The best: Saunas and cold plunges around Manchester

Billed as ‘a heavenly retreat like no other in the heart of Manchester’, the Radisson Edwardian’s boundlessly opulent spa provides flawless relaxation and spiritual restoration across an entire floor of the Grade II* listed Free Trade Hall building.

As well as a selection of treatments including massages, aromatherapy and nourishing body oil wraps, visitors can enjoy a languid dip in the 12m aquamarine pool before detoxifying their pores in the adjoining sauna and steam room.

Featuring sleep chambers, steam rooms and an array of restorative thermal experiences, The Midland Hotel’s award-winning Rena Spa delivers a wellness experience enveloped in sublime luxury.

One of four thermal facilities, the in-house sauna sits at around 85 degrees and features a Himalayan salt block wall. From there, guests can enjoy an immersive shower experience, where heat, light and water combine to either rapidly cool you down (Arctic Rain) or heat your body (Caribbean Storm), before easing into the aromatherapy steam room and alleviating shoulder and neck tension with the Swan Neck Fountain.

Located inside the Park Inn Radisson, Manchester’s quiet haven of sensory escape offers an astonishingly broad variety of treatments, packages and comprehensive spa sessions to provide the perfect urban wellness experience.

Whether you’re treating yourself and a loved one to a day of serene indulgence or re-centring your chakras before a gig at the neighbouring AO Arena, the unassuming oasis boasts the most extensive spa programme in the city centre.

For £30 every weekday or £40 on weekends, visitors can enjoy 3 hours of access to the fitness suite, heated pool, sauna, steam room and loungers, with a towel and robe provided. Alternatively, you can try the Sheer Indulgence For Two package, which includes spa access, a glass of sparkling wine on arrival, a full body massage, deep cleansing back exfoliation and a customised facial (£199 weekdays, £249 weekends).

Located underneath an old Victorian mill in Ancoats, Manchester’s storied gay male-only sauna offers an impressive array of facilities, including a dry sauna, a steam room and two spas, as well as an expansive dark area and a licenced bar.

General admission costs £20, but there are a number of discounts available throughout the week, and free entry on your birthday.

Click below to find out more.

At FIX, guests can choose from an array of expert-led sessions centred around what the team say is actually the UK’s biggest sauna, from hot stretching and guided breathwork to transformative sound immersion and massage.

FIX also features two ‘socially designed ice baths’, designed by the same people who supply Manchester United and Manchester City, as well as a devoted social area where you can mingle between the hot and cold over an infused natural tea.

The Good Sauna, located alongside The Pollen Club at the foot of Treehouse Hotel, offers guests a traditional Finnish wood-fired sauna, invigorating cold plunge baths and a communal ‘campfire area’.

Community saunas and private bookings are available to book for 1 hour 45-minute time slots, while 1-hour ‘Express Sessions’, priced at just £15, are designed to give guests a bit of respite during their busy schedules.

Broadeath-based sports recovery centre RE:UP is regularly used by semi-professional and professional clubs and athletes, as well as everyday people looking to enhance their recovery. Open 7 days a week, the facility includes an 8-person Finnish sauna at 90–110°C, two cold plunge ice baths at 4–7°C, Normatec compression, and a clinic for sports massage and injury treatment.

Set within Red Bank’s industrial arches, Kontrast features two traditional saunas, one social and one silent, as well as an infrared sauna. Three ice baths sit at 4°C, 7°C and a group plunge at 13°C. Sessions begin at £12 for 45 minutes, with 90-minute sessions also available at £20.