So..... I know I am British therefore I am a prude! but does anyone know of any wellness, thermal spa type places that don't insist on naked saunas?? and can anyone tell me what is the obsession of sitting naked hot and sweaty next to strangers?

I have a swiss friend who also doesn't like the naked saunas so I am sure there are other swiss who feel the same

Anyway any suggestions on non naked places?

I don't get the point of overheating yourself full stop, naked or otherwise. Five minutes is my limit before boredom sets in. IN my neck of the woods, Lavey les Bains near Aigle/Montreux has non naked saunas and steam rooms. There is one "nordic" clothes off sauna but it is separate from the others. Saillon has naked saunas and steam rooms but it's not compulsory (and many don't go naked) if you don't mind sharing with some folks who prefer to do otherwise. My guess is even where "clothes on" is frowned on, you can wrap the compulsory towel around you to hide your bits and pieces.

Thanks Nev

Reason i ask is that in Dec we went to Leukerbad Thermal baths and the saunas there were naked only - just been to Bad Zurzach today and bought a sauna baths combo ticket after asking at the desk if you were allowd to wear swim suits (i admit my german and her english wasn't great so she must have misunderstood) anyway toddled off to the sauna after buying the obligatory flip flops which we didn't have and then found a sign on all doors saying naked only! my husband has a cold and he hoped the sauna might do him some good

I am not a great fan of them either - can last at most 5/8 mins

Nicky

if you are a woman, most saunas have one day a week when its females only. having said that: c'mon just get over it! once you take your clothes off you'll wonder why you ever felt ashamed; its a liberating feeling. FKK forever!

So you can't even wear a skimpy pair of speedos? Surely that can't be right. Did the place have a sign saying "FKK" on it just out of interest?

It's rather unhygienic wearing a bathing suit in the sauna and I presume that is the reason it is forbidden. You may want to wrap a towel around you if you feel uncomfortable. If you aren't a fan of mixed saunas (I never understood where that tradition comes from. Definitely not Scandinavia) most saunas have time slots which are for women only.

I don't go much to saunas here in CH though as I find the way they use them and the way they are placed a bit strange. To me a sauna is for cleansing and something you do when you have a shower. Not something you do for hours and hours.

What does FKK have to do with saunas

To me, a sauna is like a shower. You shower and you bathe sauna. Neither you do with your clothes on.

I can't see any point in saunas... I just feel really uncomfortable in them. Too hot, too sweaty. Plus I really wouldn't want to sit there trying to avoid catching an eyeful of some potentially old and crusty man or womens bits hanging out... and i'm no prude.

Light-hearted comment? Sigh.

Well, we were all born with no clothes on. It's refreshing to be all in the same boat and if people look - which normally is done very discreetly, well, hey, what the hell.

Anyway, asiaspa in Sihlcity has a women's only sauna. The steam room and other saunas are mixed, which is nice. I was there today and some great athletic bodies around... what is not nice to look at? A fine firm buttock walking out? All I can say is it's a pleasure for my eyes

you can also come in with a towel on and sit in your towel the whole time.. the steam room is a bit counter productive if you do that as by the time you go out you are dripping with water... no point soaking the towel as well is there?

I think if a guy comes in with speedos, it is a lot more conspicuous than being butt naked!!

Let it all hang, it's all natural...

But I don't actually want to see a lot of random naked people sitting around me, legs akimbo, no matter how fit! I would like for there to be at least a little magic to be left for how I perceive the naked form before I get married, and I think watching some woman not so surreptitiously scratch an itchy foo may be more than I could bear.

Aahh, but you don't go to a Sauna for "magic" ... and if you do, well, sorry... yer at the wrong address, unless you are a lech, which I don't suppose...

People in Switzerland don't spread the legs, although the guy in the yoga pose did this afternoon at sihlcity.. mind you, I didn't look... but I did try not to laugh... thankfully it was in the steam room and you don't see much of anything in there...

You might be best to build your own sauna in your apartment/house and invite only people who will wear the bikini/speedos... then you are at peace with yourself and the naked form...

How is it more sanitary to have your sweaty naked arse on the wood bench?

As far as thermal spas go, you can't go past Therme Vals...awesome location and amazing granite architecture...with swimsuit.

The Bains des Paquis has a fantastic sauna/hamam/turkish bath complex, with the added advantage of being able to go directly from 90 degree sauna into Lac Leman if you so wish (around 4 degrees at its coldest in December & January - I chickened out...), and they also have a great and inexpensive cafe/buvette, plus fondue in the winter, and the whole complex is out in the lake, with views of Geneva. Thoroughly recommended!

On topic, clothing is optional - no rules either way, but you must have 2 towels for hygiene reasons (you can hire them there if you want for an extra charge).

Bains des Paquis website

It's too bad you didn't go down there- it's not as bad as you think and if you are a bit shy you can wrap your towel around yourself (except in the steam rooms- which you can't see much anyway).

They say it expels toxins but really, apart from dehydrating your body, raising your blood pressure and stressing your heart, it just makes you sweat.

Here's a great "conversation starter" for the sauna..

Where can I buy one of those towels.

There is a sex place at Schinznach Bad railway station called Sum Sum. You can rent a private sauna for you and your wife / friend or even alone for about 40 CHF for two hours. Strange location, but you do not get disturbed.
Just do not order a drink - they are seriously expensive.
Me and my wife go about once a month and it is cool - and hot.

I want one too!

I'll never forget sitting in a sauna in Badenweiler, when a guy I work with walked in. I sat it out for over 20 minutes, with my hair over my face but then I got a stiff neck and was about to die from the heat, so ran out making a big Zorro-type movement with my towel.

I thought I'd got away with it, when a good two months later he said he'd seen me in the jacuzzi there Nightmare. Single-sex saunas ALL THE WAY!