Why Finland?

Midsummer is an ideal time to visit Finland, one of the main attractions being the amount of available daylight. Whilst it's not quite the land of the midnight sun at this latitude, it's not too far off. Sunset being around 11pm and dawn about 3am and it never gets darker than a dull twilight. Certainly playing golf till midnight is totally possible.

There are several advantages of a golfing break to Finland over more popular destinations.

• If you'd like to play a lot of golf, then the days are long, you could play a round in the morning, break for several hours in the afternoon to enjoy some other local attraction, a leisurely lunch or sleep! And then play again in the evening, you can easily tee off at 6 or 7pm and play a full round and enjoy a late dinner afterwards.
• Its never going to get very hot and humid like it can in more Southern climes. If you're not a fan of it being exceptionally hot, then consider Finland. The summers are generally warm, the Friday we were there was perfect, 25 degrees and a gentle breeze. The evenings can grow a little chilly so pack a long sleeved jumper.
• It's not crowded. Driving is easy, it's a country the size of the United Kingdom but will less than 10% of the population. Likewise the golf courses aren't packed either, we visited over a holiday weekend and the courses were very pleasant to play.
• It's different. A 2.5 hour flight away and you're in a very different country and culture, whilst still being very "western" in nature, is off the usual beaten path and a very interesting experience for being that. Most Finns seem to have at least passing English and many speak fluently. Certainly language wasn't as issue, many signs and notices are in English which did make life easier.

The Scandic Rosendahl. At around 11pm at night. Totally what you would expect from a modern hotel, great location, clean, well organised, good food and wireless internet. Finland is a land of Summer Houses too, an estimated million for a population of 5 million, if you're planning on staying a bit longer then the rental of one of these might be an option, many are by beautiful lakes and you can easily indulge in the Finnish passion for saunas followed by a swim in a lake.

General things to bear in mind when planning a trip to Finland are.

• The evenings do get a little chilly so pack some slightly warmer clothes.
• There are lots of trees in Finland and lots of water, takes plenty of balls as you're going to lose one or two! "Lake balls" are very popular in Finland!
• All measurements on the courses are in metres - roughly 100 metres is 110 yards.
• Pack some insect repellant. Mosquitoes can be an issue, especially slightly earlier in the summer season. Though nobody experienced any problems in the several days we were there.
• Budget airlines do tend to be quite restrictive on baggage. Ryanair do charge a surcharge for golf clubs and do carry them on a limited release basis, so make sure they're covered under your travel insurance.
• Finland does seem to close down the day after the Midsummer Holiday, many, many places are closed for the day. So don't plan on doing too much apart from playing golf!
• The currency is Euros, in general costs are on a par with the most European countries, hotels, food, green fees and drinks all very much on a par with what you would normally expect to pay. Nothing seems especially expensive or inexpensive, certainly none of the "ouch" factor you'll find for a coffee in Paris or the like!
• Everywhere seems neat, clean and tidy, Scandinavian countries have a reputation for this and certainly this reputation was enhanced throughout our visit. I don't recall seeing even a single piece of litter on any of the golf courses.

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