Winter Swimming and Cold Baths: The Kallbadhus

Sauna, then a dip in the winter sea, then back into the sauna. On Sweden’s southern and western coasts that routine runs through wooden bath houses built over a century ago. Here’s how they work, what the house rules expect, and what Sweden’s safety bodies say about the dip itself.

When you need this

You’re in Malmö, Helsingborg or Varberg between autumn and spring and see a bath house at the end of a pier. A Swedish friend has invited you for bastu och kallbad, sauna and a cold dip. You’re not sure whether to pack swimwear, whether the kids can come, or whether cold water is a good idea with your blood pressure. Or you’ve seen people lowering themselves into a hole in the lake ice and want to try it without becoming a rescue case.

What a kallbadhus is

A kallbadhus (“cold-bath house”, nicknamed kallis) is a wooden building on piles out in the sea, reached by a long pier. It has changing rooms, saunas and ladders or steps down into the water. Länsstyrelsen Skåne, the county board, counts Malmö’s Ribersborg among nearly twenty such houses built between the mid-1800s and the 1930s. It calls Ribersborg’s pier of more than 170 meters typical of the type.

These houses began with summer sea bathing. Saunas turned them into year-round places: Ribersborg got its first wood-fired one in 1962. Today the cold months are the busy ones. Helsingborg’s city-run houses open their high season at the end of September.

Three historic houses you can visit:

Helsingborg’s third house, Rååbaden, is run by a local association on the city’s behalf. Opening times and entry are set by each house, so check its own page before you go.

Nudity and house rules

The tradition is nude bathing (nakenbad) with a separate women’s side (damavdelning) and men’s side (herravdelning). Malmö’s city history dates Ribersborg’s nude bathing, and the screen between the two sides, to the 1930s. The rules are set by each house, and they’re specific:

• Ribersborg: no swimwear in the sauna, sit on a towel. Swimwear is allowed in the sea pools. Staff of either sex may appear anywhere.
• Kallis, Helsingborg: swimwear isn’t used at all. Sit on a towel in the sauna.
• Both: shower before the sauna, and no photography of other guests (Ribersborg bans photography entirely).
• Alcohol: none at Kallis; at Ribersborg only on the restaurant’s terraces.
• Own risk: both houses state that bathing is at your own risk.

Mixed sessions exist too. Helsingborg’s Pålsjöbaden opens a mixed sauna (mixbastu) every Thursday 18.00–20.00, only for men and women who arrive together. If you come alone, you’ll be sent to Kallis. Ribersborg opens to everyone regardless of gender on the first Monday of each month, and families can bathe together then.

Children: at Helsingborg’s houses, under-16s come with an adult. Children under 7 may use the parent’s sauna whatever their sex.

For the wider picture on Swedish attitudes to nudity, see nudity and body norms in Sweden. For sauna etiquette beyond the bath houses, see sauna in Sweden.

How to take the dip safely

The danger in cold water isn’t the cold at first. It’s cold-water shock: fast breathing and a sharp rise in pulse and blood pressure, strongest in the first 30 seconds. The gasp reflex can drown a person within seconds. Put your face under and the dive reflex slows the heart at the same time, and that combination may raise the risk of serious heart-rhythm disturbances. Water also takes heat from the body about 25 times faster than air.

This advice comes from Issäkerhetsrådet, the ice-safety council that includes the Swedish Life Saving Society (SLS), and from a 2026 study summarized by Hjärt-Lungfonden, the heart and lung foundation:

1. Check that you’re well. Skip it with an infection or illness. With high blood pressure or heart disease, ask a doctor first.
2. No alcohol before the dip.
3. Bring a towel to sit on, bath shoes, a hat and gloves in winter, and a robe for after.
4. Shower, then warm up in the sauna. Issäkerhetsrådet advises being warm before you go in.
5. Go with someone who watches you in the water.
6. Check the sea: wave height, currents and ice on the steps.
7. Walk in slowly by the ladder or steps. Don’t jump or dive, and keep your head above water unless you’re used to it.
8. Breathe slowly and deeply until your breathing is under control.
9. Get out within about a minute, the researchers’ advice.
10. Step out carefully, dry off, then dress or go back to the sauna.

Warning: Never bathe alone, and never after drinking. If someone gets into trouble, call 112 and reach them with a lifebuoy, pole or line — don’t go in after them. Anyone who nearly drowned needs a hospital check even if they seem fine. For hypothermia signs and first aid, see cold risks: hypothermia and frostbite.

Common mistakes: packing swimwear for a sauna where it’s banned; photographing the view with bathers in shot; jumping in; staying in to prove something; and turning up alone on a mixed-sauna evening.

Ice holes and winter-bathing clubs

Vinterbad also happens away from the bath houses, in a vak, a hole cut in lake or sea ice, often by a jetty or a sauna. There are no staff, lifebuoys or house rules there, so your own group is your safety net. The ice matters as much as the water:

• Core ice on the way out should be at least 10 cm thick, and ice is weak near inlets, outlets and jetties. See ice safety on frozen lakes and skating on natural ice.
• Mark the hole. Issäkerhetsrådet says whoever opens a hole is obliged to mark it, with spruce branches or plastic tape on posts, so a skater, walker or child doesn’t fall in.
• Stand on a towel or mat while you change, and keep a line or pole within reach.

Winter-bathing clubs (vinterbadsklubbar, kallbadsföreningar) keep ice holes open and sometimes run bath houses. Joining one gives you company, a maintained hole and people who know the local ice. In the south, you’ll find the sea houses; inland and further north, winter bathing is mostly by a lake jetty or sauna.

Accessibility

Access varies, so ask ahead. Helsingborg publishes details for Kallis: the stairs to the jetty have no contrast marking, and there’s no lift for getting in and out of the water. There’s no private changing area either, though both sides have adapted toilets.

Practical information

FAQ

What is a kallbadhus?

A kallbadhus is a Swedish cold-bath house: a wooden building on piles out in the sea, reached by a long pier, with changing rooms, saunas and ladders into the water. Most were built between the mid-1800s and the 1930s. Ribersborg in Malmö, from 1898, is a listed building. People use them all year, and winter is the busy season.

Do you have to be naked at a Swedish cold-bath house?

Mostly, yes: the tradition is nude bathing, with separate women’s and men’s sides. Ribersborg bans swimwear in the sauna but allows it in the sea pools. At Helsingborg’s Kallis you don’t use swimwear at all. Sit on a towel in the sauna. Some houses also run mixed sessions, such as Helsingborg’s Pålsjöbaden on Thursday evenings for people who come in mixed company.

Is winter swimming safe?

It can be, on conditions. A 2026 Swedish study judged the risk of serious heart-rhythm trouble low for very short dips by healthy young people who keep their head above water. The main danger is cold-water shock in the first 30 seconds. Never bathe alone or after alcohol, skip it when ill, and see a doctor first with heart disease or high blood pressure.

How long should you stay in the cold water?

Briefly. Researchers behind a 2026 study summarised by Hjärt-Lungfonden, the heart and lung foundation, advise at most one minute. Cold shock peaks in the first 30 seconds and eases after a couple of minutes, so a short dip covers the hardest part. Calm, deep breathing helps you through it, and there’s no required time or temperature to reach.

Can children go to a kallbadhus?

Often, yes, with an adult. At Helsingborg’s city bath houses children under 16 must be with an adult, under-13s enter free with a parent, and children under 7 may use the parent’s sauna whatever their sex. Ribersborg opens to everyone, including families together, on the first Monday of each month. Parents are responsible for their children.

Can I bathe in a hole in the ice on a lake?

Yes, but take the ice as seriously as the water. The core ice on the way out should be at least 10 cm thick, and ice is weak near inlets, outlets and jetties. Whoever cuts the hole must mark it, with spruce branches or tape on posts. Never go alone, and have a line or pole within reach.

What should I bring for a cold dip?

A towel to sit on in the sauna, bath shoes for slippery wood and icy steps, and a robe for after. Bring a hat and gloves in winter, and something to stand on while you change outdoors. At a city bath house, check the house rules first: Helsingborg rents towels, but lockers there take your own lock or a coin.

Related guides

• Sauna in Sweden — etiquette for the hot half of the routine
• Cold risks: hypothermia and frostbite — what to do if a dip goes wrong
• Ice safety on frozen lakes — before you walk out to a hole
• Nudity and body norms in Sweden — the wider context for nude bathing
• Helsingborg travel guide — the town with three bath houses

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Facts verified 2026-09-25. Sources: Issäkerhetsrådet, Hjärt-Lungfonden, Sjöräddningssällskapet, 1177, SOS Alarm, Malmö stad, Länsstyrelsen Skåne, Helsingborgs stad and Varbergs Fastighets AB — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.