Finland Activities

Finland has a good selection of things to do and places to visit for children and families with no two attractions offering the same experience. You can spend a quiet time appreciating the classic toys at Helsinki’s Doll and Toy Museum or up the pace a little at the Wasalandia Amusement Park. Adults too will invariably find something of interest at Finland’s children’s centres, especially at those listed below.

Doll & Toy Museum (Suomenlinnan Nukke- ja lelumuseo)
At the Doll and Toy Museum in Helsinki, visitors can view a collection comprising some 2,000 or more toys which date back from 1830 and include teddy bears, dolls and dolls’ houses as well as toy cars and many more. The museum is a small facility housed in an old Russian villa but is well worth a visit as it holds objects of interest for both children and adults. Telephone +358 19 520-2316

Moominworld
The famous books and animated series ‘The Moomins’ originate in Finland and here at Moominworld in Naantali, you can get an greater insight into the Moomin characters and the places detailed in their stories. Various displays give visitors the chance to check out Moomintroll’s attic, Moominmama’s jam cellar and the blueberry blue Moominhouse as well as Moominpapa’s boat and the house of Hemulen. A small theatre presents live ‘Moomin’ performances while the Moomin Shop and Sniff’s Boutique sell related merchandise. www.muumimaailma.fi/englanti/index.html

Sea Life Helsinki
Hailed as the Nordic region’s first Sea Life centre, Sea Life Helsinki gives visitors a journey into the realms of ocean life via a collection of over 30 fascinating displays that cover everything from the cold sea of the Baltic to the warm seas of the tropics. Spacious aquariums house countless species, with a 250 square-metre large oceanic pool forming the centrepiece. A glass tunnel through the middle of the pool allows visitors to get a closer look at its inhabitants and a sense of actually being below the water. The centre is open all year and includes a café and gift shop. www.sealife.fi/

The Särkänniemi Adventure Park 
Located in Tampere, the Särkänniemi Adventure Park is one of Finland’s most famous theme parks with a reputation for offering attractions suitable for both children and adults. Split into seven sections, the park features over 30 different rides plus a dolphinarium and an aquarium that houses over 250 species of sea creatures. A zoo features more animal life while science and outer space are the themes at the fascinating on site Planetarium. www.sarkanniemi.fi

Wasalandia Amusement Park
Situated on the paradise island of Vaskiluoto in Vaasa, the Wasalandia family amusement park is a family-themed centre offering a host of activities and attractions set in a series of separately themed sections. Enjoy a good scare at the Ghost Castle in Tivoli Land, climb aboard pirate ships at Pirate Land and get up close with cowboys and Indians in Wild West Land. For the very young there are also merry-go rounds. www.wasalandia.fi

Statistically Finland is one of Europe’s leading countries with regard to physical activity with around 60 percent of men and 64 percent of women engaging in some form of sport or exercise at least twice per week. It’s no wonder then that the country has such an extensive number of sports and activities on offer and an equally extensive number of clubs providing them.

Snow Sports
As a visitor there are few pursuits that aren’t available in Finland and it’s just a matter of looking in the right places to find your favourite activity. As befits a country with cold winters, snow sports are popular, with some 120 ski resorts available. Cross country skiing is especially popular, while half pipes at many of the resorts also make snowboarding a popular pursuit. The skiing season in the south of the country lasts from January to February while in the north and central regions it’s considerably longer, stretching from December through to late March. Outside of the ski season, other popular outdoor pursuits are based around the country’s extensive number of lakes and include sailing, canoeing and fishing. Saimaa, Lake Oulujrvi and Lake Inari are among the best places to find these activities.

Golf
Golfers will find plenty of chances to practise their swings with around 100 courses spread across the country. The vastness and beauty of the country ensures that the golf enthusiast will have a wonderful time.

Sauna
After participating in some exhausting activity, Finns like nothing more than to relax in the sauna and with an estimated 1.6 million of them in the country, there’s no shortage of venues at which to indulge in this popular and reportedly health benefiting activity.

Finland’s national cuisine is a fusion of traditional country recipes from both the eastern and western regions with influences from modern haute cuisine. Many dishes are seasonal and indeed every month of the year has its own unique dish. From the west, recipes with fish and meat have had significant influence while from the east mushrooms and vegetables dishes have been assimilated into the national fare. Finland is, however, influenced by foreign cuisines as much as any other country and Italian food is popular as are fast foods such as hamburgers and pizza. Asian food is also popular, with Indian, Chinese and Thai food beginning to make its mark on fashionable parts of the big cities. If you want to try some typically Finnish food, however, you should try the Karelian Stew, Karelian pasties, smoked fish dishes, cabbage rolls (Kaalikääryleet) and Finnish meatballs (Lihapullat).

Eating out can be a different experience depending on what part of the country you are in; restaurants in the smaller towns are more likely to serve unusual regional dishes and to stick to traditional recipes for national favourites. In the big cities such as Helsinki, Turku, Numes and Tampere, you’ll find high class restaurants serving food with an emphasis on presentation and somewhat less perhaps on tradition. International restaurants are also easy to find in the cities with plenty of European options as well as Asian and American eateries. Finland also has its fair share of fast food franchises: McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut, among others.

Helsinki, as the country’s capital, is one of the best places to find fine restaurants. The city’s most respectable hotels employ award winning chefs and while a meal at one of these establishments certainly won’t be cheap, it will be of the highest quality and capable of satisfying the taste buds of even the most discerning food connoisseurs. Dining times in Finland are typically European with lunch anytime from 12:00 to 14:00 and dinner beginning from 18:00 to 19:00 and lasting until 21:00 or 22:00.

Finland is not an especially cheap country in terms prices of its consumer goods and visitors looking to buy branded or mass manufactured products are unlikely to come away with any significant bargains. Locally made handicrafts, however, which would be ideal to take home as gifts or souvenirs, can be picked up at fairly reasonable prices at many kinds of shopping venues. If it’s typically Finnish goods that you are looking for then wood products made from birch are popular and include animal carvings and traditional coffee mugs.

Like whisky is to Scotland and Tequila is to Mexico, Koskenkorva Viina is Finland’s national spirit and is a clear distilled drink similar to vodka. Vodka itself is of course popular on account of the country’s Russian influences. Of the Finnish beers available, Olvi is considered one of the finest on account of its distinct flavour and alcohol content, which makes many other beers seem watery by comparison. If buying alcoholic drinks of any kind, visitors should wait until they get to the duty-free shops at the airports or onboard ferries, as prices here are considerably lower than at regular outlets.

In the big cities you’ll find all manner of retail shopping areas with everything from large malls to small designer shopping arcades. In Helsinki for example, you’ll find department stores such as Stockmann, Sokos and Forum and malls such as Itäkeskus, Iso Omena and Jumbo. If you’re looking for arts and crafts, then a trip to the Kiseleff Bazaar in Helsinki provides two storeys of outlets where the focus is heavily on handmade products.

Of the department stores mentioned above, Stockmann is perhaps the best and most popular. This store, which can also be found in Latvia, Estonia and Russia, sells pretty much anything you can think of. Prices are by no means cheap but service is good and if money is no object then Stockmann could easily be the only shop you need to visit to get gifts for family and friends as well as useful items for your holiday.

Shopping hours are normally Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 16:00. Shops are closed Sundays although some open in the run up to Christmas.