Celebrate Christmas on a Finnish Island
At Hotel Svala, we invite you to experience the quiet beauty of a Christmas in the Finnish archipelago. Here, the season unfolds close to nature — with frost-covered cliffs, muted greens, and deep stillness. Free from light pollution, the stars glow brighter, and the darkness becomes a peaceful canvas. When winter is at its coldest, the brackish sea freezes, and you can skate from island to island —
A Finnish Jul is rooted in simplicity and warmth: evergreens, candlelight, and the scent of hyacinths. In our kitchens, we prepare traditional flavors — forest lingonberries, smoked fish, hearty rye, and mulled wine. We bake, we make, and gather together, blending old-world traditions with modern comfort.
holiday making
December 5th-20th
Join us for the holidays, the hotel will be decorated for Christmas and you can enjoy seasonal meals and traditions, our modern take on julbord.
Cost: €700 per night booking the whole hotel , includes 4 double rooms, library, and staff. We are limited to 8 people, with double occupancy.
Package cost per person €80 per day
*Additional activities, lunch and wine pairings can be added by request to the stay, please contact us to make a special holiday package
Included per person cost
- Welcome glögg
- Dinner with holiday inspiration
- Breakfast and a late departure
For a Holiday Booking, please enter desired dates and guests, select the hotel nights and package per guest.
jul AT SVALA
Included:
- Whole hotel, 4 double rooms, library and staff
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner 4 days
- Christmas eve dinner
- Christmas morning at the church
- Guided walk on the island
- Making of traditional julbord
- Holiday crafts and decorating
- Warm welcome basket
December 22nd-26th
During this curated stay you can book an outings to a local maker, learn to make knäckebröd or decorations with natural materials. Enjoy a julbord and a candlelit Christmas morning at the local 15th century church. Activities will be offered but nothing is required. One can choose to simply stay in and cozy up with glögg a book. We warmly invite you to join us for a special Jul på Svala!
You are welcome to a longer stay with us, additional days can be added by request.
Requires a deposit to book, limited to 8 people, 4 rooms with double occupancy, starting at €950 per person
We are happy to help you with coordinating your travel to us.
making
Still today we follow the old Finnish traditions for our holiday preparations. Our Christmas trees are imperfect and simply done. Candelabras and stars adorn our windows. Straw is woven and crafted to ensure a good harvest. The sweet straw Julbock has origins in the story of pagan god Thor, who rode in the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats. We gather to make candles, cookies or a homemade mustard to share with friends. Avoiding the bright colors and synthetic materials we opt for natural elements like wood, lingon, greenery and wool. During our preparations at Svala we will be gathering from the forest and making garlands and our table settings. We can collaboratively contribute to the beauty of our own Christmas eve, below are examples.
grenljus branch candles
A longtime tradition is dipping grenljus (branch candles), also called syskon jus (sibling candles). One makes a branch for each sibling and it foretells of the year forward. It is important to be happy while dipping candles so they burn brightly.
traditional straw himmeli
“Back in the olden days, himmelis hung above dining tables to ensure a good crop for the coming year, and stayed on display from Christmas till Midsummer. The structure of a himmeli – especially a bigger and more complex one – is visually striking, with geometrical shapes made out of hundreds, or even thousands, of pieces of straw.
According to connoisseurs the best himmelis are made out of rye, the grain with the longest and sturdiest stems. A well-kept himmeli can last up to a hundred years. In modern interpretations, the materials vary from plywood to paper and even plastic straws.” For more on Himmeli Finland.fi
traditional knäckebröd
We will be at our amazing friend Airi’s, our local baker making knäckebröd. Traditional crispbread was invented about 500 years ago. Finland and Sweden have long traditions in crispbread consumption, and it has been known in most households since the 1800s. Traditionally, crispbreads were baked just twice a year; following harvest and again in the spring when frozen river waters began to flow. Traditional western Finnish crispbread was (and still is) made in the form of a round flat loaf with a hole in the middle to facilitate storage on long poles hanging near the ceiling.
dining
The holidays are filled with beautiful food and our traditional Jul bord on Christmas eve is a feast. We will be preparing our dishes using local purveyors and ingredients, and sharing our favorite versions of these dishes with our guests. Guests are invited into the kitchen during the days leading up to Christmas to learn how to make pickled herring, gravlax, pepparkakor and knäckebröd.
christmas morning
On Christmas morning we go to the Church, it is as dark as night and the path is lit with torches, inside the church it is warm and candlelit. The sermon is in Swedish but everyone can enjoy psalms sung with an organ accompanist and the sun rising through the windows. Kumlinge church is really special, dedicated to the Saint Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary. The church was built of stone during the 14th century and is famous for the beautiful and unique chalk paintings in the chapel. These paintings date back to the middle of the last millenium. Inside the church there are several artifacts, including a gothic altarpiece and a font from the 13th century.
Guests are invited to stay through the holidays , please see details for New Years Eve at Svala.