The long, light days of summer pulsate with international festivals of performing arts, from opera and jazz to dance and tango, while the Finnish winter landscape is a natural playground for every conceivable winter sport and activity. Sparkling lakes and endless forests provide the perfect retreat and a ready-made therapy for the stresses and strains of modern life.

In winter, the mean temperature remains below 0°C, but warm air flows can raise the daily high above 0°C at times. Winter usually begins in mid-October in Lapland and during November in the rest of Finland, though not until December in the southwestern archipelago. It thus takes about two months for winter to proceed from Lapland to Åland. The sea and lakes retard the progress of winter. Winter is the longest season, lasting for about 100 days in southwestern Finland and 200 days in Lapland.

North of the Arctic Circle, part of the winter is the period known as the polar night, when the sun does not rise above the horizon at all. In the northernmost extremity of Finland, the polar night lasts for 51 days. In southern Finland, the shortest day is about 6 hours long.

In summer, the mean daily temperature is consistently above 10°C. Summer usually begins in late May in southern Finland and lasts until mid-September. Summer in Lapland starts about one month later and ends a month earlier than the south coast.

The regions north of the Arctic Circle are characterized by 'polar days', when the sun does not set at all. The northernmost parts of Finland have 73 such days every year. Even in southern Finland, the longest day (around Midsummer) is nearly 19 hours long. The warmest day of the year comes about one month after aphelion, i.e. around July 20, in the whole of Finland.

The cuisine of Finland is notable for the use of wholemeal products (rye, barley, oats) and berries (such as blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, and sea buckthorn). Various turnips were common in traditional cooking, but were substituted by the potato after its introduction in the 18th century.

Modern Finnish cuisine combines traditional country fare and haute cuisine with contemporary continental style cooking. Fish and meat play a prominent role in traditional Finnish dish from the western part of the country, while the dishes from the eastern part have traditionally included various vegetables and mushrooms, of which especially the latter were introduced to the dining tables of the western side as late as during World War II by refugees from Karelia.

In the new Finnish kitchen, dishes are lighter, smaller, and generally contain several different vegetables. This mode of cooking is highly influenced by European and American cuisine.