A Finnish Summer Dream: Mökki

I turn my car up the gravel road, there are the familiar sounds of the wheels when accelerating a little – not too much as there are some bumps on the road. I am just leaving my “mökki” and returning back home. Mökki is cottage in Finnish, often us Finns automatically understand lakeside cottage under mökki. I would have loved to stay longer. Days at the mökki are spent sunbathing on the jetty, rowing on the lake, heating the sauna, bathing and swimming in the lake. Morning joga-stretching on the verandah. Enjoying the stunning summer nights from the verandah and the peace and quiet that surrounds you. Here, at my mökki, my soul truly rests and even though it is sad to leave, I leave with reloaded batteries.

Urbanization is a fairly recent feature in Finland. Only fifty years ago, most Finns lived in the countryside. Today, most Finns live in cities and towns, and very many have a cottage in the countryside. There are half a million cottages to where Finns escape city life every weekend and for a longer time in the summer. At the cottage, life is always good. Sauna, freshly caught fish grilled by the camp fire and peace and quiet is pretty much all Finns need at the cottage. We dress in “cottage clothes” that are old and faded, very but comfortable. I have to smile when thinking back of the outfits I have been wearing the past days… Well, soon holidays are over and it is power suits and high heels again. I bet I will be thinking back at the very comfortable combination of woolen socks and Crocs after walking a day in heels. Or my all time favourite, a faded and stretched out giant t-shirt right from the 80’s.

As I get further and further away from my cottage I ask myself can anyone understand the importance of a mökki for a Finn? Can non-Finns relax as well as us in a simple cottage in a stunning location? Do others also appreciate the peace and quiet and most importantly: do they share our strange love for old and faded cottage clothes? The drive home will take a while and I have my phone equipped with headset, so I might just as well find out.

I call my German friend. He is a Finland fan and I know he has been renting a cottage in Finland once. It is to be stated, that he enjoys exactly the same things as I do at the cottage. Except for the clothes-thing, which he cannot understand. And the sauna is not heated daily, but several times in a week, however. In my thoughts I also go back in time to the years I lived in Switzerland and worked in the travel industry. Several Swiss tour operators offered rental cottages and as far as I know, the demand has been increasing through the years. As I have time, I call a friend in London. She is a true city-girl, but says she dream of a retreat to a place where beautiful nature surrounds her and she can “just be”. I do not even ask her about the clothes, as I know she would look chic in the midst of a forest…

The fact that there are no close neighbours, that the cottage is directly by a pure-watered lake and the beauty and tranquility of nature are the desired things on a cottage holiday. You need a car to get to the cottages and Finland is easy to travel in thanks to the lack of traffic and still we enjoy a safe country with low rates in crime. Perfect setting and circumstances for a cottage retreat!

Luckily there are numerous rental cottages in Finland, this makes the Finnish Summer Dream into reality for many and many Finns and non-Finns every year.

Have a look at some rental cottages:

Ollilan Lomamajat

LomaLopotti

Rukan Salonki

Isokenkäisten Klubi

Oivangin Lomakartano

One of the largest selection of cottages in the whole country is found on the website of Wild North.