Finland Tourism - Travel to Finland
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| Quick Facts | |
| Capital | Helsinki |
| Government | republic |
| Currency | euro (EUR) |
| Area | total: 337,030 sq km water: 31,560 sq km land: 305,470 sq km |
| Population | 5206295 (December 2002) |
| Language | Finnish 93.4% (official), Swedish 5.9% (official), small Lapp- and Russian-speaking minorities |
| Religion | Evangelical Lutheran 89%, Russian Orthodox 1%, none 9%, other 1% |
Finland is Nordic country which has borders with Russia to the East, Norway at the North and Sweden to the West and is often mistakenly referred to as a Scandinavian country. Containing approximately 188,000 lakes ( about 10% of the country ), Finns love to head to their summer cottages in the warmer months to enjoy all manner of relaxing pass times including Sauna, swimming, fishing and barbecuing. Visits to the North of Finland in the winter must include a sit on Santa's knee and (if you're lucky) a glimpse of the Northern Lights.
| Table of contents |
Regions in Finland
- Southern Finland
- Central Finland
- Jyväskylä
- Oulu
- Vaasa
- Eastern Finland
- Mikkeli
- Lappeenranta
- Varkaus
- Joensuu
- Kontiolahti
- Kuopio
- Savonlinna
- Koli National Park
- Finnish Lapland
- Rovaniemi
- The Fells
Cities in Finland
- Helsinki
- Tampere
- Turku
- Lahti
- Hämeenlinna
- Jyväskylä
- Pori
- Vaasa
- Oulu
- Kotka
- Mikkeli
- Lappeenranta
- Varkaus
- Joensuu
- Kuopio
- Rovaniemi
Other destinations - Travel to Finland
Finland Talk
Now finally independent of Russia and Sweden after hundreds of years of strife, Finland is officially bilingual in Finnish and Swedish, and almost all towns have alternate Finnish and Swedish names. Swedish is spoken predominately in the South and East, especially along the Baltic Sea. As well, many families in the greatly less-populated West speak Russian; however, Central and Northern Finland (barring Sámi and several 'extreme' Finnish dialects) are almost completely monolingual in what we can call "Standard" Finnish.
Especially younger people in the larger cities understand English fairly well.
Get into Finland
Finnish foreign ministry has a page on Entry documents required of foreign nationals. Finland is part of the Schengen area, so the requirements should be the same as in most of Western Europe.
Travel to Finland By Boat
Helsinki - Stockholm Helsinki - Tallinn- Silja Line
- Viking Line
- Seawind Line
- Eckerö Line
- Tallink
- Linda Line (not during winter)
- Nordic Jet Line (not during winter)
- Tallink (starts April 2004)
Get around in Finland
Travel to Finland By Bus
Matkahuolto offers long-distance coach connections to practically all parts of Finland.Travel to Finland By Plane
There are four airlines flying domestic flights:- Finnair (biggest by far)
- Flying Finn (low-cost airline now bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy (news))
- Golden Air (sales through Finnair)
- Blue1 (the old Air Botnia)
Travel to Finland By Train
VR, Finnish Railways, operates the pretty extensive (and unfortunately also pretty expensive) railroad network. Finland is a participant in the InterRail system (zone B).
Sleep - Finland Tourism
Hostels
