More in Finland

Our next stop on our Finnish meanderings was Tertti manor some 100+ km from Savonlinna. We're generally B road type people so it did involve meandering and, in a couple of places, unpaved roads. Dave's not going to worry any rally drivers, but it was interesting driving, and the scenery in this area was more appealing than what we had the previous day north of Savonlinna.

View from our room

The town of Mikkeli itself is nothing to write home about (although that may have been the combination of lots of roadworks and drizzly rain.) The manor is some 7km outside of the town and is clearly a functioning farm that has diversified with shop, cafe, restaurant and accommodation.

The evening we stayed, all five of the rooms were occupied, and there were enough people in the restaurant to give it a bit of life, but you still got personal service. We had the chef present the food - something that in other circumstances can be irritating but was perfectly acceptable here. She seemed to fit her surroundings. If you've seen the Danish series Matador you'll understand when I say she reminded me a bit of Laura.

They claim to try to recreate the atmosphere of the time of the Tsar (when Finland was a Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire). Difficult to assess if they succeed, but we were very happy with the food and the room (not in the house itself). There three other groups eating there the night we were, and an Anglo Finnish family from Oxford with a young boy who was quite entertaining for the other guests.

Don't think we've ever eaten in a restaurant before where we had no idea what was on offer (there was only one option for each course), or at least what the price was.

The waiter's English was excellent, but we had probs working out what sort of soup we were getting to start (A: chicken D: chickpea). In the event turned out to be courgette (waiter had said zucchini - which neither of us had recognised!).

The duck main course (with beans, onions and red gooseberries from the farm) went down a treat.

Pudding came with raspberries, again from the farm.

Weather had turned even wetter so it was a short walk around the grounds before an early night.

Breakfast was served in the shop - slightly strange, but understandable as it's also the café. Nice touch when we checked out was they provided a small lunch bag with what turned out to be VERY tasty sandwiches.

If you're touring this area you could do a lot worse than stop here.

Our accommodation

The main house

More pics from Tertti Manor