Finland - A country of extreme contrasts; icy winters and golden summers, and vibrant cosmopolitan cities mixed with vast areas of remote wilderness.

Being located at the Arctic Circle, the winters are quite long and snowy while the summer days come for a brief period say two and half months or more wherein the sun simply does not set. Both the winter and the summer seasons in Finland have an idyllic charm of their own with a special set of adventures and activities to enjoy. On wintertime the best bet is Lapland, where one can experience the snow, northern lights, Santa Claus' home and reindeers. In the summertime then the cities such as Helsinki, Turku, Tampere and Oulu are all at their liveliest, though if you want to see the Midsummer's Night (the Sun not setting for some time) then Lapland is once again the best place to go.

Traveling to Finland during summer means you are visiting in the months of June, July and August. Long and warm sunshine filled days beckon you to enjoy all day long. You could spend an entire holiday week in Karelia in Eastern Finland and try out fishing in the Lake Pielinen, quad safari biking in the wetlands of Karelian wilderness, try your hand in cooking Karelian pasties and lots more. Most rejuvenating of them all could be the opportunity to use the spa and sauna almost free or a golf session, a canoeing trip in the lake and lots more.

Finland also seems to produce a very high percentage of racing drivers. Many top rally drivers are often Finns and Formula 1 has also produced a number of well-known Finnish drivers. In recent years, Salo, Raikkonen and Kovalainen are just a few names.

If you are a shopper or concert/museum/culture goer, then those big cities are for you, but if you love hiking, nature things and so on, then it's better to travel to the countryside.

If you would like to ski or try other sports, then Helsinki nor Southern Finland is not for you at all -there is hardly snow in Helsinki at the moment! You can do shopping in Helsinki of course (Stockmann recommended) or perhaps go see a move or a concert, but you have to be over 18 years (preferably older) to get into a bar for a drink. In wintertime Helsinki is not very good place to visit, as tourists tend to have their action in terms of skiing, slalomming and ski-doo riding in Lapland.


Other Finland Tips ::

The currency is euro, taxi rides do not have fixed payments, you pay what the meter shows at the end of your journey. Tipping happens mainly in bars and restaurants.

Finding homes is not always easy, especially in the biggest cities, where also the prices are quite high (especially in the city centre).

As for crimes, Finland is quite a safe place to live in, although one should always use the common sense and not get too drunk and/or not go out too late in the night!


Finland is perfectly located for visiting several other countries if you are looking to do a tour. As well as a city such as Helsinki, you can easily from there travel to places such as Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia) and St-Petersburg (Russia). Helsinki really can act as a great central location for visiting this part of the world.