Sauna session in Hvidovre

Hvidovre has four sauna venues: three in the town's business districts and one in the swimming hall in Avedøre Stationsby.

Insight CPH is on Stenstykkevej with room for 18 guests. The sauna host pours water with essential oils onto the stove and spreads the warm, scented air with a towel, and between rounds a cold tub at 0-2 degrees waits. A session lasts 75 minutes, and there's a broad team of sauna hosts who take turns, so scents, music and intensity vary from session to session. Now and then there are longer formats: a marathon session with eight to nine rounds, and evenings where the session is combined with sound healing. There are snacks during the breaks and free parking at the door.

Guseksperterne is on Gungevej with only 14 spots. A session lasts an hour and a half and consists of four 10-12 minute rounds with changing scents, high heat and calm music - and starts with a freshly made ginger shot. During the breaks there's cold water, electrolytes, salty and sweet snacks and sliced fruit. Besides the standard session there are men-only sessions, themed sessions around the full moon and the turn of the year, and a few times a year a multi-hour marathon session. There's free parking on Gungevej in the evenings.

SaunaStudio is the smallest of the three, a small oasis on Byvej with only ten spots, where the session, ice bathing, breathwork, movement and sound therapy are woven together. Birna facilitates the sessions herself. The recurring format is called MØD DIG SELV, a two-hour women-only session with four to five rounds of essential oils, herbs, sound and movement - and a longer three-hour version, where the session is followed by a women's circle. The cold is always optional, whether it's the ice bath, the cold tub or the cold showers.

Avedøre Idrætscenter is the fourth venue and the only one inside a sports centre. The centre has been the district's meeting place since 1983, and the swimming hall has a 25-metre pool, a splash pool, a baby pool, a spa, a steam room and saunas, while a fitness room, sports hall and gymnastics hall share the roof. There is a café in the building, a few minutes' walk from Avedøre Station, and bus line 1A stops outside.