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Gay Saunas in Stockholm: The Honest 2026 Answer

Last verified: October 2026 · Compiled from venue checks and local and international sources from 2025–2026 · Report a change

Stockholm loves a sauna. Swedes call it bastu, and the city is in the middle of a sauna boom: wooden saunas on piers, floating saunas on the archipelago, and in June 2026 the city's first municipal sauna opened on the water at Hornstull. Breathe in the dry heat and the scent of pine wood, step out into the cool Nordic air, drop into the clear, cold water of Lake Mälaren, then warm up with a coffee and a cinnamon bun while the spires of Gamla Stan catch the evening light. It's one of the best things you can do in Stockholm. But here's the paradox: in one of Europe's most liberal, equal capitals, a city that worships the bastu, you won't find a classic European gay sauna. History and the property market saw to that. Instead, the scene has split in two: bold urban cruise clubs on one side, and relaxed, naked sauna sessions by the water on the other. This page explains why, and where to go.

The short answer: Stockholm has no gay sauna or bathhouse in 2026, and no public sauna known as a gay meeting place. For cruising, go to the cruise clubs (darkrooms and cabins, but no sauna). For a relaxed, social sauna with other queer people, look out for queerbastu sessions.

Legal in one line: Sweden decriminalised same-sex relations in 1944, opened marriage to same-sex couples in 2009, and bans discrimination. Gay saunas are legal again since 2004; the obstacle today is business, not law.

Why Stockholm has no gay sauna

Stockholm once had a lively bathhouse scene. Everything changed on 1 July 1987, when, at the height of the AIDS panic, the bastuklubbslagen (the "sauna-club law") came into force, banning venues where men could meet for sex. The Viking Sauna and the few other gay saunas in Stockholm and Gothenburg closed immediately, and porn-video clubs took their place. Only a handful of people were ever charged under the law; police stopped raiding in the mid-1990s, and the law was finally repealed in 2004.

By then, the scene had moved on. Attempts to open a new gay sauna have repeatedly failed:

• 2011: "Gaybastun San Francisco" on Roslagsgatan was renovated for a reported 1.2 million kronor, but the building's housing association refused to allow showers, so it opened as a video club without a sauna.
• 2016–2017: Texas Sauna, billed as a "workers' sauna rather than a spa" on Södermalm, opened on a short lease. Visitors described a small sauna, a cruising maze made of lockers and a sling room, but it closed for good in 2017.
• Rainbow Social Club, a gym and sauna for men at Studentbacken in Gärdet, has also closed.

As Sweden's queer magazine QX noted, demand is there ("everyone wants a sauna club"), but landlords have been reluctant to rent to one. If a website or an AI-written guide tells you about an open gay sauna in Stockholm, with jacuzzis and themed nights, it's out of date or made up.

The queer alternative: queerbastu

The closest thing Stockholm has to a gay sauna is not a sex venue at all. Queerbastu sessions, open to the public, are social sauna evenings for queer people, where, as one participant told the Swedish magazine MåBra, "all bodies and gender identities are welcome". They've been held at Tantobastun, the association-run wooden sauna in Tantolunden park on Södermalm, and at Flatenbadet, the lakeside bathing spot in the nature reserve south-east of the city. They are relaxed, social and non-sexual (at the session MåBra visited, everyone bathed naked), and they're popular: the May 2025 session at Tantobastun was marked full. Places are booked online through the sauna's own booking page, so follow the listings and book as soon as a date is announced.

For cruising: the clubs (no sauna)

If what you want from a gay sauna is the cruising, Stockholm's answer is its cruise clubs. None has a sauna or steam room, but all have darkrooms and cabins:

• Blue Vision, Fridhemsgatan 44, Kungsholmen (Fridhemsplan metro): the biggest, at about 700 m², with a cinema, video booths, private cabins, a darkroom, slings, glory holes, lockers and a café. Open daily until 23:45 (from 10:00 on weekdays, 12:00 at weekends).
• Manhattan, Hantverkargatan 49, Kungsholmen (Rådhuset metro): video booths, cabins, a darkroom and glory holes, open daily from noon to midnight. Mostly gay men, with some mixed nights during the month.
• US Video, Regeringsgatan 76, city centre (Hötorget metro): an adult shop with a cruising area, darkroom and cabins behind it, listed as open 24 hours and busiest at weekends.
• SLM, Wollmar Yxkullsgatan 18, Södermalm (Mariatorget metro): a non-profit, men-only leather and fetish club founded in 1975, with a bar and darkroom, usually open on Wednesday evenings and Friday and Saturday nights. Plan ahead: it's members only (except on occasional open-house nights), so apply for membership on slmstockholm.se before the evening you want to go; regulars suggest doing it two or three days ahead and having your payment confirmation on your phone. Door staff check each night's dress code, which is listed in the club's calendar: on regular nights the basics are jeans, boots and a plain T-shirt (printed T-shirts are generally refused), while fetish nights require proper gear such as leather, rubber, uniform or sports kit. Arrive early, as the cloakroom queue can be long.

Hours and entry fees change, so check each venue's website before you go.

Regular saunas: how to do it the Swedish way

Nobody will mind who you are at a regular Stockholm sauna, but these are places to relax, not to cruise. A few rules:

• Book ahead. Most of the new community saunas work on booked time slots. Tantobastun charges about 60 kronor an hour and has separate mixed (mixbastu), women's (dambastu) and men's (herrbastu) sessions. The new municipal sauna at Hornstulls strand costs 150 kronor for a 90-minute slot.
• Shower first, and always sit on a towel.
• Nudity depends on the sauna and the session. Rules differ between men's, women's and mixed sessions, so check the booking page or the sign on the door.
• Take the plunge. Between rounds, Swedes take a kallbad, a dip in the lake or the sea, even in winter, when an ice hole is cut for the brave.
• Finish with fika. The Swedish ritual of coffee and a pastry, ideally a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) or a cardamom bun, is the perfect end to a sauna session. Head to a neighbourhood café on Södermalm.

Two classic places to try the real thing (not gay venues, and not for cruising):

• Hellasgården, in the Nacka nature reserve about 20 minutes from the centre by bus (line 401 towards Älta): a lakeside outdoor centre with a sauna by Källtorpssjön, where swimwear isn't allowed in the sauna and an ice hole is kept open in winter. Busy at weekends; check hellasgarden.se for hours and prices.
• Centralbadet, Drottninggatan 88, city centre: a grand Art Nouveau bathhouse and spa hidden behind a garden off the main shopping street, with separate men's and women's sauna areas (towels on, swimwear in the pool). Book ahead.

Practical tips

• Apps: Grindr is the main app in Stockholm, and with no bathhouse it's where much of the city's cruising happens.
• Payment: Sweden is close to cashless, and many places no longer take cash, so bring a card or phone payment.
• Health: Blue Vision lists free condoms and lube; bring your own elsewhere. RFSL, Sweden's LGBTQ rights organisation, publishes sexual-health information for men who have sex with men.
• Need a real gay sauna? Plan a weekend in a city that has one. Stockholm makes up for it with its bars, clubs and one of Europe's biggest Prides.

Pride

Stockholm Pride is held at the end of July and start of August. In 2026 the festival ran from 27 July to 1 August, with the parade on Saturday 1 August at 13:00 on a new route from Norr Mälarstrand on Kungsholmen to Slussen. The cruise clubs are at their busiest that week.

A few words to know

• Bastu – sauna. Att basta – to have a sauna.
• Herrbastu / dambastu / mixbastu – men's, women's and mixed sauna.
• Handduk – towel.
• Kallbad – a cold-water dip between sauna rounds.
• Fika – the sacred coffee-and-pastry break.
• Lagom – "just the right amount", the Swedish ideal of moderation. You'll feel it in the calm, respectful mood of the clubs, too.
• Tack! – thanks. Skål! – cheers.

At a glance

Frequently asked questions

Is there a gay sauna in Stockholm?

No. As of 2026, Stockholm has no gay sauna or bathhouse. The last one, Texas Sauna on Södermalm, closed in 2017, and the Rainbow Social Club in Gärdet has also closed. Some international guides still list them, but they are gone.

Why doesn't Stockholm have a gay sauna?

From 1987, during the AIDS crisis, Sweden's sauna-club law (bastuklubbslagen) banned venues where men met for sex, and the gay saunas in Stockholm and Gothenburg closed immediately. The law was repealed in 2004, but new gay saunas have struggled to find landlords willing to rent to them, and the few attempts since have not lasted.

Where do gay men go instead of a sauna in Stockholm?

To the cruise clubs, which have darkrooms and cabins but no sauna: Blue Vision at Fridhemsgatan 44, Manhattan at Hantverkargatan 49 and US Video at Regeringsgatan 76, plus SLM, the men-only leather club at Wollmar Yxkullsgatan 18, which requires membership. Many men also meet through Grindr.

Are there queer sauna nights in Stockholm?

Yes, occasionally. Queer sauna sessions (queerbastu) open to the public have been held at Tantobastun, the association-run sauna in Tantolunden, and at Flatenbadet. They are social, non-sexual and open to all bodies and genders, and they sell out, so watch local listings and book early.

Can I go to a regular public sauna in Stockholm as a gay man?

Of course. Sweden is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world, and Stockholm is in the middle of a sauna boom. Public saunas are for relaxing, not cruising: shower first, sit on a towel, and follow the house rules on nudity, which differ between mixed and men-only sessions.

Part of the GayOut saunas series. See the full gay Stockholm guide for bars, clubs, hotels and organisations.