Things to do in Finland
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Pizzeria Dennis
This place doesn't look much from the outside, but within is a warren of cosy rooms adorned with Chianti bottles and strings of garlic. There's a long and innovative range of pizzas and pasta, but you're better sticking to the tried and tested combinations: there's a good reason you don't see parmesan cheese and curry sauce together more often! Enthusiastic service.
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Klippan
There’s no better way to appreciate Helsinki’s seaside location than by heading out to the myriad of island restaurants. The most famous is the stylish, spired Klippan, which is set in a villa on Luoto island, and famous for society weddings and crayfish parties.
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Suomenlinna Island
An ideal day or half-day trip from Helsinki is to pack a picnic and take the regular ferry to the island fortress of Suomenlinna. A great deal of Helsinki's history was shaped here - the World Heritage Listed fortress was founded by the Swedes in 1748 to protect against the Russians but following a prolonged attack, Sveaborg was surrendered to the Russians in 1808.
There are several good cafés on Suomenlinna, but many locals like to picnic among the fortress ruins with a few drinks - it can get pretty boozy here on summer weekends. At around 17:00 it's worth finding a spot to watch the enormous Baltic ferries pass through the narrow gap.
HKL ferries depart every 20 minute…
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Parppeinvaara Traditional Village
Few places bring Karelian traditions to life as vividly as the Parppeinvaara Traditional Village. The hill is named for Jaakko Parppei (1792–1885), a bard and kantele player, whose songs inspired the Kalevala epic. The folked-up harpsichordlike sounds of the kantele can be heard throughout the village and you can see this unique stringed instrument on display, along with various other Karelian cultural artefacts, in the small museum. The collection of Karelian buildings is a powerful evocation of history with informative guides wearing feresi (traditional Karelian work dress) and answering questions about the displays. The small Orthodox Church at the back of the villag…
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Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
West of the centre, this island is best known for Seurasaari Open-Air Museum with 18th- and 19th-century traditional houses, manors and outbuildings from around Finland. Guides dressed in traditional costume demonstrate folk-dancing and crafts such as spinning, embroidery and troll-making. While you’ll see other museums like this across Finland, Seurasaari definitely has the best. There are guided tours in English at 11.30am and 3.30pm.
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Panimoravintola Plevna
Inside the old Finlayson textile mill, this big barn of a place offers a wide range of delicious beer, cider and perry brewed on the premises, including an excellent strong stout. Meals are large and designed to soak it all up: massive sausage platters and enormous slabs of pork in classic beer-hall style as well as more Finnish fish and steak dishes. Vegetables here mean potatoes and onions, preferably fried, but it’s all tasty, and service is fast.
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Turun Taidemuseo
The excellent Turku Art Museum is a striking granite building with elaborately carved pilasters and conical turrets. Much of the art is modern, though the Victor Westerholm offers Finnish landscapes and Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s depictions of the Kalevala are always jaw-dropping. Gunnar Berndtson’s Kesä (Summer) is an idyllic depiction of sunny Suomi while RW Ekman’s The Muses is transcendent Romantic.
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Hiekkalinna
In summer, sand artists from all over Finland gather to build the Hiekkalinna, a giant ‘sandcastle’ that uses around 3 million kilograms of sand. Previous incarnations of these huge art works have included themes such as a Wild West scene incorporating a gigantic steam train, and an outer space theme that brought together ET and Darth Vader. It’s great for kids with a small selection of rides (many free).
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Porvoo Old Town
Porvoo Old Town district north of Mannerheiminkatu was largely built after the Great Fire of 1760. It's an alluring warren of narrow, winding cobblestone alleys and brightly coloured wooden houses. Craft boutiques and antique shops line the main roads, Välikatu and Kirkkokatu. For a glimpse of less touristed bits, head for the streets east of the cathedral; Itäinen Pitkäkatu is one of the nicest.
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Zetor
Ever wondered where the Leningrad Cowboys would park their pointy shoes? This whacky restaurant and pub has a kitschy Czech tractor theme from the mind of Finnish film-maker Aki Kaurismäki. Cabbage rolls, salmon soup and other traditional dishes complement the Finnish booze including sahti (traditional ale flavoured with juniper berries), but ease off if you’re finishing the night with a tractor ride.
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Linnoitus & Museums
The fortifications in the Linnoitus (Fortress) area of Lappeenranta above the harbour were started by the Swedes and finished by the Russians in the 18th century. It's like a separate village; some of the fortress buildings are craft shops and galleries, while others have been turned into interesting museums. There are good views from the fortress over the harbour area.
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Café Engel
This heavenly spot in the Senaatintori hums with tourists and university students alike. There’s always a good selection of cakes and enticing meals often of a vegetarian bent such as a beetroot lasagne. It’s a cultural hub with films shown in the courtyard during summer, irregular piano recitals and a plump English-language magazine selection.
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Kenkävero
Kenkävero is a design shop and an art centre picturesquely set in a lovely vicarage building 1km east of the centre. The cafe still feels like an elegant drawing room and you half expect the vicar himself to bring in tea and cucumber sandwiches. Instead there’s a much praised lunch buffet that pulls out all the stops.
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Sokeri-Jussin Kievari
An Oulu classic, this timbered local on Pikisaari was once a sugar warehouse and has outdoor tables that have good views of the centre. Although the renovated interior has lost a bit of the original character, it’s still an attractive spot to eat, with no-frills traditional dishes, including reindeer.
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Kauppahalli
This intriguing indoor market is one of Finland’s best, with picturesque wooden stalls serving a dazzling array of wonderful meat, fruit, baked goodies and fish. There are good cafes, and, at No 50, Teivon Liha, the best place to try cheap mustamakkara with berry jam.
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Wanha Lyhty & Kellari
This cellar restaurant is a testament to the nautical history, bedecked with model ships and ropes, but the traditional Finnish food is first rate. Upstairs the more casual bar does irregular live music.
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Ooppera Talo
Opera, ballet and classical concerts are held here, though not during summer. Performances of the Finnish National Opera are subtitled in Finnish.
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Jätkänkämppä Smoke Sauna
There are different types of saunas, but the smoke sauna is the original and, some say, the best. This, the largest in the world (although few other countries have made an attempt on the record), is a memorable and sociable experience that draws both locals and visitors.
The lakeside Jätkänkämppä sauna is at a former loggers' camp near the Rauhalahti Tourist Centre. The 60-person, mixed sauna (record capacity is 103 people) is heated a full 24 hours in advance with a big wood fire, hence the name 'smoke sauna'. Guests are given towels to wear but bring a swimsuit for a dip in the lake. The technique is to sweat it out for a while, cool off in the lake, then repeat the pro…
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Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum
The name 'handicrafts museum' gives little indication of how fascinating this open-air museum really is. It is made up of the only surviving 18th-century area of this medieval town - Turku has been razed by fire 30 times - and all the buildings are still in their original locations, unlike most Finnish open-air museums where the buildings are moved from elsewhere, or re-created.
Carpenters, stonemasons, jewellers and other workers built homes and shops in the area, beginning in 1779. When the great fire of 1827 destroyed most of Turku, Luostarinmäki neighbourhood was one of the few that survived.
Since 1940 it has served as a museum, but doesn't feel like one: it's more l…
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National Gallery
The Ateneum houses Finnish paintings and sculptures from the 18th century to the 1950s. There's also a small, interesting collection of 19th- and early-20th-century foreign art, including a copy of Auguste Rodin's bronze The Thinker, and paintings by Van Gogh, Gaugin and Cezanne. The building itself dates from 1887.
The list of painters at the Ateneum reads like a 'who's who' of Finnish art. It houses Finnish paintings and sculptures from the 18th century to the 1950s including works by Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, the Von Wright brothers and Pekka Halonen. Pride of place goes to the prolific Gallen-Kallela's triptych from the Kalevala depicting Väinämöinen's p…
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Ålands Museum & Ålands Konstmuseum
In the centre of town, the Ålands Museum & Ålands Konstmuseum are housed in the same building and should definitely head your list of things to see in Mariehamn. The lively and well-presented museum gives an absorbing insight into the history of the islands from prehistoric to present and includes a Stone-Age replica boat made of sealskin, and a reconstructed traditional pharmacy. The panels don't have English, so take an information leaflet on entry.
The gallery has changing exhibitions as well as a handful of paintings by local artists. Perhaps most interesting among them are the canvases of Joel Pettersson (1892-1937). You really sense the elemental forces at work be…
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Sallivaara Reindeer Roundup Site
The Sallivaara Reindeer Roundup Site, 70km southwest of Inari, was built in 1933 (although some huts date back to the 1890s) and used by Sámi reindeer herders twice yearly until 1964. Roundups were an important social event for the people of northern Lapland, usually lasting several weeks and involving hundreds of people and animals. The Sallivaara reindeer corrals and cabins were reconstructed in 1997, and it's now possible to stay overnight in one of the Sallivaara huts.
Many people come here in spring and summer for the excellent bird-watching on nearby wetlands. To reach the site, park at Repojoki parking area then follow the marked trail, 6km one way. Reindeer round…
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Sports Centre
At Lahti’s Sports Centre, a 10-minute walk west of town, things are dominated by three imposing ski jumps, the biggest standing 73m high and stretching 116m. You’ll often see high-level jumpers training here in summer. There’s a whole complex here, including the football stadium, a summer swimming pool, ski tracks and the delightful Ski Museum. A history of skis includes excavated examples from 2000 years ago, and Lahti’s proud record as a winter sports centre is given plenty of treatment. The fun starts in the next room: frustrate yourself on the ski-jump simulator, then try the biathlon and skiing on Velcro before nailing five bullseyes with your rifle. A combined…
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Kastelholms Slott
One of Åland's premier sights, Kastelholms Slott is a smallish but perfectly formed castle picturesquely set by a little inlet. It has experienced several building phases, the earliest of which was in the 14th century. The most impressive part is the keep, which towers 15m high in parts; the walls are 3m thick; there was no escape for Eric XIV, a Swedish king imprisoned here for a time.
The hall, a later construction, ended up being used as a grain storehouse and has an exhibition of items found by archaeologists. Entry is by regular guided tour; while English tours are rare (14:00 Saturday and Sunday from late June to early August), there are plenty of information panel…
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Tampere Cathedral
Intriguing Tampere Cathedral is one of the most notable examples of National Romantic architecture in Finland. It was designed by Lars Sonck and completed in 1907. The famous artist Hugo Simberg was responsible for the frescoes and stained glass; once you’ve seen them you’ll appreciate that they were controversial at the time. A procession of ghostly childlike apostles holds the ‘garland of life’, the garden of death shows graves and plants tended by skeletal figures, while another image shows a wounded angel being stretchered off by two children. There’s a solemn, almost mournful feel about it; the altarpiece, by Magnus Enckell, is a dreamlike Resurrection in similar sty…
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