Finland
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
Estonian Tourist Office in Helsinki at Merimiehenkatu 29. A very nice office worker at that address helped us locate the Estonian Tourist Office at Mariankatu 8B (upstairs). The phone number is 669-805.
Kim Riley (Jun 02)
Travel Tips
Beware travellers cheques are accepted hardly anywhere and that you'll pay hefty commission even at Forex e.g. €1 per cheque and 2% on total exchanged.
Overall food and clothing slightly cheaper than UK (I know that's not saying much!) but drink especially wine can be horrendously expensive - TIP :- Buy your alcohol at the wonderfully named state ALKO stores for big savings though note they're closed on Sundays.
Any sports buff should regard a trip to the Sports Museum of Finland, next to the Olympic Stadium, a must. Very tastefully set out with lots of memorabilia and a chance to race against Lasse Viren on a simulator over the last 200m winning one his Golds at the Montreal Olympics.
David Croad, UK (Aug 02)
Car hire in Helsinki - get from and return to Vantaa airport - trying to find legal parking in downtown Helsinki after hours (where most rental companies have offices) is impossible!
Bruce Doy, UK (Aug 02)
When camping in Finland (especially in the northern parts), you don't want to use the usual camping sites. They are almost always way too crowded and expensive and there is plenty of nature to pick from. It's better to just pick a small road and check out if it leads to an ideal spot and in Finland we have many of them to share all by yourself.
Tatu Myöhänen, Finland (Jul 02)
Helsinki: The guide mentions the main post office and it might be worth stating that in November and December you can register a child's name and address, (for a small fee), and they will receive a letter from Father Christmas which is rather fun. You can pay for this in the post office museum shop which is in the same building as the main post office.
India Humphrey (Feb 02)
The Tourist Information Office in North Karelia is now situated at Koskikatu 5. The North Karelia Museum is also there, and the complex is called 'The Culture Centre Carelicum'. There is no longer a museum on Illosaari.
Tarja Hitunen, (Aug 00)
The Mikkeli Music Festival is held annually, for a week in July, the brainchild of Valery Gergiev, the conductor with the Kirov Opera & Marinsky Theatre Orchestra. It is held in the fantastic new Concert Conference Hall & Wonderful Wooden Church, where concerts are also held.
Marion Goldwater, U.K. (Jul 00)
The best all-round out door place, summer or winter, is Vuokatti. During the winter you can enjoy everything from snowboarding to world class cross country skiing trails throughout the forest. It is especially nice to ski through the forest and stop at the little kota's (huts) and warm up by the fire and grill makara (sausage).
Also, Katin Kulta, the best all-round resort in Finland, has various indoor sporting activities as well as a great sauna world to relax at the end of a rigorous, yet relaxing, work-out. During the summer, you can enjoy everything from mountain biking, hiking to fishing, canoeing and midnight golf. You can visit the world's only indoor ski tunnel or indoor snowboard street.
Brent Cassidy, Finland (May 00)
If you're going to do any shopping in Finland, take your passport with you. Most nationalities qualify to get a tax refund from their purchases, but you need to have your passport with you when you buy. The refund is something like 10-15% from memory, so it can add up. You'll get your cash back at the airport and I'd advise stocking up on Finlandia vodka-filled chocolates - divine.
Robin Marshall, New Zeland (Feb 00)
Santa Park is new attraction in Finland. It's like Disney World but it has been built under ground in a huge "cave". You can find Santa Park from the Lapland town called Rovaniemi and spend a nice day with a real sleigh ride or rollar coaster one. You can also meet Santa Claus and see the famous northern lights.
Sonia Paljarvi, Finland (Jan 00)
Moving About
Most cars in Finland have a lohkolämmitin, literally "block heater", an electric heater that heats the engine block. Many car parks in Finland have electricity outlet poles, which are connected to heater with a wire. It is recommended to use that when temperature is below +5 C, since a pre-heated engine uses less gasoline and wears less during start-up. When it is really cold, the engine might not start at all without heating. It is recommended to start heating half to two hours before start, depending on how cold it is. It is, however, not recommended to heat the engine all the time, as the cooling fluid slowly evaporates. In Finland, it's a common hospitality to provide guests electricity for heating cars.
Even with block heater (and especially without), starting a car might be a tedious task. At cold, more power is needed to rotate the engine and, to make things worse, the car battery loses quite a lot of it's power when cold. Run start motor for few seconds, if the engine doesn't start, keep a half-minute break before next attempt to give the battery time to recover.
If the engine doesn't start, you have two choices, either additional electricity from another car or starting the car by towing. Towing is an option only for old cars, those with a catalyser should not be started by towing since the catalyser might damage. Also, remember that it is simply forbidden to tow cars with automatic transmission.
Additional alacrity is given from one car to another with wires, many Finns keep suitable cables in their cars. The car giving electricity must have its engine running. If everything fails and the motor doesn't start, the Finns console themselves with the fact that spring is coming and then it will start.
One more thing about driving: you should mention that elk accidents are most common at morning and evening dawn in autumn, and elk warning signs must be taken really, really, really seriously.
Tero Lahtinen, Finland (Dec 04)
The toll free Finnair office number has changed to 9800 31300 - working Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4pm. Finnair buses to the Airport cost 4.90 Euros, and travel time is 35 minutes.
Emese Dorman, Hungary (Jul 02)
Linnansaari national park: It was true some years ago, but not anymore, that there is a regular boat service from Mustalahti. The boat leaves now from Porosalmi, about 10km on the north west. Even the information provided at the tourist office in Helsinki is out-dated. There is no public transportation from Rantasalmi to Porosalmi. The boat leaves from Porosalmi for the main island at 11am, the trip is about 45 minutes.
Pierre Moermans, Belgium (Jul 02)
The ferry between Finland and Sweden between the cities of Vaasa and Umeå will start trafficking again on 1 May 2001. It's a private local businessman who is taking over this line. This will save a lot time for those travelling from Finland to Sweden or the other way around.
It is also possible to try and take the truck transport ferry Botnia Link from Härnösand in Sweden to Vaasa. It's meant for truckdrivers that are taking their cargo to and from Finland, but there could be room for extra passengers if you just try asking the company.
Christian Bertell, Finland (Mar 01)
At the train station I was told that the Scanrail Pass isn't very useful for travelling around Finland. It only allows you to travel for three days in Finland and is also a lot more expensive than mentioned in the LP guide to Finland. Young people aged under 24 years are better off with a Eurodomino Pass, especially if you want to travel long distances. This pass is available for 3,4,5,6,7 or 8 days of travel within one month. If you want to travel from southern Finland to Lapland, the night train is a good option as you can sleep on the train.
Tom Schrevens (May 00)
If you want to take a domestic flight in Finland and you're under 25 years of age, there is a great option - Finnair's stand-by ticket. All the flights are from 200-300 marks. You just go to the airport 45 minutes before departure and if there is room in the plane you get in. There usually is if you avoid Friday afternoons. Otherwise you can either wait for the next flight or get your money back.
Sini Tiilikainen, Finland (Mar 00)
Scams & Warnings
Trekking in Lemmenjoki National Park. I was there 23-30 May02 and I did have some difficulties heading over the fells from Kultahamina hut to Vaskojoki hut. The problem was caused by magnetic disruption especially on the fells in the middle of the park. Simply you can not believe the compass. I got lost and the next day one of the local gold miners told me there is this magnetic field. I took a closer look and the rock is full of magnetite stones. So: Do not go offroad to wilderness areas in bad sight conditions such as fog, the compass could work bad. Last year one group of trekkers was lost there even with two professional wilderness guides!
Rostislav Pilny, Czech Republic (Jul 02)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
In Karijoki (west coast of Finland) is located a cave which is unique in the world. It is the oldest settlement in Northern Europe. Neanderthals lived in the cave for over 120 000 years ago before last ice age. Later the cave (called Susiluola - Wolfcave) was covered by the ice age until 10 000 years ago when the ice melted away. Arhaeologist have found ancient tools and fire places from the cave.
Sini Mäkinen, Finland (Aug 02)
In summer in Oulu there is a garlic festival held in the middle of July or so. Lots of people, lots of beer and music and of course..garlic based food.
In Oulu there is also a festival called 'the night of the frogs' aka 'sammakkojen yö'. It's a reggae festival and it's usually held at the end of June or the beginning of July.
In the small town of Iisalmi in July there is a beer festival held with the help of the local brewery "Olvi". So lots of beer enjoyed with Finnish country people.
Tatu Myöhänen, Finland (Jul 02)
Every year there is a great and unique event going on in the middle of Finland: the world championship swampsoccer!! The event takes place in Hyrynsalmi (just above the town of Kajaani) and about 200 teams take part in the swampsoccer competition.
Marcus van Leeuwen, Netherlands (Jun 02)
In the spring, Finland has been having an annual rave event called " the Labyrinth". It is supposed to be the biggest one around the Northern states. Then, in the summertime, when you ask around you can find out about the forest parties. They are held almost every weekend for a small group of people and they are very worth checking out. You have never seen anything like it.
Tatu Myöhänen, Finland (Mar 01)
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