Sauna and cold plunge in London

It’s in the name. Sauna and cold plunge isn’t an add on for us, or a feature of a wider gym, or something tucked into the corner of a spa. It’s the whole thing. It’s what we built the venue for, and it’s what we think we do better than anyone else in London.

Why the combination matters

A sauna on its own is wonderful. A cold plunge on its own is bracing. Used together, heat, then cold, then heat again, they do something quite different and considerably more interesting.

The Finns have known this for centuries, and the science has been catching up over the last couple of decades. Research increasingly points the same way: better circulation, better sleep, a real lift in mood, and a kind of mental clarity afterwards that’s still being pinned down. We’re not going to oversell it. But ask anyone who does it regularly and you’ll get a version of the same answer. It works.

How we do it

Our space is built specifically for contrast therapy, moving between hot and cold in deliberate cycles. A session is 30 minutes, by design. Long enough for three or four proper rounds, roughly 8 to 10 minutes in the sauna, 1 to 2 minutes in the plunge, then rest and repeat, and short enough to fit into your actual life. We didn’t want this to be the thing you block out an evening for. We wanted it to be the thing you do regularly, because that’s where the real benefit lives. Three short sessions a week beats one long one every time.

You’ve got two saunas to choose from. The Finnish sauna sits at around 85°C, with proper löyly, water on the stones, real steam and real heat, not the dry, sad version some places serve up. The infrared sauna sits at around 60°C, gentler on the surface but with deeper penetration into the tissues, and easier to settle into for longer. Stick with one or move between them. Different days call for different heat.

Then there are six cold plunges, 3D printed, which is a more sustainable way to build them, and set in pairs at 3°C, 6°C and 12°C so there’s never a queue to get in. 3°C is the deep end, short, sharp and transformative. 6°C is the classic, cold enough to count and manageable for most regulars. 12°C is there partly because emerging research suggests women’s cold exposure response benefits from slightly warmer water, and it’s a sensible first plunge for anyone new to this. Cold enough to do what cold needs to do, with the range to meet you where you are.

The space between rounds matters just as much. Somewhere to sit, breathe, drink water and come back down. We’ve put a lot of thought into making that part feel right, and there’s a café lounge to stay in afterwards. There’s a studio too, running breathwork, yoga, Pilates and sound for when you want the slower side of recovery.

The spa feeling, without the price

Here’s the part people don’t expect. It has the good parts of a spa, the heat, the cold and the calm, without the cost or the occasion. We cap every session at six people, so it stays quiet and unhurried rather than crowded, and it costs closer to a tenth of a spa day. Not a luxury you book once a year, but something accessible enough to fit into a normal week, or a slow weekend.

Who it’s for

Anyone, basically. Beginners are welcome and we’ll show you how. Regulars treat it as part of their training week. We get athletes, founders, couples, run clubs, friend groups, and people who just needed half an hour away from a screen.

What we run

You can drop in and book a single slot whenever it suits. Beyond that there are Social Saturdays, themed sessions with brands we like, and run clubs that finish with us. It’s less a facility than a place people actually hang around in.

How to start

If it’s your first time, just book a standard session online. We’ll walk you through it when you arrive. Bring swimwear, and everything else is provided.

Sauna & Plunge Co., 124 Tabernacle Street, Shoreditch, London.