Northern Europe
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Visiting the Moomin Museum and Experiencing Tampere’s Winter Nature
I wish all mornings could start like this, waking in my luxurious suite at the Lapland Hotels Tampere and then enjoying a delicious breakfast in the hotel’s Dabbal restaurant. The dining area oozes Nordic charm having Lapland styled furnishings such as reindeer rugs and antler horns. The buffet breakfast included several Lapland delicacies such as…
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Crazy Town, Tampere
After sampling more Lapland delicacies at breakfast, I donned my boots and warm coat and walked across town with Maiju, my host from Talent Tampere. The conditions were perfect for walking, the snow being crisp underfoot with no dangerous icy patches to contend with. Our first destination of the day was at Crazy Town which…
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Vaprikki Museum, Tampere: a guide
My visit to the beautiful Finnish city of Tampere was coming to an end but there was still enough time for me to visit the Vapriikki Museum located by the Tammerkoski rapids in the centre of town. Vapriikki is located in the old factory building of the Tampella engineering company who produced locomotives, turbines and…
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Our Moscow adventure
The thought of standing in a snow carpeted Red Square on a cold winter’s day seemed appealing, so we booked a few days in Moscow. It’s necessary to obtain a visa before arriving in Russia and this can dissuade potential visitors from travelling. To help demystify the process I’ll explain how we went about it.…
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The Kremlin, Moscow
Another surprise awaited us when we went downstairs for breakfast, as on giving our room number we were diverted to the Executive Lounge which was a raised area along one side of the restaurant. Here we found lots to tempt us, setting us up for the day ahead. Using the coffee machine initially appeared problematic…
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Exploring Moscow
We opened the curtains to find that there had been heavy snow overnight, covering all the surrounding roof tops with a fluffy white blanket. After a leisurely breakfast we took the metro to Komsomolskaya station which was absolutely beautiful with its painted yellow ceilings and its platforms lit by chandeliers. The station was designed in…
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Sightseeing in Moscow
There had been more snow overnight but it was a reasonably bright morning. Our first stop after breakfast was Lubyanka, which is the next station on Line 1 from Red Square. Climbing the steps from the metro station we could see the former headquarters of the KGB across the square. Lubyanka was once a name…
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Exploring more of Moscow
After breakfast, we took the metro to the new central business district, known as Moscow City. Located at the Delovoy Tsentr metro stop, the station has a modern ‘high-tech’ feel to blend in with the skyscraper landscape above ground. Moscow City consists of several towers built in futuristic styles, each tower having its own distinctive…
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Sokolniki Park, Moscow
We woke to more heavy overnight snow, creating a winter wonderland panorama from our 23rd floor bedroom window. As it was our final day, we over-indulged with a large breakfast and then bid our farewells to the lovely restaurant staff who had looked after us all week. After packing our belongings together we set off…
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The Cotton Mills of Tampere and Manchester
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…
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Tervesaari Island, Helsinki – A Perfect Spot for a Scenic Walk
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…
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Helsinki Travel Guide: National Library of Finland and Bank of Finland Museum
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…
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A Day in Tallinn from Helsinki
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…
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A Walk Through Helsinki’s Arabia District: Where Art Meets Innovation
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…
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Exploring Kamppi and Herttoniemi, Helsinki
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. It was interesting…
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Viewing the Tall Ships Race in Kotka, Finland
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…
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Espoo Travel Guide: Exploring Leppävaara and the Glims Farmstead Museum
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…
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Visiting Pihlajasaari Island: How to Reach Helsinki’s Summer Paradise by Ferry
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…
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Visiting Turku, Finland to see the Tall Ships Race
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…
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A Day in Espoo: From Haukilahti Beaches to Matinkylä Shopping & Dining
Haukilahti is a small coastal town in Espoo located between Westend and Matinkylä. It’s just a 20 minute journey from central Helsinki and is a lovely place to visit on a sunny day. We decided to take a walk along the waterfront walkway/ cycle path which is known as Espoon Rantaraitti and is clearly signposted…
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How to Spend a Day in Espoo – Visit Villa Elfvik and Laguuni Water Park
Villa Elfvik is located in Espoo close to the centre of Helsinki and it was from there that we started our countryside walk. It’s an art nouveau villa on the edge of the Laajalahti Nature Reserve, inside we found exhibitions relating to the diverse nature of Espoo as well as a children’s adventure area ‘Badger’s…
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Visiting the Museum of Journalism, Helsinki
Our plan today was to explore Helsinki’s Boulevard which starts from Erottaja in central Helsinki. Strolling along this elegant avenue we admired the beautiful buildings, many of which are now high class shops, cafes, restaurants and galleries. We passed The Old Church and its garden which always seems a popular venue for young people to…
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Exploring Järvenpää and Lake Tuusula – A Perfect Day in Finnish Countryside
A day I had been looking forward to, meeting up with my Finnish blogging friend Suvi, author of the lovely blog Destination Everywhere whom I first met on my visit to Finland last year. This time we planned a day out together exploring Lake Tuusula in Järvenpää, about a 30 minute drive from Helsinki. Suvi…
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Amsterdam City Break – Day 1
We needed to be up at 03.15 a.m. for our early morning flight to Amsterdam from Leeds Bradford Airport. Deciding to drive, we left our car at the Sentinel long stay car park, managing to find a discount code to reduce the price slightly. Our flight with the Dutch national carrier KLM on an Embraer…
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