Welcome to Winter Bay Cottage. The cottage and sauna buildings were built in 2014. They are our modern interpretation of a traditional Finnish log cabin. We aim to give you that very Finnish "summer cottage" experience with all the creature comforts of home.

I am an Englishman living in Finland and married to a Finnish lady (Heli), we have 2 children. We have a somewhat unique perspective on the Finnish summer cottage experience as we expierence it both as a foreigner living abroad and a local native. As such we try to incorporate the "Finnishness" as well as the expectations of foreign guests into our Summer Cottage (Kesämökki).

The cottage is located in the heart of Central Finlands lakes and forests. While at the cottage enjoy the wood fired sauna, boating, swimming, skating and skiing on the lake (not at the same time ;-) ) Or relax and play "mölkky" (bowling with logs) on the lawn. Or simply relax in the hammocks, sip a beer or read a book. The cottage is close to the tourist attractions of Ähtäri including the zoo (look out for the Pandas as well as bears, wolves and reindeer) and FlowPark rope adventure park. There is also an 18 hole golf course next to the Zoo and Flowpark complex. The famous (in Finland) Tuuri shopping centre is 45 minutes away. The gigantic shopping centre is in a tiny village that makes no sense to have such an attraction but it does. Certainly a very Finnish experience. The closest Ski centre in Juupavaara is less than an hour away. The large Himos ski centre (one of Finland's most famous) is about 100 km's away but takes 90 minutes to get to by car. Also worth checking out in summer is the Haapamäki "steam engine park". This is a graveyard for old steam trains but more interestingly hosts the very Finnish "Stage Dances" (lavatanssit) and "Summer Theatre"