Before I start my 15 best places and sights to visit in Finland, I would like to give you first an introduction. The Finland you meet depends on your visit season, but regardless of how long the month is, it’s something pure and vital in the Finnish air and mind. Suomi promises some of Europe’s best hikes, kajaking and canoeing with its towering trees, spread around picture-perfect lakes, as if an artist had flickered a paintbrush on a map. A fabulous National Park network has well defined routes and frequented huts, and on nature-looking excursions, you can observe bears and elk deep in the mountains.
1-Traditional Sauna
Many Finns now have saunas at home, but some are still public. They feel old pine tree, tar shampoo and long history, with no-nonsense birch whisks and extras available. Weathered Finnish faces, bundled far away in a towel and wrapped by a hand in a beer, cool on the road. The best places to do so are Helsinki and Tampere, while the ancient smoking sauna of Kuopio takes a day to plan and provides a more rural feel along with a lake to hop right next door.
2-Design Shopping, Helsinki
Functional, stylish, frightening or wacky: you have to choose for it. The chicest thing of the capital, which is definitely not mainstream, is to browse the great number of designer shops in the center. If you look at the flagship shapes of brands like Iittala, Marimekko and Artek in Finno’s classic 20th century, or if you track cutting-edge, plainly strange innovative streets in Punavuori’s heart of Design District, you’re sure to discover something that you don’t know, but you can’t do without it. And indeed, delivery could be arranged.
3-National Park Hiking, Northern Finland
Finland is one of Europe’s leading hiking destinations with its vast swaths of preserved forests. Go to the Karhunkierros in the vicinity of Kuusamo on the beautiful hills and ravines in the fall. The Urho Kekkonen National Park in Lapland is one of Europe’s most beautiful natural areas while other fantastic opportunities to the North are the beautiful gorge of the Kevo Strict Nature Reserve and the fallen landscape of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. A camping huts network simplifies itinerary preparation and makes it possible for fearless Finns to meet.
4-On the Water, Lakeland
The Lakeland seems to be water rather than land, but not to get out of it would be a felony. The family-friendly Path of Oravareitti will take three days or you can go to national parks of Kolovesi and Linnansaari and experience the Freshwater Seals. Arms fatigued? Historical lake boats also fly from every town on short cruises, or take a day to go from Savonlinna to Kuopio or to the biggest lake in Finland, Saimaa, to Lappeenranta.
5-Cycling, Åland Archipelago
Paradisiacal Åland is better visited by bike – if you have used pedal power to hit them, you’ll enjoy the understated attractions all the more. Bridges and ferries connect several of its 6000 islands, and well-signposted roads carry you down ‘key roads.’ On the way you can gather wild strawberries, walk through the remains of the castle, sunbathe on a red granite plate, visit a mediaeval cathedral, quench your thirst in a cider orchard, or watch a lookout tower overlooking the sparkling sea.
6-Bear-Watching, Eastern Finland
Old Honey paws, the brown bear (Ursus arctos), is the national breed of Finland. Around 1000 of these strong beings live in the northeast, coming and going with impunity across the Finnish–Russian frontier. Operators run bear hides next to the border, where you can sit a quiet night’s vigil while bruins snuffle out elk carcasses and carefully concealed bits of salmon. The best time to see them is between mid-April and August, with a small break in July where the bears have breeding rather than meals in mind.
7-Sledding & Snowmobiling, Lapland
Behind a team of huskies in the low winter light, it is difficult to beat in Lapland. Short jaunts are fantastic, but overnight safaris allow you to feed and bonds with your lovable dogs in the winter, where you can check out a wood-burning sauna. It’s not a fairytale, though. Before you learn to handle your squad, prepare to eat some snake. If you’re not a dog, you can enjoy identical trips on or behind a snowmobile.
8-Music Festivals
Are you an amateur in chamber music? Or do you want rock to make your ears bleed too raucous? Finland has a festival to accommodate you, whatever your fun. Savonlinna’s castle is a dramatic setting for the festival of Opera for a month; Fiddlers assemble in Kaustinen for full-scale folk; Pori, Espoo and Tampere draw the fans; Seinäjoki is flashing sequine and tall heels at its fif-day tango festival; Turku’s Ruisrock is one of many kicking rock festivals.
9-Sámi Culture, Inari
The northern inhabitants of Finland used technologies to ease the complicated side of the reindeer herding while preserving their close knowledge of the natural world of Lapland. Its capital, Inari, is also the place to study Sámi culture and customs, and its neighboring Lemmenjoki National park. The wonderful Siida Museum starts with cutting-edge display halls and original buildings including farmhouses, warehouses and courthouses. Organize nature tours with Sámi guides, visit renes and discover quality crafts and music that support local communities.
10-Summer Cottages
A cozy cottage on a blue lake, with a row boat, a fishing dock, and even its own swimming beach is a sign of the Finnish season. The simplest rustic cabins have loose outside and well water while the latest designer bungalows are comfortable with any creature. If you are searching for a wildlife retreat – Karelia provides picturesque corners of the most forested area of Finland – or for a large family picnic, you will find the right spot for thousands of holiday rentals.
11-Icy Accommodation, Kemi
While reading the word ‘snow hotel’ will shake your spine, a wonderful but costly experience is to have a night in one of those stunning, extravagantly artistic edifices! In Lapland there are more, including Lumihotelli in Kemi. Large sleeping bags have a very pleasant night, and a sauna in the morning bans any chills. You should visit the complex, maybe stop at a nice vodka-cocktail in the bar if you do not want to stay indoors for a night.
12-Food Markets
Counters with the indoor kauppahalli of any town are selling local cheeses, crude rye bread, craft chocolates, Finnish sausages and smoked salmon (covered market). Tampere is a typical sausage, with delightful scent wafting through stalls. Tampere is a typical sausage. In summer, the kauppatori in the villages blasted fruits and vegetables like soft, nourishing new potatoes, juicy red strawberries, or peas freshly popped from the pod. The method in the autumn is relaxed with stacks of peppery chanterelles and glowing Lapland cloudberries, which shine like a sorcerer in August.
13-Bar Life
Rumors are rather overdue about Finnish beer prices, and a large social drinking scene, particularly Turku full of students, is great to participate in. After a tuoppi (half liter glass) or three beers, Finns lose this iconic reserve and want tourists to talk about it; it’s a perfect place to meet locals. Finland has many original and offbeat bars and a famous Suomi tipple is soon found – Finnish cider, micro malt, candy and sweet combos or extraordinary shots like salty-glossy ice vodka or cloudberry liqueur.
14-Rauma Old Town
Vanha Rauma is the world’s largest wooded historic town in the Nordic countries. Its 600 houses can be museum items, but they are still a residential area: people like to flower boxes and talk to their neighbors, as guests walk in and out of the small cafes, stores and museums. Rauman giäl, a long-standing lingo for sailors mixing a variety of languages, is still mentioned here and Pitsiviikko celebrates the mediaeval heritage of lace making (Rauma Lace Week).
15-Seaside Hanko
Genteel Hanko, the southernmost town in Finland, has its tradition closely linked and Russia with some of Finland’s best beaches. The gentry in St Petersburg, a favorite summer resort, left a noble tradition of beautiful wooden villas and in the second World War the town saw hard fighting when Russia annexed it and the local people were forced to abandon it. The long sandy peninsula today is a spot to rest, instead of piston boats and trenches. Yacht and sand castles.
Final thoughts:
Summer Days
The nation bursts into existence in Finland’s brief yet dazzling sunshine season. In the expectation that it will sustain you through the long and gloomy winter months in a bustom of good cheer and optimism, Finns seem to want to suck every golden drop from summer. Summer is the season for music, art shows, lake cruise events, midnight sunshine on the pleasant beer terraces, idyllic days at isolated cottages on the water, and abundant products from the market at the remarkably high temperatures for these latitudes.
After the Snowfall
Winter has its own charm as the pines and lakes are coated with snow. Active action is the only way to banish the cold subzero conditions. Skiing to May is perfect. Other tasks include chartering a dog’s team, a reindeer post or a snowmobile on a journey through lush snow-capped desolate winter suns; catch the timber-fired sauna by the aurora borealis (Nordish Lights), drill the ice-fishing trough, and stay for one night in a dazzling ice hotel.
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