Midsummer festivals, hiking, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding, cycling… you won't be bored in Finland. There are plenty of activities during the summer months. In the southeast of the country, I discovered that Finns not only enjoy exertion and the outdoors, but that they've also elevated relaxation, saunas, and wellness to the art of living in Finland.

White nights and wellness in Finland

It's 12:30 a.m. and birds are chirping outside. It's a strange sensation: during the summer months, it hardly gets dark in Finland. The sun sets late and rises again shortly after. These white nights throw our biorhythms completely off, but we're not tired. It's as if the overdose of sunlight actually gives us an energy boost.

It's light in the middle of the night, summer in Finland. I couldn't sleep, but I wasn't tired either.

In bathrobes and slippers, we walk between birch and pine trees to the sauna on the shore of Lake Saimaa. The sweet scent of pine fills the air, and sunbeams play between the trees. What's most striking is the silence. Only the rustling of the forest, the lapping water, and the birdsong resonate.

Lake Saimaa.

Sauna and wellness in Finland: more than a cleansing ritual

We settled in Savonlinna, in southeastern Finland. This region is known for its thousands of islands and the vast Lake Saimaa. Sari is already waiting on the jetty. It's still early, but she's already had a sauna session. "Sauna is part of our lives," she says when I ask her about her experience of wellness in Finland. In the redwood cabin by the wood-burning stove, she pours water on the stones.

Wellness in Finland includes a sauna.

The steam fills the room, and after fifteen minutes of sweating, we run outside, steaming, into the crystal-clear lake. For Finns, this is a common occurrence. Sauna bathing isn't just a way to get clean, but also a social ritual with family and friends. For a whole day, they alternate between sauna bathing, swimming, eating, and socializing. "It's an important element of our lifestyle and culture," explains Sari.

Out of the sauna, off to cool off in the lake. Photo: Visit Savonlinna

Sleep like a seal on Lake Saimaa

A hundred years ago, people came to this area to recover from illness. Clean air, the scent of birch trees, and crystal-clear water proved beneficial. Today, you'll find wellness resorts like Kruunupuisto Spa. During a walk through the Punkaharju nature reserve, we see how water is everywhere. From a high ledge, the lake sparkles through the treetops.

Seal sleeping, sleep like a seal, in these hammocks.

Back at the wellness resort, we're hanging in a hammock between the birch trees. "Seal sleeping," they call it here, because you look a bit like the rare Saimaarob that only occurs in this lake. Swaying among the trees, we understand why the Finns are among the happiest people in the world. You don't need more than forests, lakes, and silence.

The Saimaa seal in Lake Saimaa, near Savonlinna. Photo: Visit Saimaa.

Wellness (and sauna) in Finland is therefore an art of living

In Finland, wellness is more than a trend: it's part of the culture. Whether you're visiting a sauna, hiking through the woods, or trying seal sleeping in a hammock, in Savonlinna you'll experience wellness in its purest form.

Forests, water, clean air and sauna: that is wellness in Finland. Photo: Visit Savonlinna

Practical tips Savonlinna

Midsummer festival Juhannus

In Finland, residents celebrate the solstice with flowers in their hair and bonfires. Juhannus Festival Always held on the Friday after June 21st, it marks the start of the summer holidays. In the morning, flower wreaths are made, in the evening, bonfires are lit, and festivals are organized. For many Finns, this is the perfect time to head to their lakeside summer house with a sauna.

It is also nice to walk through the forests around Savonlinna.

Trees and Finns

Trees play a major role in Finnish culture. The birch, in particular, is a common sight. In the forest museum, Lusto In Punkaharju, you'll learn all about the importance of trees and the timber industry in Finland. Nearby, you'll also find a large arboretum with the tallest tree in the country.

Photos in the museum.

👉 More info: www.lusto.fi

Explore Savonlinna

• Lake Saimaa is ideal for hiking, cycling, canoeing or SUP.

Canoeing at Savonlinna.

• In winter you can go ice skating and cross-country skiing.
• From the town of Savonlinna you can take a trip on an authentic steamship across the lake.

How fun is that: taking a steamboat trip across Lake Saimaa? Photo: Visit Savonlinna

• Also visit Olavinlinna Castle, where the famous Opera Festival takes place every summer.

Olavinlinna Castle is located on Lake Saimaa.

Savonlinna can be reached by plane during the summer months, but also by train from Helsinki.

👉 Read more about Savonlinna at this website.

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