My travels in Finland took me to Tampere, located 100 miles north east of the capital Helsinki. It's Finland's third largest city and takes just 90 minutes to reach by inter-city train from the capital. I'd wanted to visit Tampere for sometime because it's often referred to as the 'Manchester of Finland' due to its …
With Finland celebrating its centenary this year and the country being a firm favourite of ours, it seemed only natural that we should make a return visit this summer. On arriving into Helsinki airport late the previous evening, we spent our first day enjoying a walk around the market square which is always a beautiful …
Continue reading Day 1. A walk to Tervesaari island, Helsinki
Dominating Senate Square is Helsinki Cathedral, built in the neo-classical style this landmark building was completed in 1852 and its tall green dome can be seen from many parts of the city. Senate Square was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel in 1852 and the cathedral was his masterpiece, majestically dominating the surrounding buildings. The large …
Continue reading Day 2. The National Library of Finland and the Bank of Finland Museum
We often visit Estonia's capital Tallinn whilst we are staying in Helsinki as it makes for a pleasant day out or overnight stay. Several ferry companies ply the route taking between 90 minutes on the fast ferry to two and a half hours on the larger, more comfortable car ferries. This summer we spotted an …
Just north of the centre of Helsinki and at the terminus of the No. 6 and 8 trams lies the Arabia district where we found much of interest to occupy us for several hours. Starting off by the tram terminus is the Iittala and Arabia design centre and outlet store where we were able to …
A MasterChef type outdoor cooking competition was taking place in Narinkkatori square just outside Helsinki's Kamppi shopping centre so we decided to join lots of other inquisitive people and take a look at what was happening. The event was hosted by Lidl and was the national finals of their Grillimaisteri barbecue competition. Lidl Grillimaisteri barbecue …
Having previously enjoyed seeing the Tall Ships in Helsinki in 2013 we were keen to catch up with them again, this time in Kotka. Located on the south coast of Finland, Kotka's city centre is situated on Kotkansaari island. Getting from Helsinki was very easy, we booked with Onnibus who have regular daily services between the cities, …
Continue reading Day 6. The Tall Ships Race in Kotka, Finland
Leppävaara is located in Espoo and is easily accessible by both bus and train from Helsinki. Adjacent to the rail and bus station is a modern, attractive shopping centre called Sello which has a wide selection of shops and cafes. As it was such a warm, sunny day we decided to take a stroll over …
Continue reading Day 7. Leppävaara and Glims Farmstead Museum, Espoo
It was a sunny morning so we packed up a picnic and decided to take one of the small ferries to the outlying island of Pihlajasaari. It's a former villa island and is now a popular outdoor recreation area which is located 3 km offshore from the centre of Helsinki. There are piers in two …
A second chance to admire the Tall Ships this summer as they sailed from Kotka to Turku in south west Finland. Getting there was easy, travelling by Onnibus once again and by booking the tickets early it didn't cost very much. The journey time from Helsinki to Turku was approximately two hours but with comfortable …
Continue reading Day 9. Visiting Turku to see the Tall Ships Race
