Get Toasty! Saunas Will Be Popping Up Outside a Philly Museum This Winter
From December through March, three saunas will be available for bookings on the grounds of the American Swedish Historical Museum.
Book a sauna session outside the American Swedish Historical Museum this winter. / Photographs courtesy of Joe Passe via Flickr (left) and Fani Kurti via Getty Images
Well, it seems as though winter has come early this year because it! Is! Cold!
One of our favorite ways to really warm up once those brisk temps hit is booking a sauna sesh. Not only will you get nice and toasty, but you might even find your mood boosted and achy muscles soothed.
Luckily, there are a number of wellness spots across the area that boast saunas. Even better: A new one is popping up in a city park (!), just in time for your end-of-year relaxation.
Slated to open December 26th, the Ebba Sparre Sauna Collective is a short-term sweat lodge experience, launched as a partnership between the American Swedish Historical Museum and Scout, the folks behind Bok. The pop-up will be on the museum’s property, located in FDR Park.
Three wooden barrel saunas will be available for booking, with each accommodating up to four people. Every session includes complimentary towels, compostable swimsuit bags, and locker access, plus free admission to the ASHM. There’ll also be on-site merch available for purchase, like sauna hats and sheet masks.
A 45-minute slot will run you $120 on weekdays and $150 on weekends. Specialty offerings, like a 90-minute “Long Shvitz,” will cost $200.
Now you might be thinking, Saunas outside a city museum? That’s random! Not when you consider how integral they are to Swedes’ daily life and Scandinavian culture at large. The “Bastu” (the Swedish word for sauna) is thought to be an essential part of self-care — a ritual meant to support emotional, social, and physical well-being — so it makes sense that they’d be debuting at the ASHM.
“We are thrilled to partner with Scout to give the people of Philadelphia the opportunity to take a winter sauna outside and experience the invigorating hot/cold experience that Nordics love so much,” says Tracey Beck, executive director of the American Swedish Historical Museum. The timing, she adds, is perfect, as a Sauna is Life exhibition recently premiered at the museum.
The pop-up will run December 26th through March 29th, with reservations available 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays, and noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. You can book a session here.
