Finland is the land of the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights, and many visitors travel to Finland specifically to see Santa Claus or to visit Helsinki. Here are some practical tips for planning a Finnish holiday.
How to Travel to and in Finland
Most international flights to Finland land at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. There are direct flights to Helsinki from most main cities in Europe as well as some destinations in North America and Asia. Finnair is the national carrier, and European low-cost airlines with Helsinki flights include Blue1 and Easyjet. Ryanair flies to Tampere, just two hours from Helsinki by train. There are also regional airports in Lapland.
Daily ferries connect Sweden’s capital Stockholm to Helsinki and also to Turku in southwest Finland. There are more ferry connections from Germany, and several boats a day travel between Helsinki and Tallinn in Estonia.
It is also possible to get here by train from Russia. The Finnish train Sibelius and the Russian train Repin travel between Helsinki and St. Petersburg, and the Russian Tolstoi night train connects Moscow to Helsinki. For visitors driving to Finland, some useful border crossings are Tornio between Sweden and Finland, Karigasniemi between Norway and Finland and Vaalimaa between Finland and Russia.
Finland's public transportation network is effective and modern. Train travel is easy and trains are fast and comfortable. Long-distance coaches connect most cities and are an affordable and comfortable way to travel around.
Tips for Planning a Holiday
Finland has joined the Schengen agreement, and this makes border crossings to and from Sweden or Norway easy and straightforward. For onward travel to Russia a visa is needed, and it should be applied for well in advance.
Finland belongs to the European Union and its currency is the Euro. Like in all the Scandinavian countries, the standard of living is high and Finland is a relatively expensive holiday destination. Budget travellers can find cheap accommodation in youth hostels and campsites. The InterRail and EURail passes are some of the discount travel passes available for train travel in Finland.
Best Times to Visit Finland
To see the Midnight Sun, the best time to visit is from late June to July. In Lapland the sun does not set at all during the summer months and in the south summer nights are short and it never really gets dark. The Midsummer weekend in June is the highlight of the Finnish summer, and hundreds of festivals, events and parties are held around the country to celebrate the long days and short nights.
The best time to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) is in February and March and again in September to October in the Finnish Lapland, especially in the Kilpisjärvi area. The autumn months are also a great time to see the autumn colours, or ruska. Christmas is the time to pay a visit to Santa Claus in Lapland, and the Finnish Lapland is also a popular destination for winter ski and activity holidays. The Visit Finland website offers more Finland travel information and practical travel tips.
