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A wild sauna on Hopeman East Beach
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Hopeman – a Wild Sauna in the Dunes and Lunch

A few hours.

The route

Fyrhùs is a wood-fired sauna tucked into the dunes past the painted beach huts on Hopeman's East Beach, looking out across the Moray Firth.

Share an hour and a quarter of heat with a few others or book it for your own group, take a cold shower or a swim between rounds, then walk back into the village for lunch at Hopeman Sands. It's an unhurried morning on the Moray coast for anyone over 16.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    Callie Bothy8 miles awayCallie BothySleeps 2The Gatehouse9 miles awayThe GatehouseSleeps 4Innes House9 miles awayInnes HouseSleeps 38Viewfield Farmhouse9 miles awayViewfield FarmhouseSleeps 8

  2. Book Fyrhùs Sauna, Hopeman East Beach

    Book a Fyrhùs session online for Hopeman East Beach (Thursday to Sunday; new dates open a month ahead, and the calendar says which site): a communal hour and a quarter is £15 a person at the time of writing, the whole sauna from £90 for six, over-16s only, and cancelling inside 48 hours forfeits the credit.

The day

Hopeman

Wood-fired heat in the dunes and the cold of the Moray Firth. Then a short walk back past the beach huts to lunch in the village.

About three hours

  1. Fyrhùs Sauna, Hopeman East Beach

    Fyrhùs Sauna, Hopeman East Beach

    Fyrhùs stands in the dunes just past the beach huts on Hopeman East Beach, with views over the sea to the hills beyond. Park free behind the beach on Beach Terrace, where spaces are limited. Its communal and private sessions run here from Thursday to Sunday, booked online, with new dates opening a month ahead. Check that the calendar says Hopeman, as Fyrhùs also has a meadow site near Roseisle, and in rough weather the sauna tucks in behind the huts and the car park. A communal session is £15 a person for an hour and a quarter at the time of writing, shared with a few others, and the whole sauna is from £90 for six. There are toilets, a unisex changing van and a cold shower, and the sea is right there for a swim if you're confident in cold water. It's alcohol-free and phone-free, and over-16s only. If the forecast is for 40mph winds or more, you get a credit or a refund.

  2. 12 min on foot

    Hopeman Sands Cafe

    Hopeman Sands Cafe

    Lunch

    Lunch is at Hopeman Sands, a small café at 27 Harbour Street, about 12 minutes' walk back past the huts into the village. It's a cosy room of wooden tables for a cooked breakfast, a lunch or something from the baking, and it's said to welcome children and dogs. It usually opens 10am to 3pm every day but Wednesday, though its days can change over the winter, so ring ahead on 07384 582097. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.

If it rains

The sauna is warm in any weather, with a changing van beside it, and it moves in behind the huts when it's rough; the café is indoors.

Where to stay

Photographs by Mitchell “MRoss” Ross and Jamie McCallum via Google