Finland travel guide

On a hill in a tranquil pine forest 18 km outside Rauma lies a UNESCO enlisted Bronze Age burial site. It dates back more than 3,000 years, to 1,500 to 500 BC, and includes 36 granite burial cairns spread out into 6 main groups. A walk among them will be about 2 km long. The structures vary from stone circles and stone cists to dry stone walls. Originally, it was near the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, but the land has risen so it is now 15 kilometers from the sea.

Right off the coast of Helsinki, spread out on four tiny islands, lies the maritime fortress complex of Suomenlinna, Fortress of Finland. It was initially built in 1748 by the Swedish to protect Helsingfors (Swedish for Helsinki) against the Russians. As with other big constructions in history, the creator had big expectation to it, in this case the Swedish thought Suomenlinna to be inpenedable... but it wasn't. The Russian took it 1808 and kept it along with the rest of Finland until Finland's independence in 1917. Today people still live on Suomenlinna and it's now an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Like the Finnish people, their capital Helsinki can't be accused of being flamboyant. It has an airy atmosphere, which might also have to do with the gorgeous location right at the sea and its small size. Its promixity to both Estonia and Russia means you can swing by enroute to/from Scandinavia/Baltics or even do Helsinki as a daytrip from Tallinn (Estonia). The few main sights (like the Rock Church, maritime fortress and cathedral) can easily be done in a day, and everything is within walking/ferry distance. In summer the long evenings can be spend at some of the many parks and in winter the freezing temperatures make sure you use the few hours of daylight wisely.

Inari is considered the capital of Sami culture. The Sami Culture Center is here, and so is the museum of Sami Culture, Siida. The last one has an open-air section with houses and traps from the sami culture.

Kajaani Castle was built in the early 17th century to safeguard the border of the Swedish kingdom. It's located on its own island in the middle of the Kajaani River. It existed for nearly 100 years, before the Russian army blew it up during the Great Northern War in 1716. It has been under restoration recently.

Kastelholm is the only castle in Åland. It was built during the medieval period (14th century), but had its heyday during the reign of the Swedish Gustav Vasa. Next door lies an open-air museum with traditional houses.

The old wooden church of Petäjävesi is such a fine example of Nordic wooden churches that it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The church was constructed in 1763-65 and has remained nearly unchanged. The big floor planks are made of wall logs of a chapel that stood previously on the spot. The church stopped being used as a church from 1879, but the graveyard was still used afterwards. Today you can hire it for weddings, christening or even concerts. It's open daily as a museum during summer time.

The first Puijo Tower was 16m high and built in 1856. The one that stands today is built in 1963 and is a bit more impressive with a height of 75 m. It's an observation tower with both a café, revolving restaurant and outdoor viewing platform at the top. You can only get up by the elevator, which costs a fee.

The old town of Rauma is just too cute with its pastel colored wooden houses and cobblestone streets. The (mostly) well-preserved buildings with ornamented windows frames are still used as homes, shops and public offices, making a Rauma re lively town and not just an open-air museum. Rauma is a UNESCO World Heritage site and receives (understandable) a few tourists. The town was founded in 1442 and is the third oldest town in the country (after Turku and Porvoo).

From the outside Temppeliaukio Church doesn't look like much. Just a green copper dome ontop of a rocky outcrop in the middle of a residental area. But the church is hewn into solid rock. Inside it's a prime example of Nordic modesty. Natural light flows through narrow glass panels which hold the cobber string dome, making it surprisingly bright even during wintertime. The raw granite walls stand as bare as they were the day the church got hacked into the rock. Concrete balcony and minimalistic Finnish interiour in cool colours finish off this crazy architectural masterpiece from 1969. Temppeliaukio Church rank as Helsinki's number one attraction which it fully deserves, for it's truely an astonishing sight.