Visit Finland's lake district for surprising local flavours
Modern cuisine meets history
One of lake district's most hyped places to stay is the historic Hotel Punkaharju, fully restored in 2016. It is the oldest state hotel in Finland and originally built as a ranger's lodge for Tsar Nicholas I in 1845. The picturesque building now offers high quality accommodation as well as local flavours in a creative way.
Image: Hotel Punkaharju
Hotel Punkaharju’s brand-new restaurant, Ravintola Metsä (Restaurant Forest) will open on Mother’s Day Weekend on 8 May 2026. Metsä focuses on local food combining it with French techniques. The restaurant is led by award-winning chef Ilkka Lääveri together with Sari Helin, whose other restaurant Le Ankka in Helsinki is in the Michelin Guide.
The dishes will be inspired by the surrounding Finnish national landscape and sourced from local producers. The favourites include fish dishes, especially the local and beloved vendace as long as it is available.
Rustic and magnificent food in a spa setting
Hotel and Spa Resort Järvisydän in Rantasalmi is your best bet if you want to unwind in a spa and get active in the surrounding nature as well as feed on comfort food. The resort offers activities to suit everyone – from fishing to yoga and hiking. There are also several restaurants to satisfy your hunger afterwards.
Image: Järvisydän
The main restaurant Piikatyttö serves breakfast and a home-cooked lunch buffet that changes daily. The à la carte during the evening serves classics and refreshing new flavours from the Finnish forest, the harvest from the fields and fresh delicacies from the lake. The Wine Cellar restaurant is located in the same building, and there you can satisfy your taste buds by enjoying a carefully crafted menu in a romantic setting by the live fire. The menu highlights seasonal ingredients and local produce.
If you long for even more peace and quiet, the adult-only Kuru Resort is located within Järvisydän offering total relaxation for all your senses. The small villas have a private sauna and a bathtub with a lake or forest view making it truly a perfect place to unwind. On this side of Järvisydän, you can also find Restaurant Solitary that was chosen as the 9th best restaurant in Finland in 2026. The menu is based on local and seasonal ingredients, featuring fresh fish from Lake Saimaa, game, berries, mushrooms and wild herbs from the nearby forests.
Image: Järvisydän, Kuru Resort Lake Suite
Classic elegance in a manor house
Tertti Manor, just outside Mikkeli, is a charming destination with a sprawling garden that provides ingredients to some of its delicious offerings. The rest of the produce used is mainly sourced from other local growers. The manor's restaurant is well known for its abundant and fresh buffet offering while the manor house provides an atmospheric setting for your meals. Also there, you can stay overnight in the idyllic manor hotel.
If you are looking for a smaller refreshment, Tertti café has a great selection of freshly baked goods, coffees, and teas. You should also visit their own shop to take some goodies with you. The cute store stocks locally sourced food items, many made using the manor's traditional recipes, but you can also find home goods and decorative gifts.
Image: Tertti Manor
An unexpected afternoon tea
The heart of rural Finland might not seem like the obvious place to enjoy a traditional afternoon tea. That is exactly why Teahouse of Wehmais in Juva, surrounded by countryside, has become quite the sensation. The teahouse is located in a charming side building of an old manor house, and in the summer you can have your tea in its garden.
Wehmais is committed to baking perfect traditional scones. You can have them with strawberry jam and Chantilly cream at the classic cream tea. If you are looking to try a variety of sweet and savoury ones, you should visit the teahouse when they have one of their popular scone buffets.
Image: TeaHouse of Wehmais
Teas are also taken seriously at Wehmais. There is a tea menu of over one hundred varieties from classic Earl Grey to floral teas, pu erhs and rooibos. You can even buy the tea from their own shop Wehmais Deli and Deco to take home. The shop also sells delicacies from other small local producers and artisans.
A short flight from Helsinki
Finnair flies from Helsinki to Kuopio, Joensuu and Jyväskylä. Each one puts you within an hour or two by road of the lakes, the forests and the places you've just read about.