Finnish Lakeland

Lakes, lakes and more lakes

Thanks to the latest Ice Age, Finland has a huge amount of water: these days we have almost 188 000 lakes or ponds!

The biggest ones are lake Saimaa in Eastern Finland, lake Inari in Lapland, lake Päijänne in the South and lake Oulujärvi near the city of Oulu. However, when travelling in Finland you can see smaller lakes and ponds almost everywhere you look. In winter most of them are frozen, though, and can look like snowy fields.

Lakes and rivers are very clean in Finland, and the drinking water is one of the best in the world.

Quick find

National Parks

In the Finnish Lakeland

Most of the lakes can be found in Eastern- and Mid-Finland. That is why we call this area Lakeland. Here you can explore national parks such as Etelä-Konnevesi, Repovesi, Kolovesi and Linnansaari.

On the ice of Päijänne National Park

Starting Vuori-Kalaja trail at Southern Konnevesi National Park

Step into the winter wonderland: a winter walk in Southern Konnevesi National Park

Come to the dark side, we have lightkayaks

Koli national park is one of the most mythical places in all of Finland

The magical landscape of Koli is the most Finnish view ever

This is one of the rarest seals in the world – check out the addictive live webcam!

Winter fairy tale land - Koli

Activities

What to do on (or in) a Finnish lake?

We Finns know how to enjoy our lakes: fishing and ice fishing, swimming, ice skating and boating are all popular hobbies. Thanks to the everyman’s right, anyone can enjoy these things in Finland! Read more about everyman’s right.