Finnish Eco-Agrotourism Association – ECEAT Finland

Urpolan kartano

Location

Manor house and organic farm in Häme, 20 km to the west from Forssa.
Language(s): Finnish, English

services

information about the destination

The main building of Urpola Manor was built in art nouveau style almost a hundred years ago. It has been transformed from a home into a manor restaurant, and we are already the second generation to receive visitors here. The third generation – Leena and Mikko’s son Jaakko – grows organic crops, such as rye, oats, wheat and grass, on the farm.

The facilities of the manor are large enough even for large parties and meetings: at best, we can serve 200 to 300 guests. We also have a dance pavilion and an outdoor kitchen in the park. The first weddings were celebrated at the manor as early as the 1920s.

At our buffet table, heritage dishes take centre stage. Most of the foods we serve are home-made or locally produced. Our own organic produce includes berries, rhubarb and cracked rye, and the eggs, milk, yoghurt and honey come from nearby. We serve breakfast for pre-booked guests, as well as lunch and dinner for groups of 20 persons at minimum. Some of our menus, and also tailored menus, are also available for smaller groups.

Urpola offers a total of 45 beds (14 beds in rooms of 2 to 4 persons). Three double log cabins are available for year-round accommodation in the park. Each has two welcoming rooms with private kitchenette and entrance (3 + 1 beds/room). A flat for 3 to 4 persons and rooms for 2 to 3 persons are available in a brick building.

Urpola is also an ideal destination for friends of crafts. Your hostess, Leena, runs the craft supply and fabric shop Tilkkutex in connection with the manor (www.tilkkutex.fi.
 The shop also sells local crafts. The product range of the manor’s farm shop includes cracked rye from our farm.

Local food products, baked goods and crafts are also for sale at events organised in the surroundings of the manor.

Selection of saunas

The speciality of the manor is our sauna world with seven unique saunas made from natural materials: the VikingSauna, which is a smoke sauna made from clay and wood blocks; as well as the ShipSauna, PelletSauna, Sauna with a View, the small Selkäsauna and the Tree House sauna at a height of 3 metres. Our novelty is the new Swing sauna! In Viking Boat Helka you can soak in a hot tub. Our new Obelix hot tub takes 4 bathers at a time. This is a unique experience in Finland! To cool down, you can dip in a swimming pond next to the saunas.

Why not come to the Sauna World and enjoy a bathing marathon! For pre-booked guests, massages and pedicures are also available as well as other activities, including the Wildest Viking competition in the luscious park beside the sauna.

Surroundings and activities

Pre-booked guests can enjoy a tour of the manor, on which your host Mikko will tell you about its history and present-day life. Courses and camps can also be organised for pre-booked groups.

In connection with events, crafts fairs are organised, where craftspeople in different fields sell their products. Exhibitions are organised at the Gallery and the Granary.

Other activities: yard games; cross-country skiing and kick-sleighing in cold winters. In summer, peaceful walks along gravel roads and esker forests. On agreement, visitors can take part in farm work. Days or weeks of volunteer work activities are also being planned.

Excursions and activities nearby:

  • The Finnish Museum of Agriculture Sarka, Loimaa 30 km
  • Jokioinen Museum Railway: a whistle stop and museum railway station in Humppila (https://www.jokioistenmuseorautatie.fi/fi)
  • National Parks of Liesjärvi and Torronsuo, Saari National Park and the National Urban Park of Forssa (at a drive of about 30 to 60 minutes).
  • In Tammela, (30 to 40 km) kayak rentals, hiking routes, guided nature excursions, snowshoeing, fishing and sailing.
  • horse riding in Urjala (30 km) or Ypäjä (20 km).
  • Vesihelmi pool complex (at approx. 20 minutes’ drive, 28 km)

Directions

Urpola Manor is located 8 km from the centre of Humppila, half-way between Turku and Tampere. Also half-way between Helsinki and Pori.

  • Railway station: Humppila railway station 9 km. Take a taxi to Urpola.
  • Bus stop: Humppila 5 to 6 km (Humppilan Lasi/Kenkämaailma/Kukkatalo shopping centre)
    From Tampere or Loimaa: take a bus to Humppila and a taxi for the rest of the way from the bus stop on Road 9.
    From Forssa: take a bus to Humppila and a taxi for the rest of the way from the bus stop on Road 2.
    Visitors using public transport can be collected by prior arrangement.
  • Drivers or cyclists: From the junction of Turku-Tampere and Helsinki-Pori roads, continue towards Pori for 3.5 km.

Opening times and prices

  • Open round the year, advance booking necessary.
  • Prices for the log cabins: EUR 95/night/2 persons. Eur 135/night/3 persons, EUR 175/night/4 persons. Rooms in the brick building are available at a lower cost.
  • Breakfast (booking necessary): EUR 17/person served from a buffet table for minimum groups of 10 persons, breakfast package for your room EUR 12/person.
  • Lunch and dinner (booking required): prices vary, for minimum groups of 20 persons. Some menus and tailored menus are also available for smaller groups.
  • Bonus for ECEAT Finland members and visitors arriving without a motor vehicle: Visitors using public transport can be collected by prior arrangement.
  • If you stay for a minimum of three nights, we can offer you a great accommodation package.

Our actions for the environment

  • We manage and repair old buildings and build new ones with our own timber using ecological methods. For example, the surfaces are tarred.
  • We aim to use materials which produce little waste and which can be recycled or disposed of as ecologically as possible.
  • The manor has a wood chip boiler and an air heat pump which is only switched on as necessary.
  • Outdoor lights around the accommodation facilities operate on a timer/twilight switch.
  • Composting toilets at the VikingSauna and HuvilaHuussi.
  • The heating in the manor and accommodation facilities is turned down when there are no visitors.
  • We buy goods in bulk.
  • We cherish the trees in the manor park, some of which are up to 120 years old, and old garden plants (for example, a clematis strain that is over 50 years old) as well as care for the environment around us
  • At Urpola farm, biodiversity is fostered in forest management, clear-felling is avoided, and trees of different ages are favoured (the farm is today owned by Jaakko Kylämarkula).

In the future

Key values in the future:

  • Preserving cultural heritage: we will develop cultural tourism further.
  • Saving electricity and water and reducing the indoor temperature when there are no customers.
  • Vitality of the local community: at events, we offer local craftspeople and producers opportunities to sell their goods
  • Newly established cooperation with a natural herb entrepreneur: we sell herbal products
  • Organic farming: our son continues the production of organic cereals and hay.