Nordic Adventures Part 1: Finland

Over the summer of 2024 I took a trip through Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Denmark - 4 countries in 12 days. Using plane, boat, car and train to move around, I had a great time exploring places that I hadn't been to before. This is the first blog of 4, each focussed on one of the places I visited. First up, we have Finland!

The above map covers most the spots I visited during my trip, to give you an idea of where everything is located relative to one another.

My 6 days in Finland were split into 3 parts:

• Spending time with friends in the Finnish countryside.
• Making a day trip across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia (I'll save this for another blog).
• Exploring Helsinki, the capital city.

The Finnish Countryside

We flew from LHR T3 to Helsinki Airport using Finnair. It was my first time travelling with this airline, and I have to say I was impressed by the quality of the aircraft, entertainment choices and service on board! The 3.5 hour flight was very comfortable (I slept most the way), and before we knew it we had landed in Helsinki.

Logistics-wise, Helsinki is 2 hours ahead of the UK, with the Euro being the currency of choice. Card is widely accepted across the country, but it would be handy to have a small amount of cash on hand just in case. After reuniting with a friend from university at the airport, we began the ~400km drive east towards the town of Punkaharju. A quick grocery stop later, we completed the final bit of our drive and arrived at the summerhouse. Summerhouses are common across Scandinavia and Nordic countries, with families generally visiting their homes in the countryside during the summer months - a way of getting out of the city and spending time with nature. Finland is sparsely populated compared to places like the UK, and so there's plenty of green countryside with lakes and forests to go round.

The first weekend of my 12 day trip was spent at this summerhouse, and it was a great experience. The lack of background noise, clear dark skies uninterrupted by noise or light pollution, and being surrounded by nature made for a relaxing few days. This included:

• Swimming in the lake
• Disc golf - like regular golf, but with frisbees!
• Visiting Kerimaki Church - the world's largest Christian wooden church at 45m long, 42m wide and 27m high. 3000 people can sit inside at any time.
• Experiencing a Finnish sauna! - Sauna culture is huge in Finland, with most houses having their own sauna. For a population of 6 million, it is estimated there are 3 million saunas in the country. The summerhouse had a wood fired sauna, with amazing views over the lake. When in Finland, this is something that you must try.

Things to do in Helsinki

After spending a weekend in the countryside, we spent a few days in the capital of Finland, Helsinki. Getting around is affordable and easy, mainly using trams and walking. Accommodation options are plentiful too, and we opted to stay in an Airbnb in a central location - allowing us to walk to most places.

Helsinki Walking Tour

I always try to book a free walking tour when visiting a new place - as it's a great way to get your bearings of a new city. The Helsinki Walking Tour is available to book through GuruWalk and I highly recommend. It covered the main sights of the city including: Senate Square, Helsinki Cathedral, the University of Helsinki, Market Square, Esplanade, the Oodi Library and more - with the tour guide explaining as we went along. I always find it to be far more information than I can remember, but some of the facts from the walking tour included:

• Finland is still 78% forested.
• The annual coffee consumption per capita is 12kg - the most in the world.
• The national animal is a reindeer.
• Finland was previously occupied by the Russians and Swedish, and this influence can be seen in the architecture and design of the city.
• The Finnish love their saunas and will have them anywhere - including on a Ferris wheel and 1000m underground in a mine!
  • Be sure to know how to correctly pronounce sauna in Finnish -"s-ow-na".
• Finland has the largest archipelago in the world by area (Sweden has the largest by the number of islands)
• Finland spends 7-8 months a year with little sunlight. Hence, the summer is warmly welcomed by everyone and people tend to make the most of it.
• A high tax rate (of up to 69%), but high levels of social welfare and infrastructure investment.
• Community > Individualism

Suomenlinna Fortress

Suomenlinna is a sea fortress, which was built gradually from 1748 onwards on a group of islands. It has served to defend 3 sovereign states over the years: the Kingdom of Sweden, the Russian Empire, and the Republic of Finland. It covers an area of 210 hectares, has 200 buildings and 6km of defensive walls. It has also been added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites as a unique example of military architecture of its era.

From Helsinki, you can take a short ferry journey across to Suomenlinna. We spent half a day there, starting at the Visitor Centre and walking to King's Gate, the furthest point away. An out-and-back walk will cover 3km - so the islands are pretty small.

Museum of Contemporary Art

I'm not a huge fan of art, however I did enjoy a visit to Kiasma, the Finnish National Gallery. They had a range of exhibitions on at time of visiting. One that particularly stands out is the "Complaints Choir" exhibition - which was video footage of choirs across the world who use song to voice their complaints about the city.

Oodi Library

Something that stood out to me during the walking tour was the sense of community that Finland has developed - the idea of people coming together in public spaces to interact, work and socialise. The best example of this that I found was the Oodi Library. Despite being called a library, it's far from what most people would consider one to be. Oodi is home to a host of different services, from gaming rooms, recording studios and kitchens, to a cafe, libary and hiring of sports equipment. It serves multiple purposes, and is completely free to enter and use. It's a great example of public infrastructure that serves the whole community - however it only works due to everyone in society buying into the concept and not misusing it, something that I feel would be harder to overcome in countries like the USA and UK. If I could, I would have spent a lot more time here, so highly recommend you to visit!

Finnish Basics

Language barriers were no issue in Finland - most people can speak English. However, it's always nice to know a few phrases in the local language that you can try out when speaking to people! These are the ones that I used during my stay:

• Hi - Moi
• Bye - Moi Moi
• Yes - Yoh
• No - Ay
• Thank you - Kee-tohss

Plant Based in Finland

Being plant based in Finland was no problem at all. Some of the spots we found that I recommend are:

• Round Steissi Cafe - a bagel joint that also does delicious donuts.

• Onam - oriental cuisine, conveniently located in one of the shopping malls

• Just Vege - plenty of vegan options available, including wraps, pittas and burgers.

And that's a wrap for part 1/4 of the Nordic blogs! Helsinki was a great first stop, and I enjoyed splitting my time between the countryside and doing a city break. The majority of the remainder of my travels will be based in cities, so getting out in the Finnish countryside was definitely a unique experience. The ethos and attitude of the population was refreshing to experience, reminding me that we best live and thrive when existing together as a part of a community - after all, humans are social creatures!

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