Country · 1 guide
Nowhere else treats a lake, a forest and a hot room full of steam as the three things a week should contain.
Finland is the quiet corner of the Nordics — a country of some 188,000 lakes, deep pine forest and a Baltic archipelago that breaks into thousands of islands, where the sauna is a weekly habit rather than a treatment. Helsinki holds the design shops, the market halls and the sea fortress of Suomenlinna, while the north runs on to Lapland, the midnight sun and the aurora. Use this hub to plan your trip: browse our Finnish city guides below, or read on for the regions, seasons and routes that tie the country together.
Finland in numbers
Plan your tripAttraction-by-attraction guides to 1 city in Finland, each one mapped.
Trip planner
A long, late thaw. March still holds snow in the north and reliable ski conditions in Lapland while the south turns grey and wet; by May the ice is off the lakes, the birches come into leaf almost overnight and terraces reopen in the cities. A quiet, cheap shoulder if you accept that April can deliver either season.
The country comes outdoors. Daylight runs close to round the clock at midsummer and never fully goes north of the Arctic Circle, lake cabins and archipelago ferries are all running, and the water is warm enough to swim by July. It is the season for canoeing, island-hopping and long evenings, and the one time Finns themselves take to the lakes en masse.
September is the connoisseur's month: crisp, bright and empty, with the northern forests turning gold and red in the short, intense display Finns call ruska, and berry and mushroom picking at its peak. By November the light is fading fast and the first snow arrives inland, making it the flattest stretch of the year for travel.
Cold, dark and genuinely magical if you dress for it. The north lies under deep, dependable snow with husky and reindeer sledding, ice fishing and the aurora on clear nights; the south gets less snow but freezes hard enough for sea ice. Days are very short, and above the Arctic Circle the sun does not clear the horizon at all around midwinter.
The short introduction to Finland, entirely doable without a car. Base yourself in the capital, give a day to the fortress islands and a sauna, then take the coast road or a ferry for a change of scale.
The summer Finland most Finns would recognise: trains inland from the capital, then a few slow days on a lake shore with a boat and a wood-fired sauna. Best from late June to August, when the water is warm and the ferries run.
A cold-season trip built around snow and darkness rather than in spite of them. Take the overnight sleeper north, then split your time between a town base and a fell resort for sledding and aurora watching.
Eight questions travellers ask before they go.
It depends entirely on which Finland you want. June to August gives near-endless daylight, warm lakes, open archipelago ferries and the whole country outdoors, and is the best all-round choice. September is quieter and brings the ruska autumn colours. For snow, husky sledding and the northern lights, aim for the Lapland winter from December to March, and accept very short days in return.
Three or four days covers Helsinki and a day trip comfortably. A week lets you add either the Lakeland or the southwest archipelago at a Finnish pace, which is the point of going. Ten days to two weeks is what you need to combine the south with Lapland, since the north is a long way up and deserves several days of its own rather than an overnight dash.
Not for the cities. Helsinki, Turku and Tampere are walkable and well served by trams, buses and fast intercity trains, so a car is a liability in the centre. Hire one for the Lakeland, where the cabins are down unmarked tracks, or for Lapland outside the resort towns. Sleeper trains north carry cars, which is a common way to have one at both ends.
Saunas above all — there are more than three million of them for 5.6 million people. Beyond that: some 188,000 lakes, vast pine and spruce forest, Lapland with its reindeer, midnight sun and northern lights, and a design tradition that runs from Alvar Aalto's buildings to Marimekko prints and Iittala glass. Helsinki's sea fortress of Suomenlinna is its best-known single sight.
Very widely, and to a high standard, especially among younger people and anywhere in the tourism trade. Finland has two national languages, Finnish and Swedish, so signs are often bilingual, but you will not need either to travel. Learning kiitos for thank you is appreciated and about as much as anyone expects of a visitor.
Finland uses the euro and is a member of both the European Union and the Schengen area, so travel from most of Europe involves no border formalities. It is the only Nordic country to have adopted the euro. Card payment is close to universal — contactless is accepted almost everywhere, including buses and market stalls — and carrying cash is genuinely unnecessary.
Start with salmon soup, rye bread and Karelian pies, the little rice-filled pastries eaten with egg butter. Reindeer appears on menus in the north, usually sautéed with mashed potato and lingonberry. In summer look for new potatoes, herring and forest berries; year round, the cinnamon and cardamom buns that go with Finland's famously heavy coffee habit.
Nature, winter travel, city design and calm.
