Finland: When to Go

Whatever time of year you visit Finland, there's something happening. Most museums and galleries are open year-round, and there is as much to do in the depths of winter as there is at the height of summer. Nevertheless, you'll probably have a better time if you come in the warmer months, either in summer or anytime from May to September. As well as the advantages of warm weather, summer is the time of the midnight sun. Winter north of the Arctic Circle is a chilly confluence of strange bluish light and encroaching melancholy. Despite snow falls from November, it stays pretty sludgy until late winter: skiing isn't great until February, the coldest month, and you can ski in Lapland right through to June.

Weather

If a winter in Finland is on the cards try the Baltic-tempered southwest coast; temperatures are still freezing but less so than around the rest of the country. Summers are quite sunny and pleasantly warm for the latitude, with the mercury travelling between 13°C (55°F) and 22°C (71°F) in July in the south and only slightly less up north. Rain is mild in summer and sleety in the long winter.