Discover Finland
188,000 lakes, over 70 per cent forest and 3.3 million saunas for 5.6 million people. Here's what those numbers mean once you're actually here.
188,000 lakes
No country in the world has more. They rarely sit beside a town: most of them are surrounded by forest, with a jetty and an upturned rowing boat on the shore. It changes what a holiday is. The water isn't somewhere you drive to — it's right outside.
In June and July it barely gets dark here at night. That sounds like a piece of trivia until you find yourself swimming at eleven in the evening simply because it's still light. Nobody telling you it's bedtime.
Over 70 per cent forest
The highest share in Europe. Forest here doesn't start at a car park with a signboard — it starts behind the house: pine, birch, soft ground underfoot, and paths you can follow for an hour or a whole day.
And it belongs to everyone. Jokaisenoikeudet, everyman's right, lets you walk freely through the countryside, sleep out in it and pick berries and mushrooms — even on land that isn't yours. The only rules: keep clear of people's homes, leave nothing behind, and don't light an open fire without permission.
3.3 million saunas
For 5.6 million people — close to one each. A sauna here isn't a spa treatment you book, it's a room in the house, like a bathroom. People use it on a Tuesday, with the family, for no particular reason.
A mökki — the Finnish cabin by the water — comes with one as standard. The order never changes: heat up until you can't take any more, into the lake, back to the heat. In winter we cut a hole in the ice. It sounds worse than it is, and it's the best thing there is.
The seasons
The gap between January and July is wider here than anywhere else in Europe. Whichever season you pick shapes the entire week.
- Spring
- April and May. The ice breaks up, the days lengthen noticeably and everything turns green within a few weeks. The quietest season — you'll have the paths largely to yourself.
- Summer
- June to August. Swimming, kayaking, fishing, and evenings that never quite go dark. It's also when the Finns head to their own mökki — July is the holiday month here.
- Autumn
- September and October. The forests turn — the ruska — and there's plenty to pick: bilberries, lingonberries, chanterelles. Filling a bucket takes about an hour.
- Winter
- December to March. The lakes freeze over and become a plain you ski or walk across. Silent, white and surprisingly bright. How thick the ice is and what's possible varies by place and by year — we'll check that for you.
Which season will it be?
Torn between summer and winter, or no idea at all? Tell us what you picture and we'll say honestly which season fits it best — and when you're better off not coming.