From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tourism in Finland
Tourism in Finland
Attractions
Finland is famous for its many lakes, nearly 200,000 of
them (larger than 500 m²/0.12 acres). Finland is also
known to have excellent water quality, and green deep
woods and forests around the sea, rivers, and the wa-
terways. In Finland, tourists can sit on the shore of a
lake, fishing, watching reindeer or moose and enjoying
silence.
Alcoholic drinks form an important part of the Fin-
nish culture. When travelling through Finland it is im-
perative to try national favorites like: the national vodka
2008-built fast cruiseferry MS Viking XPRS approaching Finlandia vodka, Koskenkorva, the liquorice flavored
Helsinki. Cruises are a popular tourist activity throughout Fin- Salmiakki Koskenkorva and drinks including cloudberry
land. liqueur. In wintertime Finland provides excellent oppor-
tunities for cross-country skiing and some for alpine ski-
Finland attracted over 5 million tourists in 2005, with ing too. Many of the popular ski resorts are situated
most coming from Sweden. The value added by tourism north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland, but there are ex-
is about 2.4% of the Finnish GDP, and provides around ceptions like Kuusamo in the northeastern part of Oulu
60,000 jobs. The Finnish tourism brand is stated by the Province.
Finland Promotion Board. The brand has four main di- Santa Claus is commonly known to live on Korvatun-
mensions beginning with letter C: Cool, Contrasts, Credi- turi in Finland. In the town of Rovaniemi there is the San-
ble, Creative. ta Claus Village for tourists to visit.
The Nature and the Finnish Northern Finland and Winter
Summer Sports
In the winter there is a large snowcastle with an Ice hotel
built every year in the northern town of Kemi. Rovaniemi
is a place from which to see the Aurora Borealis or North-
ern lights. Tourists in the north of the country in winter
often enjoy trips in reindeer sleighs with Sami drivers, or
in dog sleighs.
It is also possible to ski, with downhill resorts at
Saariselkä and Levi, and many cross country ski tracks
throughout the northern part of the country. Ice hockey
is a popular sport in winter, and it is possible to go ice
yachting, or ice skating on the ice. Most lakes are also
frozen, so ice fishing (pilkkiminen) is quite popular.
Päijänne, one of the largest lakes in Finland.
The Cities
The summer is marked by long days in Finland, especially
Helsinki, Finland’s capital and largest city, receives many
in the far north where the sun does not set at all. Tourists
visitors year-round. During the summertime thousands
can go fishing and canoeing. There are several large
of tourists approach Helsinki by cruising boats travelling
lakes, including lakes Saimaa, Inari, and Päijänne. Walk-
across the Baltic Sea. Helsinki is known as a clean, mod-
ing is quite a popular activity in the summer. There are
ern and safe meeting point between the east and west.
no high mountains in Finland, so climbing is somewhat
Helsinki has a reputation as the coolest party city in the
limited. The highest mountain is Halti near Enontekiö. It
Nordic countries.
rises 1328 metres above sea level.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tourism in Finland
tral districts are near the seaside. Helsinki is a very mar-
itime city and is popularly called the daughter of the Baltic.
Helsinki’s coastal position makes it ideal to experi-
ence in the summertime from one of the many sight-
seeing ferries leaving from the port of Helsinki. Many of
Helsinki’s main attractions are also related to the sea, in-
cluding the Suomenlinna naval fortress (a UNESCO World
Heritage site) and the Seurasaari Island with its parks and
open-air museum. Locals often spend sunny days at the
Hietaniemi beach (often simply called Hietsu), Helsinki’s
main beach in the district of Töölö.
In the winter-time Helsinki’s northern position
makes it dark for most of the day, thus making it a cosy
town with much interesting lighting, such as the classic
Helsinki Cathedral Aleksanterinkatu’s Christmas street (Joulukatu). During
the coldest months of the winter it is very common for
Other popular tourist destinations within Finland in- Helsinkians to go for walks on the frozen sea, although
clude Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Rovaniemi and Porvoo. much caution must be taken. There are also many places
for ice swimming along the coast, some with saunas.
Helsinki Air travel to Helsinki is via the Helsinki-Vantaa Air-
See also: List of sites in Helsinki port, situated in the neighbouring town of Vantaa, a
town part of Greater Helsinki. Helsinki also has popular
cruiseferry links with Stockholm, Sweden and hydrofoil
and catamaran links to Tallinn, Estonia. Silja, Viking and
Tallink are the biggest ferry operators.
Helsinki is also the home of the Linnanmäki amuse-
ment park, which features five rollercoasters and many
other rides, including the world’s first Intamin ZacSpin
rollercoaster.
Helsinki is a safe city for tourists and a safe place in
which to live. In terms of personal safety, Helsinki has
been named 2nd safest city in the world.[1]
Helsinki has also efficient tourist information system
Hietaniemi beach, commonly called Hietsu. maintained by the City of Helsinki Tourism & Convention
Bureau located in the city centre next to Esplande park.
Transportation
See also: Transportation in Finland
The Finnish rail system is called VR. It offers InterCity
and express trains throughout the country, and the
faster Pendolino trains connecting the major cities.
There are very large discounts (usually 50%) available
for children (7-16 yr), students, senior citizens, and con-
scripts. There are international trains to St. Petersburg
(Finnish and Russian day-time trains) and Moscow (Russ-
ian over-night train) in Russia. Connections to Sweden
are by bus due to rail gauge differences. It’s possible to
take the Silja, Tallink and Viking Line ferries from Helsin-
The Temppeliaukio church is one of the most popular tourist ki to Mariehamn in the Åland archipelago, Stockholm
attractions in the city; half a million people visit it annually. (Sweden), Rostock and Travemünde in Germany, and to
Tallinn, (Estonia).
Helsinki is relatively small and intimate but lively and There are about 25 airports in Finland with scheduled
bustling. The nearby islands are its summer delights. passenger services. Finnair, Blue1 and Finncomm Air-
Because Helsinki is located on the coast of the Baltic lines provide air services both domestically and interna-
Sea and has many kilometres of coastline, most of its cen- tionally. Helsinki-Vantaa airport is Finland’s global gate-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tourism in Finland
way with scheduled non-stop flights to such places as
Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Nagoya, New Delhi, New
References
York, Osaka, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Helsinki [1] Mercer’s Quality of Living Reports 2008
has an optimal location for great circle airline traffic
routes between Western Europe and the Far East. Hence,
many foreign tourists visit Helsinki on a stop-over while
External links
flying from Asia to Europe or vice versa. The Helsinki- • Come To Finland: Nostalgic Finnish Travel Posters -
Vantaa Airport has been ranked as one of the best air- A book about the early marketing of Finland
ports in the world. • Visit Finland – Finland Travel Guide (by Finnish
Tourist Board)
• Finland For You – Finnish people, culture, life style
See also etc.
• Provinces of Finland • The Tourism Expert – Finland links in 10 languages
• Culture of Finland • Finnish Tourist Board
• Tourism • Finland Tourism Facts & Figures – From the Finnish
• Tourism in Norway Tourist Board
• Tourism in Sweden • Welcome to Finland – Finland facts
• Tourism in Denmark • thisisFINLAND - A multimedia guide with
information, facts and daily news on Finland.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Finland"
Categories: Tourism in Finland, Tourism in Europe
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