The Best Saunas in Chicago: Bathhouses, a Korean Spa and Lakefront Saunas
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Chicago does sauna in more styles than most US cities: a Russian bath on Division Street that dates itself to 1906, a Korean spa in Niles that never closes, candlelit thermal baths in an old River West factory, a Finnish sauna with Aufguss in Fulton Market, and, in winter, wood-fired saunas right on the Lake Michigan beaches. Pick by the experience you want; the prices are close.
At a glance
- First time: Chicago Bath House, the old-school Russian bath, where an attendant whisks you with soaked birch or oak leaves.
- With friends or late at night: King Spa in Niles, open 24 hours, with nine-plus heated rooms, hot and cold pools and sleeping lounges.
- What it costs: most places charge $40 to $75 for a session or a day; AIRE’s candlelit circuit is $175. Every price is the venue’s own, checked October 2026.
Which Chicago sauna should you pick?
- Old-school Russian bath with a leaf-whisk beating: Chicago Bath House, 1914 W. Division St., Wicker Park.
- Korean spa, open around the clock: King Spa & Sauna, Niles, northwest of the city.
- Candlelit thermal baths: AIRE Ancient Baths, River West.
- Finnish sauna with steam rituals and a cold plunge: Eastend, Fulton Market.
- Wood-fired sauna by the water: Oak St. Sauna at Oak Street Beach, Campfire Sauna and Social at Gillson Beach in Wilmette, Sauna Club in Evanston.
- Big suburban bath house with pools: Sky Spa & Sauna, Buffalo Grove.
WBEZ called Chicago winters “the perfect foil” for sauna culture in its March 2025 guide to the city’s saunas and spas, and the lakefront operators seem to agree: most of them only show up when the water gets cold. The city has form here. Chicago opened its first municipal bathhouse in 1894 and ran about 20 of them so residents without plumbing could wash, the last closing in 1979. Those were hygiene baths, not sweat baths, but the bathing habit runs deep here. For other cities, see the best saunas in the United States.
Chicago Bath House: the Russian bath on Division Street
This is the one to pick if you want the real thing: hot rooms, a bar, and someone beating you with soaked leaves. Chicago Bath House at 1914 W. Division St. is the old Division Street Russian & Turkish Baths, later Red Square, now trading under its current name at the same address. A bathhouse has run here since the early 1900s (the owners say 1906), and the venue calls itself the oldest and only traditional bathhouse left in Chicago.
Adult admission is $50 for the whole day, with no re-entry, and includes a robe, towels and slippers. Children under 12 with an adult pay $25, and anyone under 18 has to be accompanied. Entry is walk-in, no booking. If you use the co-ed side you need a swimsuit, which the venue sells when it has stock.
Treatments are extra, on top of the $50 entry. The platza, the whisk massage with birch, oak or eucalyptus leaves, is $50 for the traditional 15 to 20 minute version and $85 for the 30 to 35 minute signature. A soap scrub is $50 and a body scrub $60.
King Spa in Niles: the 24-hour Korean spa
Yes, Chicago has a proper Korean spa, and it is the best value on this page. King Spa & Sauna at 809 Civic Center Dr. in Niles is a jjimjilbang (a Korean bathhouse built around a cluster of heated rooms rather than one hot box), open every day of the year, with nine or more themed sauna rooms, hot and cold pools and sleeping lounges. Admission is $75 at the door and covers the whole day with no time limit during regular hours. Entry is closed between 2am and 6am, and staying past 2am adds $20.
Your first visit, in three lines: shower before you get into any pool; the bathhouse and pool areas are gender-separated and nude; in the shared sauna rooms and lounges everyone wears the spa uniform you are handed at the desk. That is the whole etiquette. For what each room does and how the scrub works, see how a jjimjilbang works.
Body scrubs are booked on arrival and cost $110 for the 40-minute women’s classic and $100 for the 30-minute men’s. Minimum age is eight, and minors need a same-gender guardian; bring government ID.
AIRE Ancient Baths: the candlelit circuit in River West
AIRE is the date-night option, not the sweat-hard option. The Chicago location sits in a restored 1902 factory at 800 W. Superior St., and the circuit runs through hot, warm and cold baths, a jet bath, a salt-water float bath, a steam room and a dry sauna, all by candlelight. The 90-minute Ancient Baths experience is listed at $175, with shorter and longer formats from about $150, and prices move with the date and time you book.
Rules are firm: swimsuit required (loaners available), no phones or cameras, 18 and over, and the experience is not suitable for pregnant guests. AIRE also says it is not recommended for people with cardiovascular problems. Most of the venues on this page say some version of that; if you have a heart condition, blood-pressure trouble or you are pregnant, talk to your doctor before a hot-and-cold session rather than relying on a waiver.
Eastend: Finnish sauna and cold plunge in Fulton Market
This is the closest thing in the city to a Finnish session with a guide. Eastend at 1132 W. Fulton Market, entrance on May St., sells 75-minute sauna and cold plunge slots at $45 drop-in, with a five-pack at $179 and ten at $335. The sauna runs 180 to 194°F (82 to 90°C) and the plunge tanks 40 to 55°F (4 to 13°C), both the venue’s own figures.
Sessions include Aufguss, the German ritual where a host pushes the heat around the room with a towel. What that towel is moving is löyly, the burst of steam that comes off the stones when water hits them, and it is the reason a 185°F room feels like weather rather than an oven. Swimsuits are required, towels provided, and you shower before every sauna round and every plunge. Eastend suggests 15 minutes hot, three minutes cold, ten minutes resting, two or three times through.
Lakefront saunas: wood smoke by the water
Three operators put a wood-fired sauna next to Lake Michigan, and they are the cheapest and the most Finnish-feeling sessions in the area.
Oak St. Sauna sets up at Oak Street Beach, 1001 N. Lake Shore Dr., with a cold plunge alongside. A social seat is $45 for 75 minutes with up to nine seats in a session, and a two-hour private rental for a group is $420; multi-session packs and a 30-day unlimited pass are cheaper per visit. It is a winter operation, so check the booking calendar for this season’s dates.
Campfire Sauna and Social runs out of the main parking lot at Gillson Beach in Wilmette, 101 N. Lake Ave., on the North Shore. A 50-minute session is $40, a five-pack $175, a ten-pack $300, and an after-hours private rental $350 an hour. Booking is through the Campfire app, and you wear a swimsuit or sweat-friendly clothes and bring your own towel. Campfire’s cool-down advice is to step outside and enjoy the crisp air, which in February is a cold plunge with extra steps.
Sauna Club (mysaunaclub.com) runs a wood-burning mobile sauna on the Evanston lakeshore, booked through its own app, with no public session price listed. Clothing is required there: swimsuit, tank top or athletic shorts. Kiln, the floating sauna, spent last winter at Navy Pier and has not announced a return.
Suburbs, beer and what is coming
Sky Spa & Sauna in Buffalo Grove (1501 Busch Pkwy) calls itself a family-friendly European bath house: five saunas, Himalayan salt caves, a salt-water pool and an outdoor pool heated year-round to 84°F (29°C). Adult admission is $62. Piva Beer Spa at 1052 N. Milwaukee Ave. is a private, appointment-only novelty: its shortest package pairs 15 minutes of steam and 15 minutes of sauna with a 30-minute beer soak, from $175 for one person. Bathhouse, the New York social bathhouse brand, is building a West Loop site at Madison and Morgan; its own website still says coming soon, and no opening date has been announced.
Chicago saunas compared
| Venue | Area | Type | Entry | Time limit | Swimsuit or nude | Minimum age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bath House | Wicker Park | Russian and Turkish bathhouse | $50 adult, $25 under 12 | All day, no re-entry | Swimsuit in the co-ed area | Under 18 with an adult |
| King Spa & Sauna | Niles | Korean spa, 24 hours | $75 door, $45 e-coupon | None in regular hours | Nude in the pools, uniform in shared rooms | 8, with a same-gender guardian |
| AIRE Ancient Baths | River West | Candlelit thermal circuit | From about $150, $175 for 90 minutes | 90 minutes | Swimsuit | 18 |
| Eastend | Fulton Market | Finnish sauna and cold plunge | $45 drop-in | 75 minutes | Swimsuit | Not published |
| Oak St. Sauna | Oak Street Beach | Wood-fired, with plunge | $45 seat, $420 private | 75 minutes | Not published | Not published |
| Campfire Sauna | Gillson Beach, Wilmette | Wood-fired, lakeside | $40 | 50 minutes | Swimsuit or sweat clothes | Not published |
| Sauna Club | Evanston | Wood-fired mobile sauna | App booking, no published price | Not published | Clothing required | Not published |
| Sky Spa & Sauna | Buffalo Grove | European bath house with pools | $62 | Day pass | Swimsuit | Not published |
| Piva Beer Spa | 1052 N. Milwaukee Ave. | Private beer spa with sauna | From $175 | About 1 hour | Swimsuit optional | Not published |
Can you cold plunge in Lake Michigan?
The Chicago Park District permits swimming only at its beaches, only between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and only from 11am to 7pm while lifeguards are on duty. Outside those hours and dates, swimming anywhere along the lakefront is prohibited. The 2026 season has ended, and the next one begins Memorial Day weekend 2027.
The water backs up the rule. NOAA monthly averages for southern Lake Michigan run about 35°F (2°C) in January and are still only 43°F (6°C) in May, and nearshore Chicago water can shift fast when the wind drives colder water in. That is cold enough to take your breath in seconds, with no lifeguard between September and May.
So the winter plunge happens in a tub. Oak St. Sauna’s plunge water is drawn from the lake, according to Axios, and keeps you on the beach rather than in it; Eastend runs chilled tanks indoors at 40 to 55°F; Campfire and Sauna Club cool you down in the open air. That is the whole off-season answer: the lake is the view and the water source, not the swim.
FAQ
What is the best sauna in Chicago?
For most people, Chicago Bath House at 1914 W. Division St. in Wicker Park. By its own account it is the last traditional bathhouse in the city, $50 covers the whole day including robe and towels, and the birch-leaf whisk massage costs $50 to $85 on top. If you want a hot Finnish room with a cold plunge instead, Eastend in Fulton Market sells 75-minute sessions at $45.
Is there a Korean spa in Chicago?
Yes. King Spa & Sauna at 809 Civic Center Dr. in Niles, northwest of the city, is open 24 hours a day and has nine or more themed sauna rooms, hot and cold pools and sleeping lounges. Admission is $75 at the door, or $45 with the welcome coupon from its website, and there is no time limit during regular hours. Body scrubs start at $100 and are booked when you arrive.
How much is the Chicago Bath House?
$50 for adult day admission, which includes a robe, towels and slippers but allows no re-entry once you leave. Children under 12 with an adult pay $25. Entry is walk-in, and treatments such as the leaf-whisk massage or a body scrub cost $50 to $85 on top of entry.
Do I need a swimsuit at a Chicago sauna?
Almost everywhere, yes. Chicago Bath House requires one in its co-ed area, AIRE and Eastend require one, and the lakefront saunas ask for a swimsuit or sweat-friendly clothes. The exception is King Spa in Niles, where the pool and bathhouse areas are gender-separated and nude, and the shared sauna rooms are worn in the spa uniform the venue provides.
Can you cold plunge in Lake Michigan?
Only during the summer swim season. The Chicago Park District allows swimming at its beaches from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 11am to 7pm, when lifeguards are present, and prohibits swimming elsewhere on the lakefront at any time. In winter the lake averages about 35°F (2°C), so use the plunge tubs at Oak St. Sauna or Eastend instead of the open water.
Hero photo: MattHucke, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
