Skiing the Planet

Montana Snowcenter in The Netherlands

2026-10-18T03:32:16.379-07:00

August was ending, and I had not done my monthly "turns all year" skiing yet this month. And now Lufthansa had a major failure (as they every second flight I take with them ...) This wrecked my plan to ski in two indoor ski halls in The Netherlands. But, I managed to still make it (barely) in time to the Montana Snowcenter and back to the airport. August - Check!

And no, Montana Snowcenter is obviously not in Montana. They are in Kempervennen, Westerhoven, Netherlands. Couple of hours from the Schiphol airport by car.

It is a wonderful, ski-club feeling. Lots of kids practicing skiing or training for racing. And then me.

There's also a nice restaurant with views over the slopes, an outdoor terrace.. and the center is right next to a holiday park, sports complexes, and a water park. Well done, Netherlands! And this is by far not the only indoor ski place in the country. There's plenty!

See the center's home page here.

The Lufthansa failure was a technical problem on the evening's last flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, which they tried first to fix by resetting the equipment, then two attempts to fix by maintenance crew, and ultimately we were doomed by Schiphol not accepting us to be few minutes over their evening curfew time. In Lufthansa's defense, they put us to hotels and also paid the 250€ EU compensation. But, as noted Lufthansa has a far too high likelihood of having these kinds of problems in my experience. And, they refused to refund my nice spa hotel at the Amsterdam, my failed rental car booking, or the other ski center's ticket which they didn't refund. Sigh.

And all this caused a problem for my skiing because I had only few hours left in Amsterdam before my next flight back home would leave. And I couldn't move that because I had a work appointment coming up. On the good news side, the flight home from Amsterdam was on Finnair's A350, and I managed to get an upgrade on vouchers that I get every year. Very nice service!

Skiing:

Flight home:

This article has also been published at Planetskier.net here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Airport services... morgue???

2026-10-18T02:22:55.460-07:00

Schiphol is a massive, sprawling airport. They all have all kinds of services... but morgue???

This article has also been published in Planetflier.com here. For more flying stories, check out the Planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot! Photos, videos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Earth Pulse, Retretti 2026

2026-10-18T00:50:50.433-07:00

Retretti is a legendary Finnish art museum in Punkaharju, the beautiful lake area in eastern Finland. Retretti's main specialty is that the art is displayed in underground tunnels. And now they had a show depicting northern lights...

Retretti started out as an art studio and a restaurant, but in the 1980s they expanded by building a set of underground tunnels inside a rocky hill. It has been very popular, a household name in tourist destinations to visit in the country. In the 2000s, however, they've been in financial trouble and for some years in bankruptcy and not open.

In 2026, with the help of Savolinna city they've reopened at least for this year's summer, to attract more tourists. They've run the Maan Pulssi (Earth Pulse) immersive light show by Marko Pulkkinen. The show consists of a light show on a theater followed by free roaming around the tunnels while the light show continues on the rocky walls and ponds of water in the tunnel. The message of the show was that the connection between the earth, nature, and ourselves still exists, if we care to listen to it.

I have to say it was a spectacular show! I hope Retretti continues next year as well. They did extend the show beyond the summer, covering September as well. I think that was a good sign, everyone I talked enjoyed the show like I did.

Retretti is at N 61.8040 E 29.2901 and their home page is here. This summer's show tickets were 15€ and it took about an hour. You'll need to reserve beforehand, most likely.

More about Retretti's history can be found in Wikipedia.

This article has also been published at Planetcaver.net here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Korpilampi spa & forest lake swim

2026-10-17T13:32:20.643-07:00

The main Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, recently ran an article reviewing Helsinki area hotel spas that can be accessed by visitors as well as hotel guests. This article was like made for me! I learned about many interesting spas that I will have to visit, despite trying to do the same research myself earlier. My first target from the list was the Korpilampi hotel spa.

Korpilampi is, as its name in Finnish implies, a hotel by a forest lake in the middle of nowhere. I had never been here, though I knew it existed. I didn't even know they had a spa, let alone that you could swim the lake. I did know about the nearby ski hill, Serena Ski, and the massive (but a bit crazy) spa, Serena Waterpark.

But the Helsingin Sanomat article (subscription required, sorry) made me realize the hotel was also worth a visit.

Much more so than I thought before actually getting there! The hotel itself is quite interesting, white building rising out of the forest hill, very nicely fitting to the environment still. The saunas and the spa are in the basement, the saunas and the basement are nothing to write home about, but the pool are is nice with views of the forest and the small lake.

But what really brings this experience to a different level -- not easily found anywhere else in the Helsinki region hotels -- is the lake. Step out from a door in the glass walls surrounding the pool, and you're immediately on a small terrance and surrounded by the lake. And there you can step on to the water via steps, summer *and* winter. Yes, there's ice swimming here, too.

But what makes this particularly special is the how well the building is placed in the lake. The lake itself is a sprawling, complex shape, and hotel building knees right on its level by having the basement come to just above the lake level. And the lake is not on a flat land, but rather squeezed between the rocky hills surrounding the area. While the lake is actually medium size, the hotel spa overlooks just one corner of it that feels like a small pond.

You are surrounded by the the rocky hills, untouched forest, and you can dip into the dark water of the lake, above you is the white classic building.

Bliss.

9.5 degrees. And getting colder.

The hotel's home page is here. Entrance for visiting guests is 15€. They are by the way open late, until 22:00, so this is a good option for me to go for a swim when other places have already closed.

This by the way was the last day of my swim-every-day-challenge (article, alt. link), as I was feeling a bit under the weather the next day. It was a great ending to a long run of swims, very happy I did this.

More photos:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Lake and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Plaža Kašjuni swim

2026-10-17T13:31:58.856-07:00

Plaža Kašjuni is a beach on the Marjan peninsula and park, west of the city center of Split, Croatia, I think the furthest out swimming place that there is on Marjan.

The beach area is long and well protected; there's some tree cover, too, for shade. And a very nice bar.

Traffic is challenging, good luck finding parking. But taxis work, and I think there's also a bus.

Coordinates: N 43.5056 E 16.4007. More information here.

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. These articles do not have pictures of swimmers, and are generally taken when the location is empty, or any swimmers are far away and not visible in detail.

Indoors skiing in Norway

2026-10-12T21:24:34.049-07:00

Yet another run at Snø, one of the world's best indoor ski resorts in Oslo, Norway. I think this is my third time here.

Wonderful as ever.

There's the nordic tracks on raised pathways by the roof, there's the long, long ski slope, there's the jumping area, there's the chairlift... wonderful lounge, rental, and other facilities and a hotel above us. Some restaurants, too, though I was busy to get to the cave on this day trip, so did not have time to try anything else than the toast from the fast food stand.

If there's anything to complain, it is that the racing teams like this too much. There was a kid training session on most of the usually open slope, and of course the national teams from Sweden, Norway, Austria, UK (I think), and some other places had already taken half of the area. So there wasn't more than a narrow regular run left for the rest of us. And by rest of us I mean me and maybe 1-2 other people :-) So it was fair. Plus there was the boxes and rails snowboard area, which was fun to ski as well, and was not closed off.

Much recommended.

This time I tried to book the ice climbing as well, but they didn't have any slots available for the day. Maybe next time.

Drachenhöhle

2026-10-12T03:47:13.921-07:00

Often caves are difficult to access, blocked or gate, or you just don't know about them. Drachenhöhle near Zürich is, however, both well known and easy to access. It is not big, but has very interesting shapes and well worth the visit!

Here's is the interesting shape. What do you make of it?

Drachenhöhle is in Küsnacht, on the southeastern outskirts of Zürich. The coordinates are N 47.325661 E 8.608386. It is located in the hilly forests of Der Küsnachter Marroniwald, a park. It is maybe ten or twenty meters uphill on the valley side, above a small river.

The cave opens with two eyes starting at you, separated by a big "nose". The left eye is a small cave, the main cave is behind the right eye. There's a connection between the two behind the nose, but it didn't look big enough for a human to pass through (to me).

Caves behind both eyes are walkable and easy. But from the right eye to the right there's a narrow tunnel than continues upwards. That's a lot of fun to crawl through. Though, as I was coming straight from a conference my clothing wasn't really meant for crawling on my stomach. Fortunately I managed to clean myself enough to be accepted for the taxi ride back to the hotel....

My measurements say the main line is 12 meters long, and the narrow side tunnel to the right is 4.5 meters, so 16.5 meters total length. In addition there's indeed a tiny hole the the left cave, but I left it unaccounted for th length, as I wasn't sure it was passable. And there's an unconnected side cave on the far left and above the narrow side tunnel to the right.

I made a scan of the cave with my iPhone 14 Pro (new model with more memory, albeit bought used). The 3D model can be loaded here, viewed here on your browser screen, and the full high-resolution map is here. Below are some excerpts, starting with the plan view (horizontal) map, a vertical cross section of the main line to the cave, and a screenshot of the model:

Photos:

There were three holes total, the above pictures are all about the biggest one. Facing the cave, the biggest one is on the center. To the left is the second hole:

And the third hole is to the right and up a bit:

The hike to the cave is through a park. Clouds were beautiful on my hike:

Norway. Lake. Swim.

2026-10-11T10:12:36.229-07:00

I was on a mission, to ski this month's skiing. And to collect one more cave in Norway. But, I was also on a mission to swim every day (article, alt. link) and the ski hall didn't open until 25 minutes from now. Can I swim in the nearby lake?

I was able to!

And it wasn't even particularly cold. I was stared a bit by the local fishermen and other locals hanging out in the parking place, but, mission accomplished :-)

I was at the Langgrunna badeplass in Lørenskog. This was just next door to the SNØ indoor ski hall that I was going to next. I've been there before, too.... (article, alt. link). Lørenskog is north of Oslo center, and south of the airport.

The coordinates to the swimming beach were N 59.93976 E 10.95555. The official web page for this and other swimming places in Lørenskog is here.

Photos:

Järfällabadet

2026-10-11T06:33:26.274-07:00

Järfälla and Järfällabadet. A swimming pool run again by Medley. A massive facility, 50-meter pool with ten tracks, plus kiddie pools, water slides, etc.

Pretty basic sauna though. I guess saunas in Sweden may not be the priority?

It was also interesting to observe the sauna behavior differences between Finland and Sweden. In Finland one goes to public saunas naked, but will likely have a towel or paper to sit on. In Järfälla it seemed to be the idea that one wraps oneself with a towel while in the sauna. Ok.

And again, as usual in Sweden one has to carry one's own lock to use the lockers. This time I was prepared!

The home page of the facility is here. A ticket to swim cost 115 SEK (10.50€) in 2026.

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Häkli sandpit swim

2026-10-11T06:07:06.617-07:00

I needed to take a flu shot, and the only available slots were an hour away from home, north of the airport in Tuusula. There were three good things with that though, one I got an early flu shot, two that I was able to see my lovely sister who lives nearby, and three, I could stop by on a (cold) swim at a nearby sandpit beach.

There's ample parking space, the water area is big and formed in interesting ways, there's small bridges to cross the water, there's a pier and a small jumping tower, dressing cabins... very nice.

The only thing was that in mid October, it was a tad cold despite the sunny day. But I'm glad I was able to dip in!

The environment is also nice, people seemed to use it for walks, taking the dog out, etc.

The sandpit is at the coordinates N 60.40666 E 24.96760.

More information about the site can be found on Tony Hagerlund's excellent blog and Tuusula's official page. The beach is very popular, it has been reported that the massive parking lot and even the beach can get congested at popular times (article).

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Hammerbybacken last day of the summer ski

2026-10-11T05:14:36.007-07:00

What an experience! I've been to many dry and grass slopes, but this one in the center of Stoclholm is just spectacularly good, they got the steepness, material, and slippery-level just right. I loved trying to duck the randomly operating sprinklers as I skied, however.

Hammerbybacken is a proper ski hill, in the winter operates with snow. But in the summer season they have a lot of different activities from tobogganing to hill running to children's playgrounds. And summer skiing. This year's summer season for them ended on September 27th, and I was there to try it out.

Their secret is the combination of a good hill but also the brushes embedded in the ground, the grass growing through them, and just right amount of water being sprayed from sprinklers. You'll have to guess when the randomly-enabled sprinklers turn on, and try to avoid them. I was quite wet at the end of my session, which just added to the fun.

From the hill can see the city center skyline, the Globen Arena and general city life around you from the hill. But also nature, like in the above picture the green forests and the lake. Superb.

Hammerbybacken is run by Skistar, the famous Swedish ski resort operator that also runs the country's destination mountain in the north, Åre.

The homepage of Hammerbybacken is here. They are located at N 59.30130 E 18.10958. My lift tickets for a 2 hour session with renting skis and poles cost 33 €.

It makes sense to rent their skis, or else your skis will be very grassy :-)

You should pre-book these beforehand, it is easy and then you are guaranteed a slot in case there's a rush at the slopes. There wasn't this time, though, I was there with one other adult and maybe six kids. Feeling like a kid :-)

There's a small Nordic-country -style cafeteria on site. I had to use their services because I had arrived early and had to wait for two hours, got hungry. There's hot dogs and drinks and creps and a few other things, but this isn't a full service restaurant. The bathrooms are clean and nice though.

Photos:

Voco Kista Swims

2026-10-08T00:11:33.707-07:00

I spent a week in Kista in meetings, and tried out a new hotel that I've never been to (!) Voco Stockholm Kista is a nice hotel, rooms are spacious, and most importantly, there was a spa. I used every day for five days, and only on the last day after checking out somewhere else.

Their spa includes a 13-meter pool, a nice hot Finnish sauna, a steam room, and a jacuzzi. On the 13-meter pool one can even do some distance, while on smaller 6 meter pools in some other places I've recently been it it is hard... did 500 meters one evening.

The spa is included in (most? all?) hotel rooms. My room price was reasonable and is usually the lowest available price and the spa was included in it. But I understood it might not be included in all.

You do have to book it through their website though, every time. It is a bit clumsy, have to fill in too many phone numbers and other details, but doesn't cost anything if the spa access is included.

Warning, however, on my last night I almost didn't get my daily swim because they had cancelled my reservation after no-show after fifteen minutes. But I knew I was coming in late, and you can't book like a 20:30-21:00 slot, the latest is 19:30-21:00. And then they said they can't let me in because the pool area is full. But in the end, ten minutes before the nine, someone exited and they let me in. Didn't think the pool area was actually full though. Odd a bit, if you ask me. Anyway... success in the end, thanks for that :-)

Their home page is here.

Spa lounge:

Sauna view:

Pools:

Hotel corridors:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Award-winning Kuusijärvi smoke saunas

2026-10-05T22:12:06.976-07:00

Today's swim was at Kuusijärvi, a small lake and recreation area in Vantaa. I was in Vantaa anyway so it was a natural choice. And what a choice! Such a wonderful, quiet, dark smoke sauna experience, seamlessly blended in the nature. No wonder the next day the saunas were awarded the Finlandia architecture award.

I was here when they were opened last year (article, alt. link).

They really are spectacular. As the news paper reporting (Yle, HS) says, they are about the sauna experience rather than bold, aggressive architecture in your eye. In particular I liked that one of the saunas is marked as quiet place, that they have a transition room between the hot sauna and outside, that there's ample cooling of benches outside, how the buildings connect to each other the beach effortlessly and with perfectly placed paths.

And the craftmanship of the building is superb.

Well done, Vantaa. Even at 2M€...

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Mikaelshulen

2026-10-04T11:07:55.057-07:00

Mikaelshulen is a well-visited cave on the shorelines of lake Norsjø near the town of Skien. Skien is about 2.5 hour drive southwest from Oslo. The cave has acted as a catholic church, dating back to 1300s, and was also an important place of pilgrimage. It isn't large -- 25 meters by my measurements -- but is definitely awe-inspiring with its location on a cliff, overseeing a lake, and sun shining directly into the cave. Today it is a popular hiking destination.

According to references, "Church in Mikjálsbergi" was listed in year 13987 in a bishop's land ownership book as an owner of land in the area. The cave was named after Archangel Michael in Catholic times, some time before the Reformation 1536-1537. From the Reformation until 1843, the church was a refuge for remaining Catholics. Practicing Catholic faith was a serious crime after Reformation.

A description from 1643 calls the cave "Templum Mirabile" (wondrous temple).

Above the cave, at the top of a mountain there is also an ancient burial ground site. I didn't go see the burial ground, but read somewhere that the site hasn't been visible for a long time.

There are many St. Michael's churches in Norway, some of them in caves as the Archangel was often depicted fighting serpents or dragons.

But back to Mikaelshulen. This cave was formed when weaker rock weathered away, also helped by sea waves and ice when the cave was at sea level in the post ice age period. The cave may also have seen modifications or enlargements by humans; there aren't any obvious structures but of course additional rock might have been chipped away. In today's state the cave also has some graffit.

The cave is reachable on foot, or by boat, and is a popular hiking and tourist attraction. Boats can arrive on the pier built by the lakefront, close to the cave.

The cave is in the middle of a massive cliff ending right at the lake, today at an altitude of 30 meters above the lake. There is a well-prepared trail to the cave, but it does involve first some stairs. And then just before the cave you'll need to do some climbing on a steep rock face, helped though by metal handrails:

I scanned the cave with my iPhone's lidar sensor, and then processed it to get a plan view and some vertical cuts of the cave shape. The 3D model can be downloaded here, or rotated on your browser screen here. The full PDF map is accessible here. Below are some sample photos of the model and the map, however.

According to my model, the cave is roughly 25 meters from the drip line to the end. Other sources list the length usually at 20 meters, though. Not sure if my iPhone lidar is inaccurate.

Other articles about this include Wikipedia, Velma Aho's blog post, ut.no article, cultural memory search site entry, skiensatlas page, showcaves.com entry, visitnorway page, and visittelemark page.

There's a parking lot to get to the cave at . There's a well-prepared trail, one way length is about 1.7 km. The trail vertical gain is around 100 meters. Here's the trail map:

More pictures of the cave:

Climbing:

View from the top of the trail to the lakes:

Signs on the road:

The Swim-Every-Day Challenge

2026-09-21T12:49:27.213-07:00

It is good to swim... maybe even every day. In August I had a very nice swim above the rooftops of Stockholm, and decided that I'd try to keep up swimming every day, for as long as possible. It continued through my time at home, on my health rehab in Punkaharju, across business trips to Zürich and Riga, and for the last few days at my summer cottage and once near my office. Sometimes challenging to find the time before swimming pools close, sometimes cold in the September lake waters, but always special. Glad I'm doing this!

By now I've swam on 35 days consecutively. But it will probably fail in the coming weeks, too much travel and work and other things to make it possible to find a place every day. And the outdoor swims get too cold. But let's see.

Overall it has been an excellent experience. Every day nice views, every day a refreshing dip, sometimes borderline cold dip :-) And there's been a reason to get out and walk or drive to a different place.

Out of the 35 places, I swam at my cottage beach three times, visited my home town swimming pool twice, used a nice hotel pool twice in Riga, but also swam in 22 new places. Most of the new places were beaches either near my work place that I had not been to, or beaches alongside my route to Punkaharju. Some were swimming pool or spas where I travelled to, a couple were beaches there.

I particularly want to highlight Störsvik (Siuntio), Sandviken (Inkoo), and Sandfjärden (also in Inkoo). These are 20-30 minutes away from my work places, and about an hour from Helsinki center to the west. But they are wonderful, sandy places, Störsvik is a blissful sandpit with very clear and warm waters. Sandviken is a secluded sand beach on the seafront far away from people, and Sandfjärden is an easily accessible another sand beach by the sea.

Sometimes the swims were long, 400 to 900 meters. At other times very short, from a half a meter quick swim in cold water :-) to few meters... September in Finland can be cold. And at other times somewhere in between. And once I run out of time so had to fill up the jacuzzi in my basement and attempt to "swim" in it.

Here's the full list of my swims so far:

1. Aug 18 - Selma City Spa, Stockholm, Sweden (see the opening picture above, photo below, or the article, alt. link)

2. Aug 19 - Keski-Espoo swimming hall, Espoo, Finland (no article but pictures below)

3. Aug 20 - Kasnäs spa, Kasnäs, Finland (article, alt. link)

4. Aug 21 - Laukkoski school beach, Laukkoski, Pornainen, Finland (article, alt. link)

5. Aug 22 - Galträsk, Kauniainen, Finland (no article but pictures below)

6. Aug 23 - Kruunupuisto beach, Punkaharju, Finland (article, alt. link)

7. Aug 24 - Kruunupuisto spa, Punkaharju, Finland (no article but pictures below)

8. Aug 25 - Kruunupuisto spa and then later the Kruunupuisto sauna and beach, Punkaharju, Finland (article, alt. link)

9. Aug 26 - Karjalankallio lean-to, Punkaharju, Finland (article, alt. link)

10. Aug 27 - Punkaharju public beach, Punkaharju, Finland (article, alt. link)

11. Aug 28 - Naisvuori swimming hall, Mikkeli, Finland (article, alt. link)

12. Aug 29 - Sinilähde beach, Heinola, Finland (article, alt. link)

13. Aug 30 - Kauniainen swimming hall, Kauniainen, Finland (no article but pictures below)

14. Aug 31 - My basement jacuzzi, Kauniainen, Finland (article, alt. link)

15. Sep 01 - Störsvik sandpit beach, Siuntio, Finland (article, alt. link)

16. Sep 02 - Sandviken beach, Kopparnäs, Inkoo, Finland (article, alt. link)

17. Sep 03 - Sandfjärden beach, Kopparnäs, Inkoo, Finland (article, alt. link)

18. Sep 04 - Kauniainen swimming hall, Kauniainen, Finland (no article but pictures below)

19. Sep 05 - Paavolan salmen uimaranta, Lohjansaari, Lohja, Finland (article, alt. link)

20. Sep 06 - Vilniemen uimaranta, Espoo, Finland (article, alt. link)

21. Sep 07 - Freizeit Bad Opfikon, Zurich, Switzerland (article, alt. link)

22. Sep 08 - Freizeit Bad Opfikon, Zurich, Switzerland (article link above, went twice)

23. Sep 09 - Hallenbad City, Zurich, Switzerland (article, alt. link)

24. Sep 10 - Kylmälä, Kirkkonummi, Finland (article, alt. link)

25. Sep 11 - Laaksolahden uimaranta, Laaksolahti, Espoo, Finland (article, alt. link)

26. Sep 12 - Plaža Kašjuni, Split, Croatia (article, alt. link)

27. Sep 13 - Beach Divulje, Kaštel Štafilić, Croatia (article, alt. link)

28. Sep 14 - Radisson BLU Latvia Conference & Spa, Riga, Latvia (article, alt. link)

29. Sep 15 - Welton SPA Centrum, Riga, Latvia (article, alt. link)

30. Sep 16 - Radisson BLU Latvija Conference & Spa, Riga, Latvia (went twice; see article link above)

31. Sep 17 - Welton SPA Riverside, Riga, Latvia (article, alt. link)

32. Sep 18 - My summer cottage, Teisko, Finland (no article but pictures below)

33. Sep 20 - Still at my summer cottage (no article but pictures below)

34. Sep 20 - Still at my summer cottage (several days here, again no article but pictures below as well as at the top of this article)

35. Sep 21 - Långvik beach, Kirkkonummi, Finland (no article but a picture below)

Riga spas

2026-09-21T11:35:34.184-07:00

I had a few days in Riga, and visited both my hotel spa, ESPA Riga (at the Radisson Riga Conference & Spa), Welton SPA Centrum, and the Welton SPA Riverside. The ESPA and Riverside both were wonderful, the former being at the top of the hotel and the latter at the bottom. Both had a selection of nice saunas and pools.

Radisson was by far the overall best choice; they had several floors in the spa. One with the lobby and a cafeteria, another with the changing rooms, a third one with a big pool and the gym (the big pool was under renovation though), and the top floor where the small round sauna pods, steam pods, the big sauna, and the relaxation rooms were at. At the center of this there was also an outdoor pool protected by glass walls, maybe 6-7 meters long and maybe 4-5 meters wide. It was mostly a warm jacuzzi-style pool, but I managed to swin 250 meters on it though...

The Welton chain has several places in Riga, all in hotels. I visited their Centrum and Riverside locations; Centrum was pretty basic with one pool, maybe 7-8 meters long, one sauna, one steam room. Oh and one jacuzzi.

The Riverside was quite nice, they had a bigger pool, 12.5 meters long (did 450 meters on that one...). Then a therapy pool and a cold plunge pool. And a steam room and two nice saunas with different temperatures. I liked this location a lot.

Radisson:

Welton Centrum:

Welton Riverside:

City views:

Flight home:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Freizeit! Opfikon.

2026-09-20T11:38:18.789-07:00

I was late, but maybe there was still a chance of catching a swim. It turned out that I can walk from my hotel to a nearby swimming hall, the Freizeit Bad Opfikon. But I didn't expect it to be the gem it was. A sunset over the pools, indoor and outdoor pools, a luxury facility. Even if it was "just" community pool. But this is Switzerland... and the best part was that the dogs can swim, too!

They can, but only the last day of the outdoor pools are open for the season. I can imagine how excited the dogs will be for this. This should be done in other places, too. Wonderful!

More information here.

Photos, indoor pool:

Outdoor jumping pool:

The building and sign:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Pool photos in this article were taken when the facility was closed or empty. The dog swimming photos are from the facility's brochure and social media.

Zürich's Hallenbad City

2026-09-20T06:52:14.535-07:00

I wanted to use the lunch break in Zürich to visit the Männerbad, an in-river swimming pool. Sadly, despite being advertised as open it didn't appear to be. Would have been a special place! But not to worry, just a block away was the Hallenbad City, another historic swimming place. With a 50-meter pool in a high-ceiling, classic architecture it was also an experience.

Hallenbad Entrance was 8 SFr. The coordinates are N 47.37228 E 8.53293. A quick swim and back to work.

Interestingly, and according to its name, Männerbad is a men-only facility. And doubles as a bar during the nights. It is an open space, natural water in the river, but boxed from the outside by walls and water gates. Maybe some future visit to Zürich will allow me to try this. This is what the pool looks like in the river:

Entrance price was a bit unclear, and indeed the place is only open during the summer period (and I was there within that time), but also open only in good weather (hey, I thought it was good weather :-) )

Männerbad is at N 47.37138 E 8.53267.

More photos, first from Hallenbad:

Männerbad:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. The Hallenbad City pool picture is from their awebsite, all rights belong to them.

Kasnäs spa swim

2026-09-20T01:50:30.749-07:00

It was a long drive, two hours from the office/home. But I found a small fishing village with a great spa, access was affordable (just 12€), they had nice outdoor pools shielded from the wind by glass, a 25-meter indoor pool, a good, dark-wood-colored sauna, a steam room, and even an infrared sauna (though with additional cost).

But maybe their worth would be more around other things than a long drive and a swim. The village is quite nice, there's small little shop, a boat harbor, you can rent cabins or rooms, and there's a salmon growing facility so you would get the freshest salmon right there. And there's a club house and a restaurant.

This would work as a weekend getaway destination even better than an evening drive.

In my case at home, I really enjoyed the salmon and bread I bought here:

Recommended!

Their home page is here.

More photos:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. No photos of swimmers or sauna goers are taken in these articles.

Rainbow lake swim

2026-09-20T01:24:38.062-07:00

Kylmälä ("cold place") is a small village in northern parts of Kirkkonummi, by the lake Tampaja. When I arrived, I cursed the rain because it was making my walk to the beach hard. But the hardest rain stopped, I found a changing cabin at the beach... and then saw one of the best rainbows I've seen in a while!

Wonderful! The beach was good too. And by September 10, on a Thursday evening there was obviously no one else around.

The beach is at coordinates N 60.23517 E 24.40351. There's convenient parking by the school/daycare just before the beach. At the beach itself there's a very basic changing room. The pier feels new and quite nice.

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Photos in this article were taken when the beach was empty.

Blissful swim above Stockholm rooftops

2026-09-19T23:38:31.817-07:00

Wow, had a hard day demoing for work, but this find right in the center of Stockholm was so relaxing: the Selma City Spa, on the roof of the Clarion Hotel Sign by the main train station was something else. A very nice sauna, relaxation rooms, a small cafeteria, and then the pool outside on the roof. And you could order drinks directly to the pool.

In my case, that drink was a Twister (non-alcoholic). And you can order anything just by scanning a QR code next to your beach bed.

Very nice.

Worth going again.

More information on their home page here, or the hotel here. You can book your visit directly on the website. It isn't cheap, however, for non-hotel guests a visit 445 SEK or about 45 €. For hotel guests a visit can be 295 SEK or about 30 € or even lower depending on when you are going. There are of course various other packages with additional services, massage, etc.

One thing with *every* Swedish visit to a swimming facility is that they always have lockers the you have to you bring your own lock to. Even a luxury place like this one! But this time I actually *did* bring a lock. But at home I have 15-20 of these locks from previous trips where I had forgotten one and had to buy a new one. They sell them, they are not expensive, but it is a heavy metal object that gets put in that drawer on top of other heavy metal objects...

More photos:

But I had to cut my visit short, needed to get back home and my flight. I was on a Finnair flight, an Embraer plane from Arland to Helsinki. Nice service. I liked their new slogan on the cups, too...

Laaksolahti swim

2026-09-19T10:45:01.846-07:00

Yikes. Too many geese around. And their shit. But I have to swim today, so no avoiding it.

I'm in Laaksolahti, the swimming place next to the sports area. A very nice spot, also with "Löylykontti" (sauna heat container), though I don't have time to try this now. I'm on way to the airport and already late.

So, a quick swim, get back to the car, dry myself, changes clothes and go. Left the wet swimwear and towel in a hastily constructed drying rack in the car. Ski poles are useful in many ways!

Maybe during the summer this would be less crowded by the geese. Need to come back, it is a great facility in geenral. The coordinates are N 60.24649 E 24.74978. More information here and here.

Photos:

The sauna container is here (look for more information from this link):

And it wasn't just geese, it was also ducks:

My flight afterwards:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Photos in this article were taken when the beach was empty.

Beach Divulje swim

2026-09-19T10:26:38.038-07:00

What a find! In case you ever find yourself at the Split airport, check in your bags and then walk eight minutes towards the sea. You will find a very nice beach, a beach bar, and even a wakeboarding track. Very refreshing before a flight! And in my case I was there just at sunrise, such bliss!

I was there to catch an early morning Norwegian flight to Helsinki; Finnair was too expensive. But the timing to get to the airport before the flight was just right, I had enough time for the swim, and the morning sea was surprisingly warm despite it being September. The sun was also good early in the morning, not too hot to burn my skin. Note that Split airport has a general rather than airline-specific checkin desks, so you can leave your luggage at any time. Even half a day before your flight if you want to.

To get to the beach, walk inside the airport to the rental car building, then exit and walk towards the entrance where cars are coming to the parking lot through rising gates. Then turn right towards the sea. In few minutes you'll be by the beach.

At the beach there are some permanently setup shades, a small changing room, and indeed the bar as well.

The main swimmable beach is between the wakeboarding building sitting out on the water and a pier by the bar.

Much recommended!

A bit more information here.

More photos:

The wakeboarding building and facility:

Airport, take this tunnel to go to the rental car building:

Then walk across the bus parking spaces to get to where the gates open for cars coming to the airport, and take this intersection towards the sunset and the beach:

My aircraft out of here:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Photos in this article were taken when the beach was empty.

Vilniemi swim

2026-09-19T09:10:03.880-07:00

Not a lot of time, have to make a major update on my demo for work, even if it is a Sunday. But, there's a swimming beach I've not been to before, just few kilometers away: Vilniemi beach, on the Lake Lippajärvi. Let's try that!

Surprisingly, even if being September, there were a number of other swimmers. Nice!

The beach is at N 60.23407 E 24.72803. There's a big public parking space for the houses of the area, just before the path that leads to the beach.

The official Espoo page about this is here, though with very little information. Tony Hagerlund's blog has more information, as usual :-)

Path to the beach:

Beach overview:

View to the other side of the lake:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Photos in this article were taken when the beach was empty.

Paavola strait swim

2026-09-13T07:02:34.440-07:00

Now this is an official beach and marked on the Finnish map as such. But I have to say it is far out and probably not used by anyone. Google doesn't know about it, for instance. Except when we started undressing on the pier, three people walking showed up, and boats parked in front of the beach!

This beach is in Lohjansaari on the Paavola strait. The coordinates are N 60.225734 E 23.911124. Once you enter Lohjansaari, you have to exit the bigger roads on a tiny (almost no crossing places) cottage road. And at the end the road gets mushy. But in the end there's a grass parking lot and a gate. You walk a couple of hundred meters own the road, and you arrive at the beach.

There's a crude changing cabinet and earlier on the road something that looked like a dry toilet. But I wouldn't use either one, and that's why we changed clothes on the pier and by the table that's on the shore.

There's a rowing boat that you could rent.

But the beach itself is very nice, secluded from winds, sandy bottom, and the pier is in excellent condition. There's a bit of grass growing from the water so the swimming area is not that large until you get further out. But there's quite a bit of boat traffic on the strait so be careful swimming too far.

And we were on Lohjasaari to begin with to see the Paavola Oak Tree. This is general thought to be the finest Finnish tree. There's a parking lot (at N 60.22762 E 23.88329) and trail leading to the trees which itself is at N 60.226397 E 23.890825. More information available in Wikipedia and Antti Huttunen's excellent article in Retkipaikka.

Photos from the beach:

And the tree:

This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Photos in this article were taken when the beach was empty.