Helsinki
Suomenlinna, the ‘fortress of Finland’, straddles a cluster of car-free islands connected by bridges. This Unesco World Heritage site was originally built…
Must-see attractions in Finland
Central Finland
Founded in 2017 to commemorate Finland's centenary of independence, the country's 40th national park stretches over 11,000 hectares of glittering lakes…
Finland
Once the private home of Gösta Serlachius, this world-class art gallery is one of Finland's premier cultural attractions. Situated 2km east of Mänttä's…
Finland's West Coast
This fantastic villa is considered one of the 20th century's architectural masterpieces and the pinnacle of Alvar Aalto's career. It is the former home of…
Åland Archipelago
Following the war of 1808–09, Russia began building this major military structure as its westernmost defence against the Swedes. The fortress was still…
The Finnish Lakeland
One of Aalto's most admired works, this town hall was conceived as a 'fortress of democracy' and constructed between 1949 and 1952. Its sturdy brick tower…
Helsinki
Occupying a palatial 1887 neo-Renaissance building, Finland’s premier art gallery offers a crash course in the nation’s art. It houses Finnish paintings…
Åland Archipelago
One of Åland’s premier sights is this striking 14th-century castle on a picturesque inlet (signposted off Rd 2). The keep towers are 15m high in parts,…
Häme
Dating from the early 1300s, this Gothic-style church in a walled churchyard has an interior filled with fabulous naive frescoes created in the early 16th…
Punavuori & Ullanlinna
An unmissable stop for Finnish design aficionados, Helsinki's Design Museum has a permanent collection that looks at the roots of Finnish design in the…
Häme
Hämeenlinna means Häme Castle, so it’s no surprise that this bulky, twin-towered, red-brick fortress is the town’s pride and most significant…
Helsinki
Built in National Romantic art nouveau style and opened in 1916, Finland’s premier historical museum looks a bit like a Gothic church with its heavy…
Lappeenranta
Standing guard above the harbour, this hulking hilltop fortification was begun by the Swedes and finished by the Russians in the late 18th century. Today…
Finland's West Coast
Alvar Aalto’s crowning achievement, Lakeuden Risti Church, is recognisable by its oddly secular steeple–clock tower (built with funds from a voluntary…
Finland's West Coast
The Unesco World Heritage–listed Bronze Age burial complex Sammallahdenmäki dates back more than 3500 years. Thirty-six stone burial cairns of different…
Tampere
This bright, modern glass-and-steel exhibition space in the renovated Tampella textile mill hosts regularly changing exhibitions on anything from bicycles…
Turku & Finland's South Coast
In a tanker-sized, wave-shaped building with walls of metal and printed glass, this state-of-the-art dockside museum recounts Finland’s seafaring life…
Tampere
An iconic example of National Romantic art nouveau architecture, Tampere's cathedral dates from 1907. Hugo Simberg created the frescoes and stained glass;…
Luostarinmäen Käsityöläismuseo
Turku
When the savage Great Fire of 1827 swept through Turku, the lower-class quarter Luostarinmäki escaped the flames. Set along tiny lanes and around grassy…
Lapland
Few things conjure fairy-tale romance like a snow castle. First built in 1996 as a Unicef project, this is a Lapland winter highlight and a favoured…
Turku
Like the bow of a ship tipped on its end, this unusual structure is perched on a rock and surrounded by forest on Hirvensalo island, 7km south of Turku…
Inari
One of Finland's most absorbing museums, state-of-the-art Siida offers a comprehensive overview of the Sámi and their environment. The main exhibition…
The Finnish Lakeland
Built directly on rock in the middle of the lake (now accessed via bridges), this heavily restored 15th-century fortification was constructed as a…
Central Finland
This excellent museum is by the Iijoki, whose banks are riddled with important Stone Age settlements. The informative display zeroes in on a handful of…
Helsinki
Situated 5.5km northwest of the city centre, this excellent island-set museum has a collection of 87 historic wooden buildings transferred here from…
Turku
Founded in 1280 at the mouth of the Aurajoki, mammoth Turku Castle is easily Finland’s largest fortress. Highlights include two dungeons and sumptuous…
The Finnish Lakeland
'Lusto' is the Finnish word for a tree’s annual growth ring, and this well-curated and cleverly presented museum is all about forests and the growth of…
Helsinki
One in a series of elegant, contemporary buildings in this part of town, curvaceous, metallic Kiasma, designed by Steven Holl and finished in 1998, is a…
Mariehamn
Preserved boats make up most of the exhibitions at this state-of-the-art museum exploring Åland's marine heritage; the centrepiece is a reproduction of a…
Rovaniemi
With its beautifully designed glass tunnel stretching out to the Ounasjoki, this is one of Finland’s finest museums. One half deals with Lapland, with…
Karelia
Between Vuonislahti and Vuonisjärvi, Paateri was the home and workshop of Eva Ryynänen (1915–2001), Finland’s most respected wood sculptor – as…
Turku & Finland's South Coast
One of Finland's most enticing old quarters, this tangle of cobbled alleys and wooden warehouses is entrancing. Once a vibrant port and market, Porvoo now…
Rovaniemi
Downstairs in the Metsähallitus (Finnish Forest and Park Service) building next to the Arktikum, this is a highly entertaining exhibition on Finnish…
Turku
Art and archaeology unite here under one roof. Aboa Vetus (Old Turku) draws you underground to Turku’s medieval streets, showcasing some of the 37,000…
Tampere
An entire block of wooden houses – including 32 apartments in five residential buildings, a bakery, a shoemaker, a public sauna, two general shops and a…
Finland's West Coast
About 8km west of Jakobstad, this gem of a museum is the private achievement of Pentti Kronqvist, who has made several expeditions to study the indigenous…
Helsinki
Set beneath the iconic 1936 Lasipalatsi building, art museum Amos Rex opened in 2018. Sweeping staircases take you below ground to the exhibition halls…
Häme
Finland loves its house-museums and this is among the best, offering a wonderful insight into well-off 19th-century Finnish life, thanks to excellent…
Helsinki
Rambling over 4 hectares in the city centre alongside the north harbour, Töölönlahti, Helsinki's botanic gardens are filled with plants from Finland and…
Turku
The ‘mother church’ of Finland’s Lutheran faith, Turku Cathedral towers over Turku. Consecrated in 1300, the colossal brick Gothic building was rebuilt…
