This is the story of Sebastian’s journey to Finland and our wonderful culture where nature and spending time in summer cottages are essential .

Straight after arriving in Helsinki we got our rental car and drove north. Ahead of us was a 10 day journey through the southern part of Finland. My expectations of this beautiful country were fulfilled immediately after leaving the city and entering the remote nature of Finland. We drove for around 3 hours north, one hour was driving on a gravel road straight into the forest until we reached our cottage directly at lake.

A Finnish BBQ in the forest.

After a day of hiking and exploring the area we finished the day by making a campfire on a hill with views over the lake. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine a better place for a fire. The nature and the remoteness of that place even made it more beautiful. A cold beer and some sausages on the stick really made a perfect evening.

Amazing view on the National Park of Repovesi

After leaving the remote cottage behind, we made our way to explore Repovesi National Park. In the park there are a lot of hiking trails and some great views over lakes and forests. There are also some campgrounds, where families spent the night. Unfortunately we didn’t bring our own tent, so we had to leave the park at dawn to sleep in our B&B.

Roadtripping in Finland

After another night at a campfire at the B&B Pinus in Mäntyharju, we made our way more north to Koli National Park where we stayed on a farm for 2 nights. The view from the top of Koli National Park was even more breathtaking than the views we saw before. After a good day of hiking, we had one of the best burgers ever at Kolin Ryynanen, close to the park.

Scenic sunset in Finland.

On our way to the West Coast we stopped at another cottage directly at a lake. As many times before in Finland we were all by ourself. We took out the paddle boat for a sunset cruise before sitting at the warm campfire again.

Lovely view from pier. Time to jump in!

The west coast was a bit disappointing. There was no road directly at the sea and we missed our days at the lakes so much, that we headed back inwards on our way back down south to Helsinki.

Helsinki City overview.

Our last couple of nights we spent on an organic farm with an awesome breakfast. Holidays in Finland is pure nature and relaxation. If you want a lot of action, this is the wrong place. But if you are looking for untouched nature and wilderness, this is one of the best places I have visited so far.

Helsinki is a charming capital, with lots of good bars, restaurants and great cultural activities. I liked Finland so much, that I came back a couple of months later to see it in autumn. The weather was more moody but definitely as beautiful as in summer.

Sebastian made a short video while exploring Finland. In the video Sebastian experiences the Finnish nature and cottage culture at the fullest.  It’s worth checking out. Sebastian creates fantastic short films about traveling in different locations and takes quite spectacular photos while traveling!

You can follow Sebastian in Instagram: sebpic_

Finland is one of the prettiest countries in the world. It is known for the amount of contrast that you get to see in its landscape. It is here that you can see the four seasons in true earnest. It is at Finland that you would be able to see the Midnight Sun as well as the Northern Lights.

Pyhä-Luosto National Park

The first name that needs to be taken in this context is the Pyhä-Luosto National Park. These are basically rugged hills that have been there for a long time and they have been cut at various places by gorges that happen to be really deep. The best thing that you can do over here is trekking. You can easily walk to the top through these forests that have been there for an eternity and more. The top areas of this park do not have any trees and there is plenty of wind to contend with as well. The skies here are vast as you would find elsewhere in Lapland.

The scenery is especially breathtaking during both summer when you have the Midnight Sun, and winter when the skies are being lit up by the Northern Lights. You would also see some Siberian jays that are really friendly if you happened to stop for a picnic while hiking.

Aland

Aland happens to be the perfect weekend getaway if you happen to be in Finland. No matter who you are with this is the best place to have some great time. You can relax at the sauna, go hiking around the archipelago which is naturally inspiring, or just walk around and take in the sights and sounds over here.

One of the various things that you should certainly do whilst you are at this place is to take part in one of the fishing trips. You can hire a local fishing guide for the purpose – this is one experience that is always going to stay with you. The food over here also happens to be exceptional. It is highly recommended that you visit the local Art Museum and Cultural History Museum, and the Aland Maritime Museum. If you are here you might catch hold of the Northern Lights as well as one of the many storms.

Uto Island

Uto Island is located right in the southernmost part of the country and is the last inhabited island in that part of this archipelago. You can get there with the help of a free ferry that takes around five hours. The island is small as such and is there right on the Baltic Sea. A lot of people visit it during the winter season – a time when it happens to be as cold as hell. You can also visit it during spring and autumn where you would see many migratory birds.

The island is a rocky one and occupies an area of just a square km. All around the year over here, you would not find more than 50 people on an average. There are normally around 150 people during the summer season. The island was vacated in 2005 by the Finnish armed forces.

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park

One of the various things that you can do in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is trekking. You can easily visit one hilltop from another this way. All the way you would be passing through Arctic fells. This also happens to be the finest hiking trail in the country.

Apart from hiking, skiing is also one activity that you would really enjoy doing over here. You can stay at the Lappish villages that have plenty of history apart from lodgings where you can haul up without compromising on your comfort. It also helps that they are really welcoming. In fact, it is said that this part of Lapland has the best air in the whole world with regards to freshness. Once again this is a great place if you wish to see the Northern Lights. You can easily visit the national park by way of a car and other modes of public transportation.

Koli National Park

The Koli National Park is located in northern Karelia and as such is well known for its natural scenery that comprises hills covered in trees. One of the best views that you can get from here is that of the Lake Pielinen from atop the Ukko-Koli Hill.

This is one reason why over the years so many artists, nature lovers, and photographers from across the country have been attracted to the spot. The scenery is as splendid as they come and as such it fills you with a sense of serenity unlike anything else. You just feel a sense of wonder when you come here. In fact, the lakes and hills over here create such a setting that you would enjoy it no matter which time of the year you come over here. You can access this by car as well as public transportation.

Oulanka National Park

The national park is located at Kuusamo and happens to be one of the most popular members of its fraternity in the country. The national park is also known to have a commendable collection of falls and rapids. The most prominent name among these is the Kiutaköngas rapid that is located in the Oulanka River.

The Jyrävä fall and the Myllykoski fall at the Kitka River are worth mentioning in this context as well. The national park itself is part of the Karhunkierros trail, which is known for its rough terrain. There are plenty of choices if you wish to go trailing over here – the hanging bridges only add to the charm of the entire region as such. In fact, the waterfalls over here are said to be among the most impressive of their kind in the entire country. There is plenty over here for the nature photographers.

Some other options that may be mentioned in this regard are a village named Saramo, Riisitunturi National Park, Repovesi National Park, and Kilpisjärvi, where the borders of Finland meet those of Norway and Sweden.

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The writer Sarah Bennett is a senior content curator in HolidayFactors.com, a leading holiday portal in Dubai, UAE

The peace of Finnish wilderness can be enjoyed in so many different ways. One of the best ones is to stay in the middle of it – in one of these stunning luxurious cabins.

We had a little look into what Finnish wilderness has to offer for travelers who love nature and appreciate a little luxury on their vacation. Explore these luxurious cabins and tell us what you think!

Hi! We are a small but passionate team behind the site Gofinland.fi. We come from different backgrounds but we share the same interest in excellent websites and traveling in Finland – our home country.

Actually we like Finland so much that we’d like to introduce it to the whole world! That’s why we’ve built Gofinland.fi. It’s a portal for ultimate Finnish adventure – a cabin holiday! You know, we Finns love our cabins like crazy. It’s a good place to relax, have good time with family and friends and enjoy the solitude in nature. We believe that you haven’t really experienced Finland until you’ve spent a couple of nights in a cabin.

There are six of us right now. We do our business under the watchful eye of our manager Paula. She is a bulletproof businesswoman who knows everyone in the Finnish travel scene. She enjoys outdoor activities and especially skiing. Her closest colleague is Riikka, our dynamic salesperson. If you have rental cabins in Finland, you probably know her already.

The rest of us are from the tech team. Mikko is our designer and user experience specialist. Jarkko is the architect of all things tech and he codes all our stuff with Jari, our software specialist.

Me on the other hand couldn’t code even if my life depended on it. That’s why I’m the product manager. I’m trying to keep the customers happy with good features and interesting content. I do also all our social media and write this blog of course.

Yes, it’s me with the double bicep pose…

The other author of this blog is Mr. Bruce Deschamps – our correspondent from Lapland. He has his own blog http://destinationlaponie.fr/ where he tells the Lapland stories for French speaking people. As a French expat living with us Finns he has a cool perspective on Finnish culture and customs.

Hope you enjoy this blog and the stories we will be sharing here! Keep in touch because we are going to post pretty often.

Best regards
Jens