What’s better than drifting off beneath a sky full of stars, with the scent of pine in the air and the sound of waves as your bedtime soundtrack? In Finland, nature isn’t just a backdrop. It’s a place to stay. From forest tents to island cabins, here are three ways to sleep surrounded by the quiet, wild beauty of the outdoors.
Keeping it classic
Lake Fiskträsk lies in Sipoonkorpi National Park just over 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Helsinki as the crow flies, with easy trails leading in from several nearby parking areas.
Morning has just arrived over Sipoonkorpi National Park. Sunlight warms the forest, and at Lake Fiskträsk, a young boy casts a worm-baited line into the water.
Seven-year-old Nooa doesn’t have to wait long and he pulls out a small perch with a smile. Quentin Engelen stands ready to help, soon joined by Nooa’s aunt, Nea Sjöholm, and grandmother, Anne Karlsson.
A tiny perch is safely released back into Lake Fiskträsk.
The family spent the night in a tent. It was Nooa’s first time camping, but sleep came quickly and deeply.
“I wasn’t cold and I didn’t hear any scary noises,” he says.
“But I woke up a few times to a cuckoo calling!” Karlsson adds with a laugh.
Their bright blue tent may have been pitched a bit haphazardly, but it stood strong, and everyone fit inside, so mission accomplished.
Other tents dot the woods nearby. There’s plenty of space for everyone.
Pancakes and peace
In most Finnish national parks, camping is allowed only at designated sites, like Fiskträsk. This camping site offers a cooking shelter and composting toilets just a short walk away.
It’s time for breakfast. Karlsson sets up a camping stove, adds a stick of butter, and pours pancake mix into the pan. The scent is divine.
In addition to food, water and spare clothes, they’ve brought a few fun things for the kids, like Nooa’s fishing rod.
“It’s good to have something exciting for them to do,” Karlsson says.
Everything tastes better when enjoyed out in nature.
The family has camped before, when Sjöholm was still little. These memories stick. Shared adventures bring people closer.
Karlsson uses these moments in nature to teach the children an important lesson: respect the environment.
“Everything we bring in, we take back with us,” she says. “And the forest is a place for calm.”
Peace and privacy on your own island
Tvijälp Island lies peacefully off the coast of Espoo. Reachable by private boat or shared transport, the island also hosts kayaking trips, yoga retreats and other activities.
On the other side of the metropolitan area, a motorboat winds its way through the Espoo archipelago. A great crested grebe nests by the shore. A swan glides toward the open sea. With each passing islet, the hum of city life fades behind.
At the dock on Tvijälp Island, Roope Lemmetti, CEO of the Nolla Company, welcomes visitors and leads them up through a forest of pine and moss-covered stone. At the top of the hill, triangular cabins come into view, tucked among the trees and oriented toward the sea. These are Nolla Cabins.
Inside, everything is pared down to essentials. There are two tidy beds, a compact stove and just enough space to sit and look out. A wide window fills one end of the structure, framing open water and scattered islands as if the whole cabin were built around the view.
The cabins are crafted from Finnish wood in a small Parkano workshop and assembled on site. Alongside Tvijälp, Nolla Cabins appear in several other locations in Finland and even in California.
Guests range from newborns to seniors, and some even celebrate engagements or honeymoons at Nolla Cabins.
There is no running water and no excess. A composting toilet is located discreetly among the rocks. Meals are cooked outside over a fire or carried in from the mainland. Visitors bring what they need in backpacks, including food, water and sleeping bags, and leave just as lightly.
“Guests arrive with a good dose of adventure,” Lemmetti says with a grin.
Sustainability in its DNA
The cabins on Tvijälp Island seem to rest gently on the land. Their foundations are light and temporary, designed to leave no trace behind if ever removed. Built in 2018 by Finnish designer Robin Falck, they were meant to test an idea: How lightly can we tread when building something new?
The concept has grown since then, but the core intention remains. Guests are asked to stay on marked trails, recycle what they use and carry away what they bring. The rhythm here is slower, shaped by the tides, the light and the sound of birds overhead.
A 24/7 emergency line is available on the island, just in case. “This kind of stay isn’t for everyone, but for some, it’s perfect,” says Roope Lemmetti.
“We’ve hosted guests from all over,” says CEO Roope Lemmetti, “Especially the Netherlands and Japan. Some keep coming back, year after year.”
A walk around the island reveals rugged cliffs, peaceful forests, sandy shores and flower-filled meadows. In autumn, the island bursts with blueberries, lingonberries and mushrooms, which are all free to forage under Finland’s “every person’s right.”
“Guests have spotted dozens of bird species and even deer,” Lemmetti adds. “This is the ultimate stay if you truly want to immerse yourself in nature.”
Glamping by a national park
At Haltia Lake Lodge, you can stay in a tent surrounded by peaceful forest in the heart of Nuuksio National Park, just a stone’s throw from all the amenities.
The tents at Haltia Lake Lodge sit quietly among the trees, spaced just far enough apart that you feel alone in the woods. The tent is tall enough to stand in, and the bed inside feels like something from home, just slightly better. Through the window, evergreens sway gently, and a birdhouse hangs from a nearby spruce. At night, the forest seems to breathe around you.
This is glamorous camping, or “glamping,” with the comforts of a real bed and shelter, but still close to nature. Just over half an hour from Helsinki, the tents sit at the edge of Nuuksio National Park. Trails lead out almost immediately behind them, winding past tranquil ponds, rocky cliffs and patches of open wetland. Some paths are easy and level; others climb high enough to look out over the treetops.
“There’s no television here, but our guests enjoy birdwatching instead,” says Teemu Tuomarla, CEO and co-founder of Haltia Lake Lodge.
Glamping at Haltia Lake Lodge adds a touch of luxury to the classic camping experience.
After a long day of hiking forest trails, guests return to hot showers and a sauna just steps from their tent. The air cools quickly in the evening, and walking back through the trees with damp hair and warm skin, the forest feels both vast and intimate.
Wrapped in forest silence
There’s no running water here. Drinking water is brought in by container, and the forest itself takes care of most of the atmosphere.
From your tent, take in the ever-changing forest landscape, shifting with the seasons, the weather and the light.
Instead of walls, the tents are made from insulated canvas. Rain falls with a soft rhythm on the roof, and in spring, birdsong fills the air. The fresh scent of damp forest drifts in with the breeze.
Even in winter, the space stays warm. Tuomarla once spent the night here in minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four degrees Fahrenheit).
Since Teemu Tuomarla opened glamping tents in September 2021, tents have become a favourite among guests from Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK.
“The forest was absolutely beautiful that night,” he says.
He especially recommends the experience for couples, though anyone looking for quiet might feel at home here. And sometimes, in the clear winter sky, the Northern Lights pass silently overhead.
Text and photos by Emilia Kangasluoma, September 2025
