History: France, the United Kingdom, and Mediterranean Europe

In France, the United Kingdom, and much of southern Europe, single-gender saunas are the most common type. Nudity is expected in the segregated saunas but usually forbidden in the mixed saunas. This is a source of confusion when residents of these nations visit Germany and Austria or vice-versa. Sauna sessions tend to be shorter and cold showers are shunned by most. In the United Kingdom, where public saunas are becoming increasingly fashionable, the practice of alternating between the sauna and the jacuzzi in short seatings has emerged. Foreign visitors should also be aware that some small establishments advertised as 'saunas' are in fact brothels and it is rare to have a legitimate sauna with no other health spa or gym facilities in the UK.

In Portugal, the steam baths were commonly used by the Castrejos people, prior to the arrival of the Romans in the western part of the Iberian peninsula. The historian Estrabão (Portuguese Wikipedia) spoke of Lusitans traditions that consisted of having steam bath sessions followed by cold water baths. Pedra Formosa is the original name given to the central piece of the steam bath in pre-Roman times.

In French-speaking Switzerland, customs are less rigid. Often, patrons have their choice of bathing nude or clothed. Other facilities offer nude single-sex saunas, nude mixed-gender saunas, and clothed mixed-gender saunas on the same premises.