Coolest Way to Heat Up: Copenhot's Nordic Saunas & Hot Tubs in Refshaleøen

My first visit to Copenhagen a few summers ago quickly got me addicted to the Nordic sauna culture. Especially the cold plunging aspect, thanks to all the harbor swim spots in the city!

But sometimes a girl just wanted to unwind after a long day in a hot tub with a great view and an elderflower kombucha in hand. So, on a sunny spring evening, my husband and I trekked out to Refshaleøen, arguably the coolest neighborhood in all of Copenhagen, to visit CopenHot’s outdoor sauna and hot tubs.

Refshaleøen: Copenhagen’s Coolest Neighborhood

Refshaleøen is one of the most unique neighborhoods I’ve encountered in any city, not just in Europe. With only the number 2A bus connecting it to the city central, Refshaleøen was a major industrial site.

Now amongst those old warehouses and shipping containers, you’ll find cool apartment interiors, hip eats and spas, gardens, wedding venues, a ski hill (yes, a ski hill) and even Noma, a 3 star Michelin restaurant you may recognize from The Bear.

Though, the colorful Refen outdoor food hall is the most popular spot locals and visitors alike visit every evening in the warm months to catch sunsets over the water with drinks and food in hand.

So, it’s only natural that the coolest outdoor Nordic sauna spot is out here, too.

After hopping on the 2A and taking a quick walk, we could smell the cedar wood scents before we saw the Little Siberia CopenHot sign.

The CopenHot Experience

After checking in, the attendant guides us to our private changing hut and private red cedar wood hot tub. It was just us two on our booking, but each tub has a 5-6 person capacity so guests can bring along the whole friend group for a night of soaking.

CopenHot offers traditional saunas, wood powered hot tubs and two cold plunge tubs. Thanks to everything being heated by wood, they are almost 100% CO2 neutral. There’s a small concession stand and you can order drinks directly from your tub to add to the relaxation.

For 1,300 DDK you can book a private tub out, or for 350 DKK you can visit on their Hot Days, the social days where anyone visiting can use any tub, plunge pool or sauna. If you really wanted to ball out, for 7,600 DKK you can rent a Dansk spa tub on a boat and take a unique sauna sail around the city in style.

There’s a few Copenhagen sauna spas around the city, but none with hot tubs or cold plunging tubs like this. I was eager to get in and start relaxing.

My Evening at Copenhot

The spring day was a little chilly but the CopenHot hot tub was already heated to perfection, though the attendant did come around to make sure we liked the temperature.

With the amazing smell of cedar and smoke in the air, elderflower kombucha in hand and a great view of CopenHill, we got to relaxing.

My husband isn’t a cold plunging fan, but I specifically rented us an Airbnb in Islands Brygge so I could easily do a cold plunge swim every day in the harbor, with water temperatures averaging around 47 degrees Fahrenheit. So of course I had to run across the garden every 15-20 minutes to take a quick cold plunge before heading back to the comfort of our wood fired hot tub.

Copenhot books are available from 12:30 – 19:30, depending on the season and time of year. Our visit was around happy hour and still very bright out, but I noticed the property has tons of strings lights and even a firepit for all those classic Danish hygge vibes in the darker hours.

After our hour was up,we changed and took a quick walk over to Refen for dinner and drinks before heading back to our apartment. Thanks to the relaxing waters, I slept like a baby that night.

If you’re looking for the best Copenhagen sauna experience, come hang with locals at Copenhot’s Little Siberia. You just may find yourself addicted to the Nordic sauna culture as I am… In fact, I was so inspired by sauna and bathing culture after our visit to Denmark years ago that I built a round Nordic cedar hot tub in my Whimsy Homes cabin here in California.