenheim. So it comes as no surprise that the spa of the same name not only offers all kinds of mud treatments but also includes a moor dome sauna. While in other saunas you would apply a salt scrub, here you opt for a mud pack to enhance your sweating experience. And there’s lots more than this in store for sauna fans: the houseboat sauna on the Triftbach canal, a log cabin sauna, a rose quartz sauna and a steam ice bath – to name but a few. Meanwhile anyone who wants to feel as if they were by the seaside can breathe in salty air in the saline mist.
Therme Bad Aibling, Lindenstrasse 32, 83043 Bad Aibling
