FINLAND | 8 ways to summer like the Finns in the Turku Archipelago

my tree hut dwelling at The Forest Village in Storfinnhova Gård, Finland
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A question I get asked a lot is, "What's been your favourite trip this year?". Over the past few months, I've been fortunate enough to pop over to Sri Lanka, China, Florida, Sydney, and Canada, to name a few. But my answer has remained the same since I visited the Turku Archipelago in the height of summer in June: Finland.

The usual response, "Really? I've never even considered Finland for a summer holiday." Which is understandable. And that's why I'm here. Because listen up people, it's the stuff of dreams.

If, like me, you love nature, being outdoors, great weather, fantastic people, foraging, forests, holidaying with friends, great food, few crowds, and beautiful scenery, then you need to make visiting Finland in the summer a high priority.

Apart from all of that (I'd be sold already), it's got a heap of other stuff going for it too. It has a very low crime rate, almost everyone can speak English (I guess because no one else speaks Finnish), and I noticed there are a lot of parallels with my favourite country I've ever visited: Japan.

There's that low crime rate thing. Plus their affinity with nature and water. Also, their reservedness, except when naked in a sauna or onsen (communal bath in Japan) - something about breaking down all barriers and not being able to hide anything. A lot of business in Finland is settled in a sauna, and the same goes for an onsen in Japan (here's a post I wrote on onsen etiquette and how to do communal bathing in Japan). And one of the favourite pastimes of Finns is karaoke, which originated in Japan.

As I was creating this post, I noticed all my images have either a green or blue tone. Reflecting the blue skies, blue water, and green forests. That basically sums up my ideal holiday destination for me. I'd love to know what you think after reading the rest of this post - feel free to leave a comment!

1) Get on your bike

Finns like to be outdoors in the summer in general, and that's very understandable, considering their great weather, very long daylight hours, and the fact 70% of the country is beautiful forest. Not jealous, not jealous at all... Exploring the countryside on two wheels is a favourite way to do this.

summer cycling in Kimitoon, Finland
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The Kimito Islands can be found in the midst of the world's largest archipelago, in the Archipelago Sea, with a mind boggling 50,000 islands, skerries and rocks. This collective shrapnel makes up part of southwest Finland.

The region has a scenic 100km-long coastal cycling route, which takes you from the city of Salo on the mainland, all the way to the beautiful islands of Rosala, Hitis, Högsåra, Örö and Kasnäs. Think small country roads, forest paths, national parks, lakes, beaches, villages, campsites, and idyllic scenery.

What I thought would be a leisurely cruise, turned out to be a hilly 11km power-cycle in some very warm sunshine - I should have realised what was coming when I was given a mountain bike. But it was stunning. You could smell the pine forests before you could see them, and swathes of lupins carpeted the grassy banks.

visitkimitoon.fi/en

 
2) Lunch in a Finnish country garden

Embrace the Finns' affinity with nature by lunching amongst the flora and fauna of a Finnish country garden. You'll find The Westers Garden on the beautiful Kimito Island in the Turku Archipelago - the largest coastal island in Finland. 

Its roots lie in the old kitchen plots of the farmers and seafarers, and today the garden is under complete ecological cultivation. Flowers, herbs, and vegetables grow side by side in blissful harmony, you can buy herbs to take home and plant up, or fill your basket with a colourful harvest.

An old atmospheric cow shed is where you'll find the café, serving the likes of homemade pastries, fish soup, salad from the garden, and delightfully dense Finnish bread. It's a beautiful bucolic spot to unwind, recharge the batteries, and get a little closer to nature.

westers.fi/en/

lunch in the idyllic surroundings of The Westers Garden, Kimito Island
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3) Sleep in a tree house in the forest

This was very special. 

We spent a night in a basic wooden hut on stilts in the middle of a Finnish forest. There was no electricity, and no flush toilets. But they did have a smoke granite sauna, a cold creek to dunk in after, and a Knight's Hall for grand feasting. That's how the Finnish prioritise, and I approve. 

The Forest Village in Storfinnhova Gård, Finland
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The 10pm light was something else, with a sun that was very low, but not yet ready to set. Fern and moss blanketed the floor, dappled rays back-lit the softly swaying leaves, and flitting moths were emerging for dusk. There were just the sounds of the forest against a backdrop of silence. It felt like a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Entirely magical.

The Forest Village can be found in Storfinnhova Gård, on Kemiö Island, around 900 metres from the main estate. It's intended as a place where "adults can reconnect and experience their creative inner child in an atmosphere of immediate joy". If that doesn't sell it, nothing will.

storfinnhova.com/english/forrest

4) Dine in a lighthouse

The archipelago's dizzying number of islands means lighthouses are an integral part of the landscape. Twenty-five kilometers southwest of Hanko, at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland, you'll find the country's southernmost inhabitable place, and Scandinavia's tallest lighthouse. Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär is the region's most imposing and impressive monument.

What's particularly cool is you can not only dine here, but also stay the night. We didn't do the latter, but I can vouch that the former was a tasty experience. A choppy boat ride got us out to the lighthouse for dinner; it was WINDY. It was windy on land too, the bracing elements of the Baltic Sea blasting away the cobwebs, whilst clambering over rocks to observe the ground-nesting Eider ducks that call the island home, being careful not to disturb them or their eggs.

Be sure to climb to the top of the tower for spectabular views, all 256 steps. You'll have worked up an appetite by the time you come back down; expect a fortifying and traditional lighthouse dinner of potatoes, beef, salmon, fried seabass, mushroom sauce, and more of that great bread. 

bengtskar.fi

Bengtskär Lighthouse, Turku Archipalego
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5) Sauna, lake, sauna, lake

It's no secret the Scandinavians (Denmark, Sweden, Norway) enjoy a sauna - it's an intrinsic part of their culture and how they socialise. It's no different in neighbouring Finland, where there is one sauna for every three people, and where you'll even find a sauna in the Burger King in Helsinki. Yep. Taking meat sweats to new heights.

Sure, I'd been in a sauna before. In a gym, or a hotel, or something equally uninspiring. But I'd never had the full on, traditional Finnish / Scandi experience. Which is somewhere in the middle of a forest, with great company, intercepted with beer and awesome food, and dunking into an almost freezing lake after. And let me tell you, I LOVED IT.

Our last evening in Finland, staying at Kirjakkala Iron Mills Village, went something like this: sauna - jump in lake - eat great food - sauna - jump in lake - drink beer - repeat until midnight. I got it. I so got it. 

Also, no one told me that submerging into really cold water after roasting in a sauna was a natural high. Something to do with dilating and constricting blood vessels, the amount of oxygen to the brain etc. I mean, I might have got a bit addicted. I could have kept going for days...

You sneaky Scandis / Finns. Now it all makes sense! Where do I sign up?

ruukkikyla.fi/eng

sauna, lake, repeat, at Kirjakkala Iron Mills Village, Turku Archipalego
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6) Marvel at the (almost) midnight sun

Where we were in southwest Finland wasn't quite north enough to experience the actual midnight sun - I believe you need to be in the Arctic Circle for that. It was also a week or so before the summer solstice. But it was close, and equally disorientating.

We came out of a restaurant in Helsinki after our evening meal, emerging from several courses and too much wine, only to step out into broad daylight at about 9.30pm - 10pm. 

My brain was already squiffy with booze and lack of sleep. For a moment, I thought perhaps I'd been in there all night, and this was in fact sunrise the next day. Anyway, you get used to it pretty quickly. And midnight dusk never gets boring.

Högsåra Island around midnight in mid-June, Finland
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7) Get in and on the water

Water, water everywhere. Quite literally. After 70% of the country being forest, an impressive 10% is water. Finland has a staggering 187,000 lakes within its borders (and I'll bet each has at least one sauna on its banks), which explains why it also goes by the name of "The Land of a Thousand Lakes". Not forgetting the Finnish waters between its bazillions of islands.

Wherever you are in the country, you're going to be near water, so it makes sense to get in it, or on it. Be that a little boat with a skipper to ferry you around island hopping, taking a leisurely row on a lake (we did below in Teijo National Park), or skinny dipping after sweating it out in a sauna.

Connecting with the water is key to Finnish life - embrace it. And that's coming from someone who can't even swim.

nationalparks.fi/teijo

island hopping, and rowing in Teijo National Park, Finland
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8) Eat a lot of cake

You may well have heard of fika, the name given to the Swedish institution of taking a break to socially interact with friends, family or colleagues over coffee - a pastime that's taken very seriously (here's a post on my time in Stockholm, including more about fika).

Whilst the Swedes do drink a lot of coffee, it's actually the Finns that come out on top as the highest consumers of coffee per capita in the world. They routinely stop for several cups a day. And where there is coffee in Finland, there is also cake. Lots of excellent cake.

It was too difficult a task to say no to a slice every time we stopped for coffee. So much so, that I eventually gave in and ate cake like I was on commission. Plus, the Finns sure know how to bake.

My favourite cake stops from the trip were from Ada Tammi, the young and talented student behind the café Ada Bakes, in her family's Mathildedal Iron Works Village in the Teijo area. You can follow Ada on Instagram - she's one to watch.

A special mention must also go to the entirely idyllic Farmors Café on the island of Högsåra. We stayed the night at Villa Cecilia, run by the same owners as the café, and just a stone's throw away. We dined there twice, for both lunch and breakfast, and alongside the terrific baked goods, the rest of the food was actually quite exceptional. One of my favourite dining spots from the trip.

mathildedal.fi/index.php/en
farmorscafe.fi/en

eating all of the Finnish cake. And when you're tired of cake, there's always ice cream
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I feel like Finland is a country I made a real connection with, on some special, unchartered level. I am truly desperate to return.

Disclaimer

Note: This trip and the flights were hosted by Finnair and the Visit Finland tourism board. Thank you to everyone involved for a wonderful experience. 

All views remain my own, as always.

Related posts
SWEDEN: Eating in Stockholm

FRANCE: a beginner's guide to skiing and chalets with Powder White in Val-d'Isère

looking down on the town of Val-d'Isère from a ski lift
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I tried ice-skating once - I was terrible. Roller-blading pretty much had the same outcome. Which is probably why I've never considered taking to the slopes before. For someone who can just about walk in a straight line at the best of times, I had always assumed strapping two unnatural contraptions to my feet and asking me to propel myself down an incline, wouldn't bode well with my brain.

I was offered the chance to test out this theory in Val-d'Isère in the French Alps, with some of the best skiing instructors (New Generation Ski School) and chalets (from Powder White) in these parts. One I grabbed with both gloved hands, as I figured I'd never make it to a ski resort on my own accord.

If I was ever going to discover a latent talent for careering down snowy mountains locked-on to long and narrow strips of plastic, it was going to be here, with the best of the best at my disposal.

Val-d'Isère at sundown

The location

Mention Val-d'Isère to people who know about skiing, and you'll be met with an approving nod and eyebrows raised in acknowledgement of your well-informed choice of resort. It's universally regarded as one of the world's finest, with both terrain and town making it so. There are pistes for everyone, from complete beginners to veteran slope-bombers.

Its season is long-stretching from the end of November into the first week of May, and linked to neighbouring Tignes, it makes up part of the Espace Killy ski area with a total of 300km of pistes and 94 lifts. Snow-sure slopes are the big draw, with snow machines ensuring there's always enough of the white stuff. Val d’Isère installed its first in 1986, adding another the year after. Now it has 650, covering 40 per cent of the skiable area.

A video of the serene and spectacular view coming down on the Solaise ski lift

They also have the Snow Factory, one of the biggest snow-making facilities in Europe, carved out of the solid rock beneath the Olympique lift. With six pumps, an array of industrial-sized filters and a huge man-made reservoir to feed its production, it can produce 1,000 cubic metres of snow per hour, which is about half a football stadium in just a few hours. 

You'll find Val d'Isère at the end of the Tarentaise valley, two and a bit hours from Geneva airport, and one and half from Chambéry, and the village itself is at an altitude of 1,850m.

We totally lucked out on the weather - two cloudless 'blue bird' days (down with the ski lingo) and outstanding views. The snow-covered slopes shimmer in the moonlight at night, with the clear black skies full of stars. And during the day, it looks something like this - dreamy.

the town of Val-d'Isère

The skiing - a beginner's experience

Firstly, a shout out to the fantastic service received at ski hire shop Snowberry, also voted the best ski shop in Europe. They completely replace their equipment each season, so the gear you hire will barely even be a year old. They carry over 120 different models of skis, covering all levels and disciplines - nowhere else comes close to offering that much choice.

They'll pick you up from your chalet and take you to the shop to rent your gear so you don't have to walk or queue for ages. And you can leave the equipment with them each night. Which is handy, as they're right next to the main lifts, bus stops and ski school meeting points.

top: Snowberry staff fitting my boots; myself and Rachel catching some rays
bottom: the whole crew at lunch; me and my ace instructor Danny
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After my first morning of ski lessons on the first day, I was happy to put my hands up and admit I was no natural. I flew, but mostly on my backside.

But then the afternoon went a lot better. I still had 'the fear' going down two very tame bumps, but my instructor Danny from New Generation Ski School was exceptional at building up my confidence. Very much like when you first learn to ride a bike with stabilisers, Danny was skiing backwards (show off) in front of me until I'd built up enough courage to not bottle it and sit on my arse as soon as I picked up speed.

those views though..

Something eventually clicked and I sort of got it, getting down the whole run from top to bottom, without stopping, falling over or with Danny there, about five times in a row. Admittedly, it was still only a green run and one of the easiest at that, but you should have seen me that morning. 

On the second day, I sort of went back a few steps. We went onto a more challenging slope and I kept losing control at the turns and falling on my arse - again. 

There was one particular fall where I slid fast down the slope for a good 10 seconds before I came to a stop. Once I managed to right myself, I realised my camera (strapped across me) had caught the snow and was caked in it. PANIC. Then once we got to lunch, I realised my phone was no longer in my zipped pocket - it must have come out in one of my many epic falls, lost on the slopes. PANIC. 

We called it, and some kind soul answered who had found it. The screen was a bit smashed, but it still worked. And the camera eventually stopped showing me weird messages every time I switch it on. PANIC OVER.

Skiing cherry popped. Body a little bruised. Muscles sore and stiff. Raving until the small hours with the totally awesome Powder White and New Generation Ski School staff. I thoroughly enjoyed it all. 

Here's a little video of me not falling over, and being very pleased about that.

The restaurants & après-ski

Eating and drinking is my forté; whilst I was pretty appalling on the slopes, I knew I'd be good at this. 

The first course of lunch at La Grand Ourse (the big bear) was huge. I got their house salad, which roughly translated to a dish almost entirely made of cheese. Also with hefty cubes of Beaufort ham, walnuts, chicory, I reckon it had at least 250g of dairy in it. And I'm pretty sure I ate most of it.

When in the Alps, one must eat tartiflette and drink rosé, and then find it really difficult to move in a straight line, with or without skis. And so, mains was just that. A vessel of molten, bubbling Reblochon with potatoes, lardons and onions.

Lunch on another day was about as big as Paraguay. Milanese escalope with linguine at La Tete de Solaise high in the mountains. I was totally defeated. But bloody hell, it was great.

There's no fear of going hungry when skiing in Val-d'Isère. Restaurants and bars are dotted all over the place, serving portions enough for two to fuel you for the rest of the day on the slopes.

Or, you could slack off the afternoon entirely and head straight for some après-ski directly from lunch. Rock up in your gear, park the skis outside, and warm up with a glass of vin chaud, or three.

top: La Grand Ourse house salad; rosé and mountains; tartiflette
bottom: the gang; escalope with linguine La Tete de Solaise; one of many vin chaud rounds
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The Powder White chalet 

The thing about Powder White which makes them stand out from the rest of the tour operators, is that they've made it their mission to un-package the traditional packaged ski holiday.

They want to bring the flexibility back to the booking experience, and they're the only UK specialist to offer chalet, hotel and apartment holidays on a non-packaged basis, meaning they can cater to a huge range of tastes and budgets. Anything from a short break with helicopter transfer and a five-star hotel in Courchevel (what I like to think would be me), to a local bus for a week's stay in a 2-star apartment in Avoriaz (what would actually be me).

We settled into The Marawi within minutes, what with it's peaceful location despite being right in the thick of things, and the roaring fire. The great thing about chalets, and the point skiing friends of mine would always harp on about, is that they can be fully catered. Which means lovely people, like the girls who looked after us below, are there to make you breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as afternoon tea.

my room, our lovely chalet hosts, and some of their great cooking and hospitality
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And I'm not talking about just cracking open a packet of McVities and putting the kettle on. They actually make cakes and biscuits from scratch each day, and have them laid out for when you return from the slopes and you're starving, but it's not quite dinner time.

The food as a whole was a highlight of the chalet stay. As well as the beautiful space, we had delightful and incredibly professional young ladies making these great, unfussy, wholesome, home-cooked meals. From fry-ups and porridge in the morning, to beef bourguignon and slow-roast lamb shoulder with all the trimmings in the evening. Then there were the homemade cakes and desserts, as well as a cheese board each night if we could muster it.

Not to mention the welcome bubbles, unlimited house wine, and special fancy wines with evening meals. I'd also just like to mention these girls partied with us until 4am, then were up making us bacon and eggs by 7am, looking like they'd had a solid 9 hours sleep. Stamina applauded.

some of the terrific meals, cooked totally from scratch, by our chalet hosts

And so in summary, whilst I took to skiing like a whale takes to land, I'm thrilled I gave it a go and enjoyed every moment of doing so. Even if 80% of that was on my backside.

Full credit to my skiing instructor Danny and his infinite patience. These are the guys to go with if you haven't skied before.

Useful information

Powder White Chalets 

Powder White offers seven-nights at The Marwari Chalet, Val d’Isere from £549 per person based on eight people sharing. Based on a January 2016 departure.

snow pose

Powder White offers seven-nights at The Nokota Chalet, Val d’Isere from £649 per person based on eight people sharing. Based on a January 2016 departure.

Prices include seven-nights fully catered chalet board - hot cooked breakfast, afternoon tea, three-course dinner with select dinner wines and unlimited house wine. Powder White can arrange lift passes and ski lessons, along with guiding and in-chalet ski fitting prior to departure. 

Powder White Shuttle airport transfers cost from €65 one-way.

For bookings visit www.powderwhite.com or call +44 (0)20 8877 8888

Ski Hire

Snowberry – In chalet fitting and rental service in Val d’Isere

Ski Lessons

New Generation Ski School offers group ski lessons from €199 for five days (2x hours per day). 

Val-d'Isère App

This is pretty much the only thing you need on your phone while you're in Val-d'Isère. The app will tell you what's going on in town that you might want to get involved with, let you know the best restaurant tables are based on your preferences, provides high resolution 3D maps of all the slopes so you know what to expect before you get there, accommodation suggestions and booking functionality, the nearest open bar to you, and the rest. You'll find more information here.

Swiss Air 

There are over 60 weekly flights to Geneva from the UK and Ireland with Swiss International Air Lines. Fares start from £34 one-way. Fares are available and bookable online at www.swiss.com.

Val-d'Isère Tourism Board
www.valdisere.com

beautiful Val-d'Isère town
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Disclaimer

Note: This trip was hosted by Powder White and the above sponsors as part of a media package - thank you to everyone involved for a truly wonderful and unique experience. I won't be forgetting my first time skiing any time soon..! 

All views remain my own.

Do take a look at the coverage from the rest of the fab group I was with - you can follow them here: Mollie, Laura, Zanna, Rachel, Jess and Emma.