The 10 Bucket-List Saunas, Hot Springs, And Thermal Baths From Around The World / By Sallie Lewis / www.dwell.com/ Sedat Karagoz / Istanbul,New York Travel,Tourism News Office / Janbolat Khanat Almaty Travel,Tourism News Office
10 Bucket-List Saunas, Hot Springs, And Thermal Baths From Around The World / By Sallie Lewis / www.dwell.com/ Sedat Karagoz / Istanbul,New York Travel,Tourism News Office / Janbolat Khanat Almaty Travel,Tourism News Office
In her new book, “Thermal,” author Lindsey Bro plunges into the deepest reaches of the globe exploring the healing powers of heat.
If you’ve ever stepped foot inside a cedar sauna or soaked in hot springs, you’ve participated in something much greater than a good sweat.
“From the hot, enveloping atmosphere of the sauna; to the deep, embracing allure of geothermal waters; to the sometimes contradictory, yet always beloved and enduring initiation of bathhouses around the world, we as humans appear to crave the sacred rites of water, in all its forms, as a way to remember,” writes Lindsey Bro in her new book, Thermal, a steamy volume available November 22 via Chronicle Books.
Full of breathtaking photography and engaging stories, THERMAL is a celebration of the places, traditions, and mythologies surrounding the healing benefits of heat.
But these traditions we hold dear are as much about connecting with the past as they are about healing. In her book, Bro explores some of the world’s most dramatic saunas, hot springs, and bathing pools, spaces we’re drawn to for their restorative and reviving powers.
For lovers of a good schvitz or soak, sink yourself into these magnificent phenomena, natural and man-made, from a cocoon-shaped sauna on the fringes of Tasmania to the world’s largest hot spring in the volcanic wilds of New Zealand.
Panorama Glass Lodge, Hella, Iceland
Created after appearing to its owner in a dream, the Panorama Glass Lodge offers direct views of the active volcano Hekla, the northern lights, the midnight sun, a beautiful river, and the Icelandic highlands—all from the comfort of your bed.
Inspired by the simple, rugged beauty of Scandinavian houses, the property consists of four lodges and two saunas completely immersed in nature. “Saunas are very important to us locals. We think it is important for body health and mental health, as well as a way to deeply relax and unwind,” says co-owner Sabrina Dedler.
In Iceland, a country that embraces cold winds and freezing temperatures, “we are able to find a greater balance of health by incorporating sauna,” she says.
Courtesy of Panorama Glass Lodge
House of the Weedy Seadragon, Pirates Bay, Tasmania
“Rugged and wild, Tasmania is beautiful year-round, and we wanted to use our shack in every season,” say co-owners and sisters Lara McCartney and Clair Peachey.
“As winters can be cold, the sauna provides a warm, peaceful cocoon; it’s a beautiful way to enjoy the weather and storms that roll in over the Tasman Peninsula from across the Tasman Sea.
From the sauna, you can watch the tuna boats returning with their catch, humpback whales coming home with their calves, and countless seabirds swarming.”
Photo by Renee Thurs
The Bands, Kleivan, Norway
Ninety-five miles north of the Arctic Circle, with craggy peaks, open seas, and sheltered bays, sits the dramatic, remote, and lonely archipelago of Lofoten.
With an imposing beauty, the islands are part of the Scandinavian Caledonides, a mountain range that stretches from northern Norway all the way to the south, and comprises six principal islands and hundreds of smaller, unpopulated ones.
Within this landscape sits The Bands, a seaside sauna built on a quay in the former fishing village of Kleivan.
The sauna was commissioned by the local district to tie together the old with the new, incorporating three historical pre-existing buildings—a fisherman’s cottage (Rorbu), a cod liver oil–production building (Trandamperi), and a cod-salting building (Brygge)—with a new structure.
Evoking the rocks below and waves nearby, The Bands gets its name from three ribbon-like, connected wooden bands that echo the angular landscape. Each band folds to form the 969-square-foot structure, made up of several outdoor areas. To the north, the bands emerge from the rocks, offering a hot tub and a cold tub as well as a rest area.
Built sensitively within the surrounding environment, the light-filled, 161-square-foot [15-square-meter] sauna features clerestory windows made from translucent plastic and a gabled wall with windows looking out on the nearby mountains. As the bands bend and fold, they continue to form a fish-cleaning station, a picnic terrace, and many places to lounge and rest.
Courtesy of the Scarcity and Creativity Studio at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Sheldon Chalet, Denali, Alaska
Alaska is synonymous with wild beauty and its landscapes demand respect. Here, simple comforts feel like luxuries.
The Sheldon Chalet sits on a lonely outcropping, a five-acre nunatak in the Don Sheldon Amphitheater of Denali’s Ruth Glacier.
As one of the most remote guest-houses in the world—accessible only by bush plane, or on foot by the very bravest of mountaineers willing to risk their lives—the chalet offers views and an experience like no other.
Just south of the chalet on the same outcropping is the Historic Mountain House, a small hut built in 1966. It’s perched at an elevation of 6,000 feet, a short distance from the summit of Denali, in the middle of the six-million-acre park.
Because of this extreme setting, the original owner, Roberta Sheldon, used to ask guests if they were “physically fit and mentally flexible” before they made the journey to the hut.
With remoteness and accessibility a consideration, all the materials for the chalet and sauna had to be flown in by plane or hung by a sling and helicoptered in.
A stunning accomplishment, the five-bedroom chalet and cedar-lined sauna are a well-earned place to watch a solar storm, witnessing the purples, blues, and greens of the aurora with the naked eye. Located 63º north of the equator, the chalet is designed to endure 100ºF [56ºC] temperature swings, hurricane-force winds, and the incredibly brutal Alaskan climate.
Sauna, or bastu in Swedish, is a natural way of life for the people of the North. Like the midnight sun or the northern lights, sauna and cold baths are deeply ingrained in everyday life here.
Cold plunges, together with a warm sauna, are incredibly invigorating and often credited with building the sort of resilience Swedes are known for.
This restorative combination is used to ease sore and aching muscles, help the central nervous system, and reduce the body’s inflammatory response.
The Arctic Bath & Spa, located just south of the Arctic Circle, was built as a reminder of the region’s heritage, its essential connection to nature, and the overwhelming importance of the forest. Situated on the Lule River, an old transportation route for timber, the main circular building was designed to imitate log jams in the river rapids.
Here, the sauna experience is about the connection between mind and body, energy and health, earth and well-being. It’s about using all of your senses to feel refreshed, release tension, and expand your awareness.
Courtesy of Arctic Bath & Spa
Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Rotorua, New Zealand
Situated within the Pacific Rim of Fire, Rotorua is a hotbed of geothermal activity. The Waimangu Volcanic Valley is the world’s youngest geothermal valley—formed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. Renowned for its mud pools, hyperpigmented opaque waters, and natural hot springs, Rotorua is steeped in deep Maori culture.
The tangata whenua, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, believe in the restorative and spiritual power of the natural world, an idea embodied by kaitiakitanga, the Maori concept of guarding over and stewarding the land.
Geothermally, Waimangu (meaning “black water”) is a hotbed of activity, featuring the largest hot spring in the world—it is too hot to swim in—with temperatures of 122 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and features brilliantly colored microbiology (like the red algae) and intense mineral deposits in the water.
According to Maori mythology, the hot springs came about when a priest, Nga-toroirangi, was caught in a blizzard while climbing Mount Tongariro. He called on his sisters, the fire goddesses Te Pupu and Te Hoata, to come from Hawaiki (their Polynesian home) to relieve his chills. After traveling underwater, the goddesses surfaced on New Zealand’s North Island in Rotorua, where the region’s hot pools are now found.
Today, residents of Rotorua continue to embrace the unique geothermal properties of the area to cook ha-ngı-—a traditional method using an earth oven—in the natural thermal steam and sulfurous water.
Courtesy of 2022 iStock.com
Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey
The terraced travertine pools of Pamukkale sit in the southwest Denizli region of Turkey, carrying with them the ancient history of a holy city where emperors soaked and, it’s rumored, Cleopatra swam.
“Bathing is one of the many practices of letting go,” says Ekin Balcıog˘ lu of Hamam magazine. In Turkish culture and around the world, “bathing can be communal or personal,” and on some level, it’s always profound.
Pamukkale’s seventeen pools sit above the Anatolian Plateau, featuring shallow thermal waters that range from 91 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heated by subterranean tectonic activity, the water pushes its way through 984 feet of earth, including a layer of limestone that dissolves into the liquid, enriching the bicarbonate and colloidal-iron water with calcium carbonate.
As the water evaporates, the calcium carbonate is left behind, creating a gel that eventually petrifies to form travertine, which gives the terraces their iconic white features. This explains the name Pamukkale, which translates to “cotton castle.”
Photo by Uğurcan Özmen
Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia
Located in the region’s coffee triangle, these volcanic hot springs were first discovered in the early 1940s by a local family and opened to the public shortly thereafter.
Including both hot and cold pools, the springs are situated at the base of three neighboring waterfalls.
A popular destination for locals and visitors alike, Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal features human-made pools as well as steamy lagoons hidden in the forest, but the main attraction is the Santa Helena waterfall that flows through the property.
Photo by Melissa Chaquea
Kurokawa Onsen, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Kurokawa Onsen is one of the most frequented hot-spring towns among Japanese bathers, but is relatively unknown to Westerners.
Located in the mountains of Kumamoto Prefecture, visitors to Kurokawa typically embrace the relaxation and seclusion of the region by staying in a traditional ryokan, or inn.
For a local treat, onsen tamago, or hot-spring eggs, are boiled in the stable thermal waters and sold as street food as a regional delicacy; in Hakone, the eggs are boiled in sulfurous volcanic waters, turning their shells black.
With no hotels or colorful signs, Kurokawa boasts only the pure and simple aesthetics of a traditional Japanese village surrounded by forests, mountains, and calming rivers.
Featuring ancient wooden buildings and earth-and-stone stairs, the town is lined with small shops and inns, and bathers shuttle from one ryokan to another wearing their yukatas (robes) and geta (sandals).
Known as Spa City since 1934, Budapest has an abundance of riches when it comes to its countless fountains of thermal waters. An impressive 18.5 million gallons of 70 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit thermal waters issue daily from the city’s 118 naturally occurring springs.
In fact, an underground series of springs run next to the Danube River and a network of thermal baths above ground allow access to the city’s waters. Since the 13th century the region has been famous for its healing waters, and visiting the hot springs is an integral part of life here.
Frequented as often for their health benefits as for the opportunity they provide to catch up, swap stories, and gossip, the baths of Budapest are both a solitary and a social affair. Of all the baths here, the most famous is the Gellért Baths, known for its Art Nouveau and Art Deco furnishings, artistic mosaics, stained-glass windows, and opulent sculptures.
The main allure here is the design of the complex, which features six pools and a glass roof that opens during the summer.
The mineral-rich waters pour over multiple layers of glazed ceramic tiles, which also feature mosaics that mark the temperature—104 degrees in one pool, 97 in another. Outside, you can either lie in the cold pools or play in the wave pool that has been in continuous operation since 1924.
JANBOLAT KHANAT CO - FOUNDER / GENERAL DIRECTOR/ REGIONAL MANAGER JANBOLAT KHANAT + 7 702 230 42 17 (whatsapp) NEWYORK 797 / 7th Ave, New York City, New York 10019, USA / TONY BAR / JENNIFER BAR
Travel Exclusive News / Istanbul / Turkey / 7 Of The Best Neighborhoods in Istanbul / By Jennifer Hattam / www.lonelyplanet.com/ Jennifer Bar,Tony Bar, Sedat Karagoz / Istanbul,New York Travel,Tourism News Office / Janbolat Khanat / Almaty Travel,Tourism News Office
With its huge size and centuries of history, it would be impossible to see all of Istanbul in one trip – or perhaps even in one lifetime.
Still, its central neighborhoods are relatively compact, and each has its own distinct character and offerings. First-time visitors and those on a tight schedule will likely want to book a hotel in Sultanahmet, smack in the middle of Istanbul’s star attractions, while time spent in other districts gives insights into different aspects of local life in a city that contains multitudes.
Get to know Istanbul by each neighborhood one at a time.
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1. Sultanahmet
Best place to stay for unmissable sights
The (seriously) historic center of Istanbul and the former seat of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, Sultanahmet contains the majority of the city’s most-visited sights within walking distance of each other, making it a convenient base.
For historic atmosphere, it’s certainly hard to beat: the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque face off across Sultanahmet Square, with the storied Hippodrome alongside and the grandeur of Topkapı Palace just a stone’s throw away. Even seemingly nondescript parks, plazas and parking lots are built atop or alongside ancient ruins.
With a dense concentration of hotels, accommodation options cater to every budget, including rooms in restored Ottoman mansions and simple pansiyons (hostels) with million-dollar rooftop views over the neighborhood’s domes and minarets.
The flip side is that little local life remains in Sultanahmet, and the generally tourist-focused restaurants hardly show off Turkish cuisine at its best.
Best neighborhood for contemporary art and culture
Across the Golden Horn (and a short tram ride away) from Sultanahmet, winding streets climb past the Galata Tower to İstiklal Caddesi, the pedestrian thoroughfare that cuts through the bustling Beyoğlu district.
Known in the past as Pera and Galata, this area has historically been home to many of Istanbul’s Christian and foreign communities. Today, it retains numerous – and sometimes beautifully restored – European-style apartments from the late 19th and early 20th century.
Important cultural institutions such as the Pera Museum, the newly opened Istanbul Modern, SALT Beyoğlu, SALT Galata (in the former headquarters of the Ottoman Bank), the Istanbul Research Institute and numerous small galleries have established themselves in some of these buildings, making the neighborhood ideal for an afternoon of art-going.
Though no longer the nexus of the city’s dining and nightlife scene it once was, Beyoğlu still has fine contemporary restaurants as well as lively meyhanes (taverns) where the raki and conviviality flow freely.
In addition to the large hotels around Taksim Square, you can find smaller hotels and rental apartments in the Cihangir, Çukurcuma, Galata and Karaköy quarters within Beyoğlu, each of which has an attractive atmosphere of its own.
3. Fener and Balat
Best areas for antiques and Instagram shoots
Traces of history blend with a stylish present in the adjacent neighborhoods of Fener and Balat, along the banks of the Golden Horn.
The landmark “iron church” and Patriarchal Church of St George attest to the area’s more cosmopolitan past, while colorful old homes and cobbled streets have become a favorite backdrop for film crews and Instagram influencers alike.
Antique collectors, bargain hunters and nostalgia buffs descend on the neighborhood’s many antique stores, especially when they hold lively auctions, while the cafe culture here thrives.
This area doesn’t have many hotel or nightlife options, but a tram along the water – as well as a slower but more scenic ferry on the Golden Horn – make it relatively easy to get back to Sultanahmet or Beyoğlu after a day’s leisurely wandering.
The popularity of the Kadıköy district on the Asian side of Istanbul has exploded in recent years, creating a neighborhood that’s vibrant day and night, with third-wave coffee shops, hip boutiques, small independent art galleries, restaurants, cocktail bars, pubs and live-music venues.
While the neighborhood has a few notable sights – a museum dedicated to a beloved Turkish rock star, a 1927 opera house, a mixed-use cultural center in a restored gasworks, a colorful street market – the main attraction is simply soaking in the scene and admiring the spectacular sunsets from the long waterfront park’s promenade.
This area has a handful of hotel options, mostly near the water, but it’s easy to hop over for the day or evening from Eminönü or Karaköy on a ferry ride – a quintessential Istanbul experience in itself.
5. Nişantaşı and Teşvikiye
Best places to go for luxury shopping
Just north of Taksim Square, chic Nişantaşı and Teşvikiye draw a fashionable set with their leafy streets lined with designer boutiques and high-end department stores, stylish sidewalk cafes and grand apartment buildings.
This area has good restaurants and some luxurious hotels, too. The neighborhoods abut Maçka Park, one of the largest green spaces in the city center and a popular spot with picnickers, dog walkers and joggers.
Though the area is in the central city, limited transportation links are a downside. Walking to the Osmanbey metro station or downhill to the buses and ferries of Beşiktaş are the best ways to connect to the rest of the city.
6. Kurtuluş and Bomonti
Best areas for market shopping and local life
Down-to-earth Kurtuluş and up-and-coming Bomonti are just on the opposite side of the Osmanbey metro station from Nişantaşı and Teşvikiye – but a world away in atmosphere.
Kurtuluş offers the best of traditional neighborhood life, with bustling streets and a wealth of small homestyle restaurants, bakeries, delis and other food stores.
Anchored around the Bomontiada entertainment complex in a historic brewery building, Bomonti has a growing dining and nightlife scene, as well as some higher-end hotels. In between is Feriköy, where an open-air market is set up in a parking garage multiple times a week, with vendors selling organic produce on Saturday, antiques on Sunday and a mixed array of foodstuffs and homewares on Mondays and Thursdays.
Best places to stay for deluxe hotels with Bosphorus views
The neighborhoods of Beşiktaş and Ortaköy along the Bosphorus are home to some of Istanbul’s most luxurious international hotels, boasting broad views across the famous strait.
Beşiktaş itself is a busy transit hub with a youthful vibe and lots of casual bars and restaurants around its lively market area. A group of restored late-19th-century Ottoman row houses in the Akaretler part of the neighborhood, near the Naval Museum, is now home to cafes and contemporary art exhibitions.
Sitting under the first Bosphorus Bridge, Ortaköy has a beautiful baroque mosque and a popular waterfront area. Both areas have ferry docks, though Beşiktaş has more connections.
In between sits hilly, green Yıldız Park, former hunting ground to the sultan, now a popular place to have a big Turkish breakfast buffet in a century-old pavilion.
Travel Exclusive News / Istanbul / Turkey / 7 Of The Best Neighborhoods in Istanbul / By Jennifer Hattam / www.lonelyplanet.com/ Jennifer Bar,Tony Bar, Sedat Karagoz / Istanbul,New York Travel,Tourism News Office / Janbolat Khanat / Almaty Travel,Tourism News Office
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![Ninety-five miles north of the Arctic Circle, with craggy peaks, open seas, and sheltered bays, sits the dramatic, remote, and lonely archipelago of Lofoten. With an imposing beauty, the islands are part of the Scandinavian Caledonides, a mountain range that stretches from northern Norway all the way to the south, and comprises six principal islands and hundreds of smaller, unpopulated ones. Within this landscape sits The Bands, a seaside sauna built on a quay in the former fishing village of Kleivan. The sauna was commissioned by the local district to tie together the old with the new, incorporating three historical pre-existing buildings—a fisherman’s cottage (Rorbu), a cod liver oil–production building (Trandamperi), and a cod-salting building (Brygge)—with a new structure. Evoking the rocks below and waves nearby, The Bands gets its name from three ribbon-like, connected wooden bands that echo the angular landscape. Each band folds to form the 969-square-foot structure, made up of several outdoor areas. To the north, the bands emerge from the rocks, offering a hot tub and a cold tub as well as a rest area. Built sensitively within the surrounding environment, the light-filled, 161-square-foot [15-square-meter] sauna features clerestory windows made from translucent plastic and a gabled wall with windows looking out on the nearby mountains. As the bands bend and fold, they continue to form a fish-cleaning station, a picnic terrace, and many places to lounge and rest.](https://images2.dwell.com/photos/6711721526265430016/6955167351236927488/original.jpg?auto=format&q=35&w=160)
![Alaska is synonymous with wild beauty and its landscapes demand respect. Here, simple comforts feel like luxuries. The Sheldon Chalet sits on a lonely outcropping, a five-acre nunatak in the Don Sheldon Amphitheater of Denali’s Ruth Glacier. As one of the most remote guest-houses in the world—accessible only by bush plane, or on foot by the very bravest of mountaineers willing to risk their lives—the chalet offers views and an experience like no other. Just south of the chalet on the same outcropping is the Historic Mountain House, a small hut built in 1966. It’s perched at an elevation of 6,000 feet, a short distance from the summit of Denali, in the middle of the six-million-acre park. Because of this extreme setting, the original owner, Roberta Sheldon, used to ask guests if they were "physically fit and mentally flexible" before they made the journey to the hut. With remoteness and accessibility a consideration, all the materials for the chalet and sauna had to be flown in by plane or hung by a sling and helicoptered in. A stunning accomplishment, the five-bedroom chalet and cedar-lined sauna are a well-earned place to watch a solar storm, witnessing the purples, blues, and greens of the aurora with the naked eye. Located 63º north of the equator, the chalet is designed to endure 100ºF [56ºC] temperature swings, hurricane-force winds, and the incredibly brutal Alaskan climate.](https://images2.dwell.com/photos/6711721526265430016/6955167609769136128/original.jpg?auto=format&q=35&w=160)
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