What to Bring to a German Sauna or Therme

Part of The German Sauna Guide — built from venues’ published house rules, not from a personal visit.

The packing list for a German Therme is short. What makes it worth getting right is that two items on it are not preferences — they are requirements written into the house rules, and turning up without them means either renting on the spot or sitting out the sauna.

Everything below is derived from published house rules rather than from a visit. The detailed sourcing is on the companion page, German sauna rules.

The two things you genuinely have to have

A towel long enough for your entire body — including your feet

This is the one people get wrong. Therme Erding’s house rules require a sitting and lying towel large enough to go under the whole body, feet included, so that no part of you touches the bench. It is a size requirement, not a hygiene suggestion.

In practice that means the towel needs to be about as long as you are tall. A standard European bath towel of 70 × 140 cm is enough for most adults sitting upright but short if you want to lie down; 80 × 180 cm or a dedicated Saunatuch covers it properly.

If you are travelling with hand luggage this is where compact towels bite. Microfibre travel towels are sold in everything from roughly 60 × 120 cm up to about 100 × 180 cm, and only the largest sizes satisfy a full-body requirement — so buy on the dimensions, not the label. We looked at one of the most-reviewed options in our microfibre travel towel review, including where it falls short.

Something to cover up with outside the cabin

A bathrobe, or a second towel you can wrap around yourself. German Thermen are textile-free inside the sauna and require you to be covered once you have finished your round and cooled down — at Erding explicitly including the restaurant and bar areas. Walking around uncovered is the actual etiquette error, not the nudity.

A waffle or towelling robe stays usable longer than a fluffy one, which soaks through after two rounds. If you are flying in and a robe will not fit, a third towel does the job.

The rest of the list

• A second dry towel. Your first one will be damp by the end. This is the one you actually dry off with.
• Flip-flops or shower shoes. Street shoes are banned in the barefoot zones, showers and guest areas, and the floors are wet. You will see neat piles of them outside every cabin door.
• Water. Bring a refillable bottle — but not a glass one, which is prohibited, like any container that shatters. That leaves stainless steel or plastic. We looked at one insulated steel option in our Owala FreeSip review: its listing claims a cold drink stays cold for up to 24 hours, and the same listing rules out hot liquids, with the bottle itself hand wash only. Most venues sell drinks against your wristband.
• A hair tie, if your hair is long enough to sit on your neck at 90 °C.
• A book or e-reader. Not a nicety: phones are banned in the textile-free area, so this is your only entertainment between rounds. There are usually quiet lounges built for it.
• A card and a little cash. Inside, you charge everything to a wristband and settle at the exit. Cash still matters in Germany for the odd machine or kiosk.
• A small bag or pouch for jewellery, since you should not wear it in the heat.
• Shower gel and shampoo, if you plan to wash properly before leaving. Soap and creams may only be used in the shower area.

If you would rather buy than rent

Renting on site is genuinely fine and we say so below. But the three items above are the ones the house rules actually name, and two of them — the towel size and the bathing shoes — are the ones travellers most often turn up without. If you are buying, these are what the published requirements point at.

These are researched picks, chosen because they satisfy requirements we quoted above from published house rules — not products we have tested. Prices and ratings were checked on 20 September 2026 and change. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases; it costs you nothing extra, and renting on site remains a perfectly good alternative.

What to leave at home — some of it is banned outright

This half of the list is more useful than the packing half, because several of these are rules rather than taste.

• Your phone, tablet, camera or anything that records. Prohibited in the textile-free area, along with photography and filming. Locker.
• Your own Aufguss oils. Guests may not bring or use their own essences, and only staff may perform an Aufguss. Do not pour water on the stones yourself.
• Glass bottles and your own food and drink. Both prohibited.
• Jewellery and watches. Metal gets genuinely painful in a hot cabin during an Aufguss, and venues disclaim liability for discolouration — thermal water containing sulphur can tarnish metal and bleach swimwear.
• Swimming and diving goggles, at least in the pools of textile-free areas, where they are prohibited.
• A razor. Shaving on site is not allowed, and neither is dyeing your hair.
• Make-up. Not banned, just pointless — it will not survive the first round.

You can usually rent the bulky items

If you are on a city trip and a robe and two large towels will not fit in the bag, check the venue’s rental. Erding lends linen against a deposit — €30 or €15 depending on the item at the time of writing — and refunds it on return. That is normal across larger Thermen, and it is usually cheaper than buying a robe you will use once.

Worth knowing about the same wristband: losing the key and transponder costs a flat €45 at Erding, and you are required to keep it on you for the whole visit.

A sensible order for the day

• Shower thoroughly and dry off — both are required before you go in.
• Robe and flip-flops to the cabin, towel under your whole body, 8 to 15 minutes.
• Out, cool down: cold shower first, then the plunge pool if you want it.
• Cover up, drink water, rest roughly as long as the round lasted.
• Repeat two or three times. Two good rounds beat four rushed ones.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a swimsuit as well?

Bring one. Most large Thermen have a swimwear-on thermal pool area alongside the textile-free sauna world, and they are separate tickets or separate zones in the same building.

Is a travel towel good enough for a German sauna?

Only if it is long enough to cover your whole body including your feet, which is what the rules require. Many compact travel towels are not. Check the dimensions against your height before you rely on one.

Can I use a hotel towel?

Yes, if it is big enough and the hotel is relaxed about it leaving the room. Hotel bath towels are often 70 × 140 cm, which is fine for sitting and tight for lying down.

What if I forget something?

Towels and robes are generally rentable at reception against a deposit, and flip-flops, water and toiletries are usually on sale. The only thing you cannot solve on site is the phone habit.

One packing note if Austria is also on the itinerary: a bathrobe matters more there, because Therme Wien requires one in its Sauna-Bistro. The other differences are in German vs Austrian sauna rules.

Before you go

The full set of requirements, with each one traced to the house rules it comes from, is on German sauna rules, and the German on the door and the schedule board is translated in German sauna words and signs. For how sauna fits into an actual trip rather than an afternoon, our destination guides cover Finnish Lapland, Lofoten and Iceland.

Once the bag is packed, the step-by-step first visit guide walks through what happens from the front door onwards, and Aufguss etiquette covers the busiest and hottest part of the day.

Before you book, two venue-specific things are worth checking: the age limit, and whether the day you picked is a women-only Damentag.

Sources and verification

This page is assembled from documents the venues publish themselves, not from a personal visit. Everything stated above can be checked against the sources below — that is the point of the page.

• Therme Erding — Haus- und Badeordnung, in force since 23 February 2026
• Therme Wien — published Saunaregeln

Last verified: 20 September 2026. House rules, opening arrangements and schedules change without notice, and individual venues differ from one another by design. The signage at the entrance and the venue’s own current page are the authority; this page is a starting point for planning, not a substitute for either.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases on linked product pages. This page is researched from published house rules, not a claim of personal testing, and none of it is medical advice.