The best time to go to Finland is when you crave remote woodlands, glistening lakelands and wildlife-filled national parks. You have the choice of two seasons really, summer and winter. Long luscious days or short, snowy ones. Whichever season you choose, rest assured that the sauna will always be fired up. The other thing to take into consideration is that Finland is a fine place to go if you haven’t had time to train for a tough trek, as it’s a relatively flat country. So you don’t need to have spent six months getting trip fit for most of these holidays, and can just book spontaneously, if you fancy your chance at seeing the Northern Lights, snowshoeing or doing some seriously wild swimming.
Best time to go to North Karelia
North Karelia is a region of eastern Finland that’s famous for its massive expanse of lakes and forests. There are in fact 2,200 lakes in the region, which covers over 21,000km2. When trying to decide which time to come on our hiking holiday, it’s quite easy. As this is a small group, guided tour, we have set dates between late May and early September.
This tour is also a centre-based holiday, where you stay in Salmenkylä in North Karelia, but you get to explore two other regions as well, Kainuu and North Savonia. However, temperatures and conditions are similar for all of these regions during summer months, with average temperatures in June around 15C and in September it goes down to an average of 11C. In between, summer highs can reach the high twenties. Warmer temperatures in July and August can bring rainstorms too, but the warmth of a sauna is never far away when this happens. With climate change, these warmer temperatures are also stretching into September now.
If you want to include some lake swimming on your holiday, in the likes of Lake Viemenjärvi or Lake Ahven-Valkeinen, you may want the water to be at maximum temperatures, which can get to as high as 17C in August.
North Karelia’s abundance of meadows also become flower-filled in May and June and, later in the summer, you get to partake in the Karelian tradition of berry foraging, with the forest canopies protecting rich blue bilberries and wild raspberries between mid-July and early September. Lingonberries, which are similar to cranberries, come a bit later, between mid-August and mid-October. Keep an eye out in the farm shops for abundant amounts of fruits and produce during this season too.
Wildlife in Koli National Park
On our North Karelia and Kainuu walking holiday, you get to spend time in Koli National Park during summer months. As this is a small group, guided holiday, our local expert will make you aware of some of the park’s wildlife, such as wolverine, bears, foxes, beavers, which may be visible at this time of year. Look up for golden and white-tailed eagles and bring your binoculars for the smaller birds that also thrive here at this time such as woodpeckers, black grouse, red-throated divers, cranes and hawks.
Midsummer in Finland
Midsummer is party time throughout the country with every village, island and city dweller coming out to celebrate the summer solstice, which is called Juhannus in Finnish. As our summer holiday in Finland take place around North Karelia, where they take their Karelian culture very seriously, traditions such as Juhannus are also engrained, in an exquisite way.
Juhannus takes place on the Saturday between 20-26 June, around the longest day of the year. You will see bonfires or kokko being lit around lakes and rivers, which were traditionally lit to ward off all things evil. Adding saunas into the mix is also a feature, with much splashing to be had in the region’s myriad waterholes. There is folk music, foraging and flower garlands, picnics and parties through the night, given that the sun barely sets. In North Karelia, you might also come across community dances at open-air pavilions, called lavatanssit which, rather charmingly, translates as ‘the feeling of finding someone’. So keep your dance card close to hand. It’s midsummer, and magic is in the air.
Best time to go to Finland for winter activities
Our season for a freezing and fun Finland is from the beginning of January until the end of March. During this time, you can get the new year off to a Finnish flying start by going snowshoeing, cross-country skiing or dog sledding on our winter activities holiday. This is based in Kuhmo, in the east of Finland, which is the gateway to Finland’s Wild Taiga region, which looks wild and very white at this time of year. Or you can have a deeper immersion into the Wild Taiga on our Winter wildlife adventure, where you stay in luxury cabins in a Bear Centre and take part in guided tours to go tracking and observing wolverines, elk and much more. Temperatures get real here though, averaging between -5C and -10C from January to March, with lows as cold as -24C, which is why the sauna has become such an important part of Finnish culture.
Best time to see the Northern Lights in Finland
Talking of magic in the air, the Northern Lights are definitely a feature in Finland. Although you might presume that the best time to glimpse them is in winter, they can come out to play as early as September, when we also have holidays in North Karelia and beyond. However, the Wild Taiga region, which is where we have our winter holidays, is a celebrated dark sky region, with minimal light pollution in its wilderness areas. And as the Northern Lights can be seen here as late as April, you may be lucky enough to catch them on our trips which run between January and March.
On our Winter activities holiday, we have an option to go on a dedicated Northern Lights watching evening. Accompanied by a wilderness guide, you walk through the forest to a perfect spot for observing the lights, waiting around a campfire to keep you warm as you wait for the phenomenon to, hopefully, begin. It’s worth noting that the lights are less visible around the full moon, so you can try and avoid those dates when booking if you’re a true dark skies enthusiast.
We hope that this has given you a broader understanding of the best time to go to Finland for a winter or summer holiday, and please don’t hesitate to contact our adventure specialists for more details. For more Scandic and Nordic inspiration, you may also enjoy reading our blog on Reasons to visit West Sweden, Cross-country skiing in our winter wonderlands, Expert advice on walking in Jotunheimen National Park and Best time to go to Norway.
