The best things to do in naturist areas (beyond lying on a beach)

Take an aufguss ritual seriously

The single best thing to do in a northern European naturist area is book yourself into a sauna's aufguss timetable. A sauna master pours iced or scented water onto hot stones and works the steam around the cabin with a towel, usually in three rounds of rising intensity, and the whole room does it together. It is theatrical, physically intense and completely non-sexual — and it is the reason Dutch and German resorts are full in January.

Arrive five minutes early, sit lower down for your first one, and go outside to the cold plunge afterwards rather than straight back into heat.

Walk the thermal circuit properly

A thermal resort rewards a rhythm rather than a marathon. Heat for ten to fifteen minutes, cold for thirty seconds, rest for as long as you were hot, drink water, repeat. Three or four rounds is a full day. Doing it correctly is the difference between leaving floaty and leaving with a headache.

Swim, paddle and sail

On the Mediterranean coast the water is the activity. Long shoreline walks between coves are a naturist tradition in Almería and Catalonia, where a designated beach often has quieter unmarked stretches at either end. Snorkelling over rocky ends of bays, sea kayaking and small-boat days out are all easy to arrange locally, and a boat is the one place where clothing-optional is uncomplicated.

• ·Coastal walks between coves at either end of a designated beach
• ·Snorkelling on the rocky edges where the sand runs out
• ·Kayak or small-boat hire from the nearest marina
• ·Early swims before the beach fills, roughly before 10am in summer

Naked hiking and the outdoors

Organised naturist walks are common in Germany, Austria, France and Spain, usually run by a local club or federation rather than a resort. They tend to start early, cover modest distances and finish at water. Boots, a hat, sun cream and a small pack are the whole kit list. Because these walks cross public land, they follow a simple courtesy: cover up when you meet other walkers, and don't start from a busy car park.

National naturist federations and local associations are the best route into all of this — they publish walk calendars, club days and beach clean-ups, and they are how most people find the events that never appear on a booking site.

Sport, socials and the off-season

Resorts and campsites run their own programmes, and they are more active than outsiders imagine: pétanque, volleyball, yoga, aquagym, tennis, dance nights, markets and quiz evenings. Larger holiday villages effectively function as small towns, with shops, restaurants and a weekly calendar posted at reception.

Out of season, the same places turn quiet and cheap. September and October on the Spanish coast still have warm water and half the people, and a January sauna day in the Netherlands, with snow on the garden and a queue for the aufguss, is arguably the best value naturist day in Europe.

One rule that never changes

Whatever the activity, the camera stays in the bag. No photography is the one rule enforced everywhere, indoors and out, and it is what makes everything above comfortable for everyone in the room.

Keep reading

• Naturist Spain
• Naturist Netherlands
• Naturist France