Feel NORDIC - Lentiira

The roots of Lentiira Holiday Village go back to 1967, when Elsa Heikkinen founded the Petäjäniemi holiday home in Lentiira, Kuhmo. Elsa was a skilled hostess and entrepreneur who also ran the Kaesa home bakery, which still operates in Kuhmo today. Together with her husband Janne, Elsa transformed a rural farm into a tourism destination, where guests stayed in summer cottages and tents, bathed in the lakeside sauna, and enjoyed homemade meals in the main house.

In the 1980s, Elsa’s son Toivo and his wife Eija expanded the business by building more cottages, a smoke sauna, and a service building. They strongly developed tourism services: airport transfers, guided excursions, hunting, fishing, and traditional Kainuu dishes were offered. Lentiira became especially popular among German and Swiss visitors, and over the years, several notable Finnish public figures have also stayed at the holiday village.

In 2019, the village underwent another generational shift, as Eija and Toivo’s son Petri took over. Petri also runs a tourism business in Vuokatti, called Vuokatinmaa.