Russian & Turkish Baths
Sweating out New York since 1892
Editor’s Take
Get the platza treatment at least once — it's a bucket-list experience. Go on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowds. The restaurant upstairs is legitimately good; the borscht is mandatory. Bring your own flip-flops and a padlock for the locker.
About
The Russian & Turkish Baths on East 10th Street is not a wellness trend. It is a 130-year-old institution that has outlasted every fad, every recession, and every wave of gentrification that has washed over the East Village. Walking through the unmarked entrance and down the stairs is a time portal: tile walls, industrial pipes, the sound of water hitting hot stone, and the unmistakable smell of eucalyptus and decades of honest sweat. Five rooms offer different heat experiences — a Russian sauna with radiant heat from rocks, a Turkish steam room thick enough to lose visibility, an aromatherapy room, and more. The platza treatment is the signature: a practitioner beats you with bundles of oak leaves soaked in olive oil soap while you lie on the hottest bench in the Russian room. It sounds brutal. It is transcendent. The cold plunge afterward will reset every circuit in your body. The rooftop deck provides the decompression space, and the restaurant serves borscht, pierogies, and herring that taste like they've been on the menu since opening day. What the Russian & Turkish Baths offers that no modern wellness club can replicate is authenticity measured in generations. The regulars include everyone from Wall Street traders to East Village artists to elderly Eastern European men who've been coming for decades. At $45 for a full day, it is the most democratic wellness experience in Manhattan and — for those willing to embrace its rough edges — the most soulful.
Treatments & Services
Signature: Platza oak-leaf beating treatment
Highlights
- ✓Open since 1892 — NYC's oldest bathhouse
- ✓5 saunas and steam rooms
- ✓Platza oak-leaf beating treatment
- ✓Cold plunge pool
- ✓Rooftop sun deck
- ✓On-site Russian restaurant
- ✓$45 day pass
Best For
Old-school sauna lovers, history buffs, platza virgins, and anyone tired of polished wellness spaces
Contact & Info
Phone
+1 212-674-9250Website
www.russianturkishbaths.comHours
Mon–Fri 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Sat–Sun 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Languages
English, Russian
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