Uhkua Saimaa – a cottage holiday in Finland

Pristine Lakeland nature. Tasty food with local ingredients. Cosy cottage setting. Uhkua Saimaa has it all. ***

Location

Locals have known it for decades: Saimaa Lakeland makes a stellar spot for a summer cottage holiday. Located by the waters of Lake Yövesi, Uhkua hosts a cottage and a sauna, boat on floats. From the nearest bigger city, Mikkeli, it takes just under an hour to drive to Uhkua. Other Saimaa regions’ hubs Savonlinna and Lappeenranta are about a 1.5-hour drive away whereas the smaller Ristiina and Puumala are a 30–40-minute drive away. The magnificent pre-historic Astuvansalmi rock paintings are located 13 kilometres away: book a hike or boat trip to the paintings with Uhkua.

uhkua saimaa bedroom — Photos by Minna Hotti

Style of Uhkua Saimaa

Uhkua’s cottage and sauna are built on two floats, allowing them to be taken to the Saimaa’s waters from spring to autumn. The owners have a background in interior design and the culinary industry, which you can see and taste while visiting. The small cottage has a charming rustic feel and almost everything here is recycled – the buildings are actually made of trees that fell during a particularly hefty storm some years ago. The sauna building is located just a few steps away from the cottage and shares its cosy and traditional style.

My visit at Uhkua Saimaa

I was happy to visit Uhkua with my sister. We left our dogs at home and came for our little cottage holiday just to relax and play some cards – there’s no electricity, but portable LED lights provide enough light. I’ve really wanted to have a cottage holiday in Saimaa during winter, and finally, my dream came true. The Saimaa Lakeland region is beautiful in summer, with its glittering lakes and lush forests, but in winter, it’s truly magical here, the lakes frozen and the whole landscape covered in white snow. In February, it gets dark just after five, so we heated the sauna for six. There’s an opportunity for a cold plunge in the frozen lake, but I enjoyed the warmth of the sauna too much to try it – next time!

Sauna and dinner experience

After a sauna, Asta, co-owner of Uhkua Saimaa, brought us our dinner basket. It was adorable and created a holiday experience I’ll cherish for a lifetime. Asta’s husband is a renowned chef in the area, and his expertise is in local ingredients. This tasted in the food from the archipelago bread to the marinated Northern pike and the vegetable casserole. There were also some delights, such as blue cheese and compote, from other local producers. Tasty blueberry pie finished off the dinner, and we were happy to go to bed.

We had ordered a breakfast basket for the next morning, and Asta arrived promptly with it at 8.30 am. She also brought us some more wood to burn as the cottage is heated up by a little fireplace. In summer, you won’t most likely even need to do this, but we were feeding the fire quite a bit with wood as our visit coincided with one of the winter’s coldest nights – which I actually loved, as it created a feel of a mini-adventure!

Again, the breakfast was super tasty, with Karelian pies, berry smoothies and local apple juice in the basket.

Highlight

It is impossible to pick one feature as the highlight, as the whole visit to Uhkua was a happy experience for me. I love cottage stays in general, but Uhkua has a truly special feel. You can sense that the place has been built with love and is located in a place, Saimaa, that truly deserves it. Loved everything!