Aufguss is a guided sauna ritual in which a sauna master pours aromatic water over hot stones and then uses a towel to drive the steam around the room in choreographed rounds, usually set to music. It is the closest thing sauna culture has to a performance. In London you can experience it at a handful of venues, and at The Sanctuary AndSoul in Shoreditch it happens in a 40-person amphitheatre sauna — London's second-largest — at 114–116 Cheshire Street, E2 6EJ, seven days a week, with a 4°C cold plunge directly alongside.
What Aufguss actually is
The word is German and means, plainly, "infusion". The practice grew out of central European sauna culture and has spread across the UK in the last few years, largely because it solves a problem people did not know they had: sitting silently in a hot wooden box is an acquired taste, and most people never acquire it. Aufguss gives the heat a shape. Someone is leading. There is a beginning, a middle and an end.
Mechanically, a sauna master (an Aufgussmeister) ladles water infused with essential oils onto the stove stones. The water flashes to steam and the humidity spikes. Steam on its own sits in a layer near the ceiling, so the master then works it down and around the room with a towel, in patterns, so that the heat arrives in waves rather than settling. The towel work is the part people remember. Done well it looks like choreography and feels like weather.
What happens in a session, round by round
A full Aufguss usually runs three rounds of roughly five minutes each, with the intensity building. The first round is gentle and aromatic, often citrus or eucalyptus, and is really about getting the room breathing together. The second is hotter and faster, with more towel work. The third is the peak, and by then the room is usually laughing or entirely silent, with very little in between.
You are free to leave at any point between rounds, and at a good venue you will be told so explicitly at the start. Nobody is keeping score. Stepping out after round one on your first visit is completely normal, and the cold plunge afterwards is where most of the benefit people describe actually comes from.
After the final round you go straight to cold. At The Sanctuary that means a 4°C plunge a few steps from the sauna door. Then you rest, properly, for as long as you spent in the heat. Heat, cold, rest — that cycle is the whole thing. Everything else is detail.
Where to experience Aufguss in London
London has a small but genuinely good Aufguss scene. These are the places worth knowing about, ours included, and we have tried to be straight about what each one is for.
The Sanctuary AndSoul, Shoreditch
Full disclosure: this is us. Our Sensorium is a 40-person amphitheatre sauna — London's second-largest — built specifically so that Aufguss works as a shared event rather than something you watch from a corner. Towel-led rituals run through the week, there is a 4°C plunge alongside, and the bar afterwards is alcohol-free. Every visit includes a sauna session, and your first three classes are £49. If you want ritual and a room with energy in it, start here. If you want silence, one of the venues below will suit you better.
Royal Docks
Runs Aufguss steam rituals as scheduled sessions, with a sauna master guiding 15-minute rounds. Three distinct ritual styles, from traditional heat infusions through to banya-influenced techniques. Good if you are east and want variety in the format itself.
Sweheat Sauna
Aufguss rituals guided by sauna masters, run as events rather than drop-ins. Worth following their schedule rather than turning up.
Aufguss London and Skuna, Canary Wharf
Aufguss London run authentic sessions at saunas across the city, including on a floating wood-fired sauna at Canary Wharf with the skyline behind you. A novelty in the best sense, and genuinely well run.
Banya No.1, Hoxton
Not Aufguss in the German sense, but the closest relative: Russian parenie, where a practitioner works you over with bundles of oak or birch leaves in intense heat. If Aufguss is weather, parenie is a massage administered in a furnace. Different discipline, same family.
Your first Aufguss: what to know
What to wear. Swimwear. British venues are almost all textile, which means clothed, and any exceptions will be flagged clearly in advance. Bring a towel to sit on as well as one to dry with.
Where to sit. Heat rises, so the top benches are considerably hotter than the bottom ones. On a first visit, sit low. You can move up next time.
Hydrate before, not during. Drink water in the half hour before you go in. Most venues, ours included, ask you not to bring bottles into the sauna itself.
Etiquette. Arrive before the session starts, because latecomers let the heat out and are usually not admitted once the first pour has happened. Keep talking to a minimum once the master begins. Applaud at the end if the room does — it is traditional, and it is not compulsory.
Who should be careful. If you are pregnant, or have a heart condition, low or high blood pressure, or any circulatory issue, speak to a doctor first. Alcohol and extreme heat are a genuinely bad combination, which is one of several reasons our bar does not serve any.
Aufguss, banya or a regular sauna?
A regular sauna is self-directed. You go in, you sit, you leave when you want. Dry heat, usually 80–100°C, and no one is leading. It suits people who want to be left alone.
Aufguss is a timed, led ritual with steam infusions and towel work, typically 10–20 minutes across three rounds. Communal by design. It suits people who find solo sauna boring and want something to happen.
Banya is wetter, often hotter, and involves the venik — leaf bundles used on the body by a practitioner. More physical, more one-to-one, and an acquired taste that people tend to become evangelical about.
None is better than the others. They are different answers to the same question, which is what to do with a very hot room.
Aufguss FAQ
What is an Aufguss sauna session? A guided ritual in which a sauna master pours aromatic water on the sauna stones and circulates the steam with a towel, in timed rounds, usually to music.
How long does an Aufguss ritual last? Typically 10 to 20 minutes in total, made up of three rounds of roughly five minutes with short pauses between them.
Where can I do Aufguss in London? At The Sanctuary AndSoul in Shoreditch, Royal Docks, Sweheat, and through Aufguss London at venues including the floating sauna at Canary Wharf.
Do I need to book an Aufguss session? Yes, at almost every venue. Rooms have fixed capacity and latecomers are not admitted once a session has begun. You can book an Aufguss session at The Sanctuary online.
What should I wear for Aufguss? Swimwear, plus a towel to sit on. UK venues are textile, meaning clothed.
Is Aufguss included in AndSoul Sanctuary membership? Yes. Every membership includes a sauna session on every visit, Aufguss rituals included, from £149 a month.
What is the difference between Aufguss and a Russian banya? Aufguss uses steam and towel work to move heat around a room of people. Banya uses leaf bundles applied directly to the body by a practitioner. Aufguss is communal and choreographed; banya is physical and individual.
Try it
If you have never done a led sauna ritual, it is worth doing once properly rather than reading about it. Three classes for £49 covers your first two weeks, with a sauna session every visit and a drink on the house on your first. Or book a single session and see what the room does.
Read next: if you are working out where to go rather than what Aufguss is, we keep an honest roundup of the best saunas in London, and a closer look at the east London sauna scene where most of the good rooms are.
