After discovering what to do in Finland in Summer, here you can find our tips about accommodations in the lake district in Southern Finland.
Hotel or camping?
There are many possibilities to overnight in Finland: there are Hotels, that we did not choose for this trip because we wanted to stay in touch with nature, and there is free camping that allows you to set up your tent wherever you want, but always respecting people, animals and things around you.
One recommended experience is the farm. We could compare Finnish farms to Italian “agriturismi” or farmhouses, even if the context is more rural. You sleep in rooms obtained from the renovation of ancient barns, with no windows – to allow you to rest better during the period of constant light. These rooms are not claustrophobic, as I thought at the beginning! At the farm, it is possible to spend time with animals and enjoy products from the vegetable garden.
Then there are the summer cottages, or “mokki“, houses on the lake shore, more or less luxurious, where you retire and escape from the world. Mokki are part of Finnish culture: every family has its own cottage, equipped with a private sauna, as well as every home; the sauna is generally built a few meters from the lake in order to alternate the hot bath with a dive into the fresh water.
What to know before planning a holiday in Finland
For Finnish people sauna is very important: it represents a kind of purification, a ritual. They can not live without. Sauna is so important that it is also present in the Finnish parliament in Helsinki. It is the place where women used to give birth in the past. In the sauna, you must be naked! Men with men and women with women, while families go altogether. According to mythology, there is an elf related to sauna: the saunatonttu. Being invited to enter the sauna is a real honor. In the sauna, there is conviviality, even if silence must be observed. Another thing: you wash after sauna, usually in the adjacent room where you have a sort of hose, or you can even dive into the lake!
Take note: all types of accommodation mentioned except for hotels, do not have a bathroom / toilet inside the rooms. There are ecological WCs where compost is used. Everything is converted in a natural way, becoming part of the cycle of life again. So for the shower, it is done at the same time as the sauna.
Finally, what is the flaw in all this wonder? Mosquitoes and horseflies. During the days without the breeze, when the light fades, they attack becoming really annoying. Bring with you a good repellent, even if unfortunately you will have to live with their bites!
Finland is much more than this in Summer. It leaves you with an emotion that can not be explained but only lived. And if you’re curious to know how Finland is in Winter, follow our adventures!