Helsinki for a Weekend | Finland

If you can spend several days in Helsinki, make sure to visit the Helsinki Cathedral and take a photo sitting on its steps, like masses of people do. This beautiful piece of architecture, built in the 19^th century, is an Evangelic Lutheran church, but it is also a symbol of Helsinki, so missing it could make your trip feel incomplete. For the ones interested in military architecture – or for the ones interested in UNESCO World Heritage sites – the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress is something not to be missed. Built to guard the entrance to Helsinki, this fortress dates back to the beginning of the 18^th century and attracts many visitors every year. Finally, if you still have time, try to visit the Seurasaari museum, which is on an island a couple of kilometres outside Helsinki. It is an open-air ethnographic museum with a scenic route leading to it. There are special events at Seurasaari during Christmas, Easter, and Midsummer, so make sure to put it on your list if you happen to be in Helsinki around those times.

Helsinki Orthodox Cathedral, Finland by Adrián Pérez

Destination: Stockholm | Sweden

If you are in Stockholm, Gamla Stan is something that is impossible to miss, and for a good reason. It is one of the biggest and best-preserved city centres in Europe, dating back to medieval times. With narrow streets that are home to lovely shops of handicrafts and souvenirs, cosy bars and cafés, what else can you ask for in a weekend escape? A royal palace, perhaps? The Royal Palace of Stockholm is the official residence of His Majesty the King of Sweden and is open to public. This lovely Italian Baroque-style building has more than 600 rooms and five museums, so you can spend quite some time there admiring the building and its treasures. If you have time left, definitely go to Skansen, the oldest open-air museum in the world, which also has a zoo.

Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden by Jack Torcello

Reykjavik for the Weekend | Iceland

A weekend in Iceland can be one of the most incredible weekends of your life. If you feel like taking a half-day break after your trip, go to the Laugardalslaug Geothermal Pool, which is the largest pool in Iceland. It also has the best facilities, including an outdoor pool, an Olympic-size indoor pool, a steam bath, and even a 86-metre water slide. Enjoy the water temperature, which is kept at a nice 29°C by the volcanic water. After your relaxing time in the pool, definitely hit the museums. There is the National Museum and the Saga Museum, so you can learn more about the Vikings and how people used to live in the older days in the Reykjavik City Museum (Arbaejarsafn), which is the biggest open-air museum in the country.

Reykjavik, Iceland by Daniel

Scandinavia Awaits

With all these attractions waiting, wonder no more. Although perhaps not the sunniest places, these destinations have their charm, and so does the UK city breaks. Ready. Steady. Go.

This is an article written by Lilly Sheperd, a freelance writer and gastro-blogger who shares her experiences on various blogs.

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Helsinki is a city of the sea; weirdly it was built alongside a series of oddly shaped peninsulas and islands jutting into the Gulf of Finland. Back in the 1800’s there was a huge fire which destroyed most of the buildings in and around Helsinki, so everything has had to be remade, as a result everything is more modern, Helsinki has some of the purest neoclassical architecture in the world. Helsinki is the meeting point of western and Eastern Europe, the fact is reflected in its cosmopolitan image, its influx of Russians and Estonians and its generally multilingual population. Helsinki is a beautiful city and is the perfect place for sitting back and relaxing with a bit of people watching.

Helsinki’s Market Square – Kauppatori, Finland by Eoghan OLionnain

Coming ashore

Helsinki is a very busy cruise destination and trust me, as soon as you dock here, you can see why so many people would want to come here. you can dock at three destinations, these are; katajaokka quay, this has a shop, toilets and a taxi station, it’s not too far from the city centre from here you can easily walk there, south harbour has a terminal at Olympia quay, there’s shopping, info desks, currency exchange and a taxi rank here, it’s about a 15 minute walk into the main part of town from here. The final port is hernasaari harbour which has shops, an info desk, taxi rank and even internet access, it’s much further away from the main part of town than any other harbour, so you may have to consider going in a taxi.

What to do in Helsinki

Helsinki has so much stuff to do; you’ll find it hard to fit everything in that you want to do! Here are the two things that you must do in my experience; you must come to the Helsinki zoo (korkeasaari elaintarha) there are snow leopards and reindeer enjoying the cold climate all year round, there are wonders of creatures here that love the cold, it’s a real different zoo and extremely good to bring the kids to. But if you love exploring and you love history then you must come to suomenlinna, which is Finland’s castle. It is now a unesco world heritage site and had museums, gardens, parks and much more, it makes a great day out. Learn all about the history of Finland from the Russians, the British to the Crimean war.

Helsinki Zoo, Finland by Pete

Where to eat

What can I say about the food at Helsinki? It’s incredible that’s what! There are two places to eat that I would extremely recommend and these are:

Havis

Havis is just across the street from the main market square; this restaurant specializes in traditional Scandinavian dishes with the slight twist to certain meals. You must start with the blue mussel soup and then move onto specialities such as the slow fried whitefish. Vegetarians will love the mushroom crepes with glazed vegetables; there is also a daily vegetarian special. The dessert menu is the best; it includes traditional Finnish standards like strawberry milk and doughnuts with coffee pudding, absolutely divine.

Zucchini

Zucchini is perfect for a vegetarian lunch or just a coffee; it’s the place to come to relax. There are pizzas, pasta, soup, salad and much more and all are made fresh to order and are extremely tasty. The atmosphere here gives of the homely vibe, it’s great to just sit here and people watch.

I would love to come back to Helsinki another day, maybe more in style next time by going on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in 2014. You have to come to Helsinki on a cruise; it feels like that’s the way you have to come.

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Photo by kakslauttanen.fi

In a glass igloo village Kakslauttanen you have a unique opportunity to stay in one of 20 glass igloos, or in a snow igloo. You can enjoy a cocktail in a bar “kota” designed in the shape of a traditional Lapp teepee and snow restaurant for 50 to 150 people. Those interested can also accommodate in one of 40 wooden cottages, most luxurious of them are equipped with bath, fireplace and a Finnish sauna.

Northern Lights above the bed

Glass igloos are built from a special insulating glass, which prevents the icy windows, even if outside temperatures drop below -30 °C. While inside maintains a pleasant temperature between 20 and 22 °C. Guests can observe the aurora (northern lights) directly from their warm beds. Each igloo has its own bathroom.

Snow Igloo is suitable for the rugged natures, in which the temperature ranges from -3 to -6°C. Guests, however, get sleeping bags designed for temperatures up to -32 °C, woolen socks and thermal covers.

Photo by kakslauttanen.fi

Village Kakslauttanen is well equipped and prepared for visitors and offers two saunas for about 100 people. Each sauna is equipped with rest rooms, fireplace, showers and toilets. Hardy can go straight from the sauna to the icy cool pond.

If you visit Kakslauttanen in December, you can participate on ice sculpture contest, which is held annually here. The statues then remain in the ice gallery throughout the year.

Glass Igloo Village is usually open from December or January and remains in operation, depending on the weather, until the end of April, but this area is interesting during the whole year, so you can stay in some of nearby hotels.

For further information about this village visit the site kakslauttanen.fi

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Victor Sounds

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park was founded in 2005 by combining Pallas-Ounastunturi National Park and Ylläs-Aakenus Nature Reserve. It consists of peat bogs, which are surrounded by forests. It is an untouched corner of our planet and is breathtaking to see it with the northern lights (aurora). The local countryside is really beautiful. Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is also very popular in winter, there are ideal conditions for cross-country skiing. The highest peak in the park is Taivaskero, which reaches an altitude of 807 meters above sea level.

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is crossed with a series of marked hiking trails with a total length of 350km. They are suitable both for hiking or cross-country skiing. There are several log huts in the area of the park, where you can rest or even stay for a night. However staying here is not free. The park is home to reindeer.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Victor Sounds

Already mentioned Pallas-Ounastunturi National Park was the first national park in Finland, founded already in 1938. The park was established to protect unique parts of forestless highland areas, which stretch through the forests of Lapland. Finnish national parks are golden treasures of Finland and are waiting for each tourist with open arms.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Heather Sunderland

There are a huge range of tour operators offering winter wonderland holidays in Finland. Go onto different travel review sites to see which hotel and tour operator gets the best recommendations before booking your magical family holiday.

The Finnish hotels are usually set in perfect backdrops of frozen fairy tale forests, adding to the wonder of it all for you and your children. There are lots of activities that you can combine with your holiday. And of course, there’s the chance to meet Father Christmas and his elves.

If you’re not sure what to pack, then think of it in the same way as you would prepare for a ski holiday. Don’t forget – you can be too cold, but it’s going to be difficult to get too hot. If you do get too hot, you can always take layers off – better to carry an extra jacket than be wishing you hadn’t travelled so light. As well as having great ski outfits, make sure you’ve don’t forget to pack essentials like thermal underwear.

It’s not just about meeting Father Christmas; you’ll have the chance to do things like take a ride on a skidoo, go on a sled pulled by Huskies or ride a reindeer. Just don’t forget to have your thermal gloves with you at all times when you go outside. It’s probably worth taking a spare pair for the kids, as they’re the most likely to lose them as they’ll be so breathlessly excited.

Holidays like these don’t come cheap, but the memories will last a lifetime.

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The excessively large church was built deliberately according to original plans of local residents. At a time when the church was being built, in the parish Kerimäki were 12,000 residents and pastor thought that at least half of them should be in the church on Sundays. However there are also some other theories that the architect made a project in inches and builder worked with centimetres, and thus built 2.54 times larger church.

Believers went to Kerimäki church from the entire region, across the lake they used the kirkkovene (church long ship).

This stunning white-ocher church will stun you already from the outside, but you cannot realize its size as much until you get inside and see its vast interior – the height of the nave is 27 meters. You’ll soon understand that it must have been impossible to heat the building. Originally there were eight stoves inside (now there are four), but it was still not enough, and thus they had to built a smaller, winter chapel for 300 people.

You can take part in the liturgy that is still held here in the main church in summer.

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Koli National Park consists of forested hills and siliceous rocks which created beautiful picturesque lookouts. From those you can see long sandy islands – known as eskers, which connect the mainland in the area of the lakes.

In the Koli National Park there are mixed and pine forests growing. The highest point of the park is the hill Ukko-Koli (347 m), where is a beautiful view down on the lake Pielinen. Throughout the Koli National Park there is a number of marked hiking trails and camps. The park has large number of bears, therefore it is necessary to take some food with you.

Koli National Park also has two ski resorts – Loma-Koli is suitable for families with children and Ukko-Koli is good for advanced skiers.

Koli National Park is one of the most famous national nature reserves in Finland. Although it is small, it contains so many places of interest as a treasure chest, for example: rare geological features, versatile range of animal species and many plant species. Area around the park was also a center of cultural heritage and culture.

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To get to the waterfall you can use wooden walkways, which is suitable also for cyclists or families with prams. The waterfall is a part of the Hepoköngäs Nature Reserve. At present, the waterfall Hepoköngäs is very popular tourist destination in Finland.

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Oulanka National Park lies near the Russian border and the Arctic Circle, in the regions of Kuusamo and Salla on the boundary of North Karelia and southern Lapland. In Russian Karelia it continues as the Paanajärvi National Park. The name Oulanka comes from old Laponian language and it is also a name of a river that flows through the area. So the National Park is formed by the Oulanka River, which flows into Lake Paanajärvi and then continues into the White Sea. Its tributaries are the rivers of Kitka, Savina, Aventa and Maaninka that are cutting into the rocks, and creating a canyon valley. At some places you can see massive rapids and waterfalls, such as Kiutaköngas, Taivalköngas or Jyrävä.

Nature in Oulanka National Park is absolutely unique, geographically it can be assigned to the southern Lapland. The vegetation is very diverse and varied, includes more than 500 plant species. The northern part of the park is rich of extensive marshes and peat bogs, and is not easily accessible, there are just a few routes. Tourists can get here only if the soil is frozen. However, you have to use snowmobiles or skis.

Oulanka National Park has been left in pristine conditions for more than 100 years. The result is a forest, where you cannot see any human action and nature has to solve all of the problems alone. Many species of plants and animals occur only in certain places, as they would have set their boundaries. Richer soils are covered with spruce or pine forests. High pine and mixed forests are mainly on the rocks. During a walk through the park you can collect strawberries, blackberries, blueberries or cloudberries.

Oulanka National Park is also very rich in animal species. You can find here over 30 species of mammals, such as wolf, lynx, numerous mustelidae as a polecat, weasel and ermine, as well as badgers, foxes and even Wolverine or brown bear. The traces of these large predators can come across quite often, but you have to be lucky to see some of them. Mostly because they are hidden deep in the woods outside of marked trails. There are also deer, elk and Siberian wild reindeer. The park has many rare species of nesting birds such as swallows, cuckoos, larks, kingfishers, Whooper Swan, robin, Siberian skylark, and many others. In the sky you can see large predators such as golden eagle and eagle owl. Rivers are full of salmon which expanded here by migration from the White Sea.

Hiking lovers should try the path Karhunkierros. Karhunkierros or “Bear’s Ring” is one of the oldest and best hiking trails in Finland, measuring an impressive 80 km. The trail leads to a large remote areas, hence you have to be properly prepared for this. The best time to visit Oulanka National Park is autumn when the surrounding countryside is playing with all colors. There is such a beautiful scenery!

Along the way you can see some natural huts that serve as a shelter for single overnight. All of them look almost the same and during the high season can be overcrowded. It is a good idea to bring your own tent with you. All routes are well-marked, therefore it is not necessary to have your map, sufficient is also the simple schedule that you can get at the information center. Much more important part of your outfit is insect repellent.

If walking is your real hobby, you can extend the trip by 22 km long stretch leading from Hautajärvi. From the town of Juuma you have the opportunity to go to “Little Bear’s ring” that is 12km long and leads to cascades Myllykoski and Jyrävänjäri. It is possible to make this circuit within five to six hours.

In the middle of the park it is established the Research base of the University of Oulu and the major information center for visitors.

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The main local attraction is the Turku Castle built in the 18th century, where you can visit a historical museum since 1881. Other important buildings are Turku Cathedral or Tuomiokirkko from the 13th century, open-air museum Luostarinmäki, located in Mount Vartiovuori – it is a part of the city which has survived from the 18th century.

There is also Orthodox Church, Brinkhall Manor, Kakskerta church, an old mill in Samppalinna, Church of Archangel Michael from 1905, Martin church from 1921, Turku Art Museum, Museum of pharmacy and museum Ett hem or home to a typical Finnish houses from the 18th century. In Turku, there are several festivals – the most famous is music festival Turku and Ruisrock Festival. There are 176,000 inhabitants living in Turku.

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