After a busy day writing and creating travel videos, I always need some time to decompress and step away from the screen. While I love an evening walk in the park, swim, or bike ride, I have come to appreciate a steamy session in a sauna to disconnect.
My Wellness Era
Now I’m in my wellness era, I have made it my mission to visit all the saunas in Wales, and I’ve been busy ticking them off my bucket list. Surprisingly, there is an urban sauna village I have yet to grace, despite the fact that it’s in my hometown of Cardiff.
The sauna spot in question is Hikitalo Sauna, the brainchild of William Jenkins, who’s helping to bring a touch of Nordic soul to Wales with bespoke saunas now at two locations, Cardiff and Sandy Bay. The Rest Bay location sadly had the planning application refused.
A Personal Journey
Hikitalo is part of a fast-growing sauna movement in Wales, focusing on physical health and deep, meaningful connection with fellow wellness converts. Its origin story is particularly compelling as William's passion for saunas didn’t come from a straightforward business plan but from a personal crisis.
“My journey with all this started with a mental breakdown I experienced three years ago,” he tells me. “I was burnt out, going through a break-up and unhappy with where I was in life, so I decided to hit the road. I went travelling to do a bit of surfing and a bit of soul searching too.”
William's path took a meaningful turn in Mexico, the first stop on that healing journey. “I met a Finnish bloke in a sweat lodge I’d signed up for,” he recalls. “He was a massive inspiration.” Together, the duo explored the local Temazcals, bonding over the shared love of saunas.
That unique connection sparked a deeper curiosity, setting him off on a year-and-a-half-long quest through 14 countries, where he visited more than 70 saunas. “After I experienced all those, I decided to bring it back, back here to south Wales,” he explains.
A Community Hub
What started as personal healing has since evolved into a wider mission: building community, creating space for connection, and harnessing the power of heat and stillness to combat the loneliness so many people feel today. And he’s done just that. In the spacious, wood-fired sauna, regulars come to sweat and socialise, reflect, and sometimes say nothing. “The sauna is like a candle that lights another light. We see laughter in there. We see tears, deep conversations, and sometimes pure stillness. It's magical.”
I’m a huge sauna fan, and I have visited Hikitalo’s saunas several times, enjoying having a catch-up with pals or having a solo steam and sea dip. The new Cardiff location had been in my sights for some time, so I was delighted when a gap opened up in my busy schedule of typing, drinking coffee and boarding planes so that I could see what the new sauna village had to offer.
I conscripted my equally wellness-enthusiastic pal Rachel, and we turned up for a post-work evening out on a windy Monday.
The Cardiff Sauna Village
Located at Meanwhile House on Williams Way, near the Curran Embankment, it’s a rather industrial spot for a sauna, but with a mix of adjacent artist studios, office spaces and maker cabins, it certainly gives an urban hipster vibe. Inspired by traditional Nordic and European bathing cultures, the 300-square-metre wellness space features three wood-fired saunas that deliver proper heat (85–100°C), while three contrasting pool plunges provide a hot-and-cold mix.
There are also private changing rooms, cold showers, plunge buckets, an outdoor courtyard, and Kähvi Café, which serves speciality Coaltown coffee, cakes, and pies. It's a surprisingly large and well-equipped space for considering it’s plonked in a previously neglected brownfield zone, and it’s nice to see this area of Cardiff develop.
The bonus of having room to move is that, unlike on the coast, you can add a range of amenities. It’s rare to find outdoor saunas with dedicated changing facilities, as many are located on shorelines, in forests or in slate landscapes, where there is limited space to try and wrestle in a swimsuit. So this was a definite bonus.
The Sauna Experience
A quick change, and we were ready to steam and cold-plunge away all our stresses and aches. Saunas have long been used to relieve aches, ease tension, and support everything from cardiovascular health to stress relief. For many, it’s an almost spiritual ritual, an intentional pause in a world that rarely stops spinning, and I'm here for it.
Despite usually rolling my eyes at anything remotely woo-woo, I’m convinced that saunas are magic. The healing powers of sweating out all my anxieties and most of last night’s wine cannot be overstated. For me, it’s less about chasing medical claims and more about switching off. Ignoring the relentless ping of emails and WhatsApp groups, I let the heat do its slow, steady work as I stew in my own thoughts and breathe in the earthy tang of scorched wood and rising steam.
Here you have three saunas to choose from, custom-built to traditional Finnish standards, delivering temperatures between 80°C and 100°C. Includes a 20-person ritual sauna, a 12-person sauna, and a dedicated silent sauna called Niksen.
We began with the 12-person sauna and despite the heat, had a good gab about life, work and podcast recommendations. While the sauna is great for your body, the social warmth is undeniable as well.
Social Connections
Owner William sees it as an antidote to the decline of traditional third spaces, such as pubs and community halls, where people once came together. “New people are looking for new social hubs,” he says. “And I think sauna has become that. It’s already proven in Nordic and Eastern European cultures.”
At Hikitalo, that sense of connection is palpable. “A lot of friendships are being made here,” William adds. “People meet for the first time in the sauna and end up swapping numbers. Next thing you know, they’re out for coffee or a beach walk.”
Studies back this up, showing that using saunas together can boost both mental and physical well-being, and the social connections make the benefits even stronger. That's because saunas act as natural 'social equalisers' and distraction-free spaces where people let their guard down. They're great places to make friends and have real conversations.
Researchers have used the 'Social Cure' model to study sauna-going. They found that viewing sauna bathing as a shared ritual fosters a strong sense of community and belonging, which can help combat modern loneliness.
Finnish Sauna Culture
Finland, widely recognised as the birthplace of the sauna, has long recognised the health and social benefits. Steaming goes beyond mere bathing here; Finnish sauna culture is regarded as one of the most essential cornerstones of the country's identity. It’s also an integral part of the nation’s well-being, with almost 90% of all Finns going to a sauna at least once a week, according to Visit Finland UK.
What is distinctive about Finnish sauna practices is that water is thrown on the rocks to create ‘löyly’ (steam). It’s a soft heat that envelops everything around it, like a warming embrace. Saunas in Finland are primarily judged on the quality of their ’löyly’ and are considered highly individualistic.
Hikitalo has definitely brought this Scandinavian spirit to Cardiff, with traditional wood-burning stoves that heat the sauna, open your pores, and help you relax deeply. I was so relaxed that it was hard to get up and jump into the freezing-cold pool.
Contrast Therapy
There is a multi-plunge experience here, designed specifically for contrast therapy, where you can move between the intense heat of the saunas and varying water temperatures to achieve boss-level wellness. There are three communal tubs: The Cold Plunge, chilled to a freezing 6°C for a big adrenaline rush and quick recovery; The Ambient Plunge, kept at about 12°C for a milder cold shock if you're still getting used to it; and The Hot Tub, heated to a cosy 36°C for a warm contrast.
For the brave, there are overhead wooden tipping buckets mounted on the sides of the outdoor courtyard where you can dump a load of freezing water over yourself. They provide a fast, heavy cold-shock alternative if you want to cool down rapidly after a hot sauna session, and I guarantee they will get your senses racing if you’re feeling sluggish.
As someone who appreciates a cold dip for soothing tired muscles, I have to admit the hot tub was my personal highlight. There’s something deeply satisfying about sinking into warm water after a day of deadlines and meetings that easily could have been an email.
Spacious and Welcoming
What I particularly like about this sauna village is that there’s room to breathe. The 20-person sauna, which also hosts guided group sessions, feels remarkably spacious compared with many mobile saunas, where a full booking can leave you intimately acquainted with a sweaty stranger’s elbow.
The cafe is another welcome addition with a range of coffee, cakes and pies if you emerge from the cold pool ravenous. I would love to see a more robust offering here. Can you imagine street food eats or BBQ nights with your sauna sesh? Epic.
I think they've got something great here, and it's wonderful to see new local businesses bringing life to parts of Cardiff that don't always get attention, especially when they help with your wellbeing. So, get your friends together and try something different from the usual Friday night at the pub. Give the löyly a try; you won't be disappointed.
Bookable communal sessions here are 60 minutes and right now cost just £12 as part of a special offer.
