Sauna Beitostølen — 4 mountain saunas at the gateway to Jotunheimen

Sauna Beitostølen is high-country bathing rather than coastal bathing, and everything about it follows from the altitude. Beitostølen sits in Øystre Slidre in Valdres, on the eastern approach to Jotunheimen, at a height where the treeline thins out and the landscape becomes open fjell — low birch, exposed rock, lakes that stay cold through July. It is a resort village built around skiing, with one of the larger cross-country trail networks in the country running out from it in every direction, and the saunas here exist for the same reason they do at any ski destination: to close out a day spent cold and outside. Four venues serve the village and the mountains around it. Ridderbadet is the largest and most conventional, a full modern spa attached to a mountain lodge, open through the ski season from November to April and again for the summer hiking season. Grønolen Fjellgård is the smaller lodge alternative at 800 metres, with a sauna alongside a counter-current pool and hot tub. And two are genuinely out in the terrain: Bygdin Høifjeldshotel runs a mobile wood-fired sauna with lake access up towards the Bygdin lake, and Beito Husky Wilderness Cabins keeps a wood-fired lakeside sauna at its off-grid cabins above Øyangen. Below you'll find all four with seasons, facilities and booking details.

The four saunas here sit at three different distances from the village. In Beitostølen itself, Ridderbadet is the spa most visitors will use: indoor, premium, with changing rooms, showers, food and drink, parking, and listed as child-friendly, open during the ski season from November to April and through the summer hiking season from June to September. Advance booking is recommended for non-hotel guests. Grønolen Fjellgård is the other lodge option, at 800 metres, with a sauna, a counter-current pool and a hot tub, open across both the winter and summer seasons and cheaper than Ridderbadet. Further out, Bygdin Høifjeldshotel on Bygdinvegen operates a mobile wood-fired sauna with lake access, food and drink, parking and mixed-gender bathing with swimwear required — this is genuine high-mountain territory, on the road that continues over Valdresflye into Jotunheimen, and the driving conditions matter as much as the booking. Beito Husky Wilderness Cabins is the most remote: off-grid cabins above the lake Øyangen with a wood-fired lakeside sauna, year-round but by advance private booking only through Beito Husky Tours, and at their most dramatic in winter alongside the dog sledding. Seasonally, Beitostølen runs on two clear peaks — the ski season from late autumn into April, and the hiking season through the summer — with quiet shoulder weeks in May and October when several venues reduce their hours. Oslo is roughly three and a half hours by car.

Beitostølen’s saunas, from village to fjell

• Ridderbadet — the village’s largest modern spa, indoor and premium, at a mountain lodge in the Jotunheimen foothills. Changing rooms, showers, food and drink, parking, child-friendly. Open November to April and June to September; book ahead if you are not staying at the hotel.
• Grønolen Fjellgård — mountain lodge at 800 metres with a sauna, counter-current pool and hot tub, food and drink and parking. Mid price band and open across both seasons.
• Bygdin Høifjeldshotel — a mobile wood-fired sauna on Bygdinvegen with lake access, changing room, food and drink, parking, mixed-gender and swimwear required. High mountain terrain on the road towards Valdresflye.
• Beito Husky Wilderness Cabins — off-grid cabins above the lake Øyangen with a wood-fired lakeside sauna, private booking only, year-round. Winter is when it comes into its own, alongside the dog sledding.

The logic of a sauna trip here is simple: use Ridderbadet or Grønolen as the dependable option after a day on skis or on the trails, and save one of the two wood-fired saunas for an evening you are willing to plan around. Both of those sit out in open mountain terrain with a cold lake below them, which is the version of Beitostølen worth travelling for — and both need arranging in advance rather than on the day.