The Best Saunas in Kristiansund — Sauna in Norway's Island City

Kristiansund is a city built on four islands at the edge of the open Atlantic, and that geography shapes everything about it — including how people here bathe. The sea is never more than a few minutes’ walk away, the Sundbåten passenger boats have been shuttling between the islands since 1876, and the water in the sounds stays cold enough year-round to make a sauna session feel earned.

The sauna scene here is small compared with Trondheim or Ålesund, but it covers the three formats that matter: a floating sauna on the harbour, a large public bathing complex with sauna and steam bath, and a hotel sauna for guests who want something simple at the end of the day. This guide covers all three, what they cost, and when to go.

Kristiansund Floating Sauna — Innlandet

Kristiansund Floating Sauna is the one to book if you only have time for a single session. It is moored at Innlandet, the oldest and most characterful of Kristiansund’s island neighbourhoods, and it takes up to ten guests at a time.

The practical details are unusually generous: it opens at 06:30 and runs through to 23:00, every day of the year. That means you can take the first session of the morning with the harbour still quiet, or a late-evening one with the town lights on the water. Both are worth the trip, and the difference between them is entirely a matter of temperament.

The sauna has full changing and shower facilities, and there is direct access to the sea for a cold plunge between rounds — which is the point of a floating sauna, and the reason it is worth choosing over an indoor one. Private hire is available for groups of up to ten, which makes it a common choice for birthdays and team events in the city. Sessions are booked in advance through the operator.

Innlandet itself is worth arriving early for. The neighbourhood keeps much of its historic wooden architecture, and the views back across the sound to the rest of the city are some of the best in Kristiansund. It is also reachable by the Sundbåten, one of the oldest scheduled boat services still running anywhere in the world — a short crossing that makes the trip to the sauna feel like part of the experience rather than a commute.

Atlanterhavsbadet — Sauna, Steam Bath and Pools

Atlanterhavsbadet is the city’s public bathing complex, next to the green space of Folkeparken. It is a full aquatic centre rather than a dedicated sauna venue: five pools including a competition lane pool, a warm leisure pool, a children’s area, a wave pool and a quieter wellness pool, plus waterslides.

For sauna purposes, what matters is that the sauna and steam bath are built into the wellness area rather than tacked on, with cold-plunge facilities to complete the thermal circuit. If you want a proper Finnish-style round of heat, cold and rest without booking a time slot, this is where to go in Kristiansund — entry is on a normal ticket during opening hours, and there is parking and a café on site.

It is also the obvious choice if you are travelling with children. The children’s pool and shallow leisure areas are separated from the lane swimming, so a family can split up and still be in the same building. Check the website before you go: pool schedules and sauna session timetables change through the week.

Scandic Kristiansund — For Hotel Guests

Scandic Kristiansund has a sauna and gym for guests staying at the hotel. It is a straightforward hotel sauna rather than a destination in its own right, with changing rooms and showers, but it is a useful thing to know if you are in Kristiansund on business and want fifteen minutes of heat without organising anything.

When to Go

Kristiansund sits on the exposed Atlantic coast, and the weather is a genuine factor in planning a sauna trip here. Autumn and winter give the best contrast bathing: the sea is properly cold, the floating sauna is at its most atmospheric in the dark, and the town is quiet. Summer brings long light evenings, when the late slots at the floating sauna are the ones that sell out first. Spring is the least predictable — worth having Atlanterhavsbadet as a fallback if an Atlantic front rolls in.

Whatever the season, book the floating sauna ahead. Ten places per session is not many, and in a city this size the popular slots go quickly.

Getting There

Kristiansund is reached by the Kristiansund Airport Kvernberget from Oslo and Bergen, by Hurtigruten, and by car on the Atlantic Road (Atlanterhavsveien) from Molde — one of the most photographed drives in Norway and a natural way to combine a sauna trip with a proper day out. Once in the city, the islands are linked by bridges and by the Sundbåten, and the sauna venues are all within a short taxi or bus ride of the centre.

---

Heading further down the coast? Our guide to the best saunas in Western Norway covers the fjord country from Ålesund to Bergen, and the sauna city guide to Molde lists the fjord-view saunas an hour and a half south. If you are new to Norwegian bathing customs, start with Norwegian sauna etiquette.