Must-see attractions in Finland

  • Suomenlinna (Sveaborg) Fortress in Helsinki, Finland

    Suomenlinna

    Helsinki

    Suomenlinna, the ‘fortress of Finland’, straddles a cluster of car-free islands connected by bridges. This Unesco World Heritage site was originally built…

  • Aerial view of a boat, canyon lake and forest in Julma-Ölkky, Hossa National Park, Finland; Shutterstock ID 2023369706; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
2023369706

    Hossa National Park

    Central Finland

    Founded in 2017 to commemorate Finland's centenary of independence, the country's 40th national park stretches over 11,000 hectares of glittering lakes…

  • Serlachius Museum Gösta

    Finland

    Once the private home of Gösta Serlachius, this world-class art gallery is one of Finland's premier cultural attractions. Situated 2km east of Mänttä's…

  • Ruins of the fortress Bomarsund.

    Bomarsund Fästningsruin

    Åland Archipelago

    Following the war of 1808–09, Russia began building this major military structure as its westernmost defence against the Swedes. The fortress was still…

  • Saynatsalo Town Hall designed by Alvar Aalto.

    Säynätsalon Kunnantalo

    The Finnish Lakeland

    One of Aalto's most admired works, this town hall was conceived as a 'fortress of democracy' and constructed between 1949 and 1952. Its sturdy brick tower…

  • Finland, Helsinki, main entrance of the Ateneum Art Museum

    Ateneum

    Helsinki

    Occupying a palatial 1887 neo-Renaissance building, Finland’s premier art gallery offers a crash course in the nation’s art. It houses Finnish paintings…

  • Kastelholm Castle,built in 14th century, Aland islands.

    Kastelholms Slott

    Åland Archipelago

    One of Åland’s premier sights is this striking 14th-century castle on a picturesque inlet (signposted off Rd 2). The keep towers are 15m high in parts,…

  • Kansallismuseo

    Helsinki

    Built in National Romantic art nouveau style and opened in 1916, Finland’s premier historical museum looks a bit like a Gothic church with its heavy…

  • Vapriikki museum in Tampere, Finland.

    Vapriikki

    Tampere

    This bright, modern glass-and-steel exhibition space in the renovated Tampella textile mill hosts regularly changing exhibitions on anything from bicycles…

  • The Vellamo Maritime Centre.

    Merikeskus Vellamo

    Turku & Finland's South Coast

    In a tanker-sized, wave-shaped building with walls of metal and printed glass, this state-of-the-art dockside museum recounts Finland’s seafaring life…

  • Medieval Tampere cathedral in Finland (Finnish Tampereen tuomiokirkko, Swedish Tammerfors domkyrka) is a church in Tampere, Finland. The cathedral was built between 1902 and 1907.; Shutterstock ID 71066653; Your name (First / Last): Gemma Graham; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: POI imagery for LP.com

    Tuomiokirkko

    Tampere

    An iconic example of National Romantic art nouveau architecture, Tampere's cathedral dates from 1907. Hugo Simberg created the frescoes and stained glass;…

  • Old homes and artisan quarters in Luostarinmaki open air museum, Turku, Finland.

    Luostarinmäen Käsityöläismuseo

    Turku

    When the savage Great Fire of 1827 swept through Turku, the lower-class quarter Luostarinmäki escaped the flames. Set along tiny lanes and around grassy…

  • Snow Chapel at LumiLinna Snow Castle in Kemi, Finland.

    Lumilinna

    Lapland

    Few things conjure fairy-tale romance like a snow castle. First built in 1996 as a Unicef project, this is a Lapland winter highlight and a favoured…

  • St. Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel was built in 2004 out of Finnish wood on the island of Hirvensalo.

    Taidekappeli

    Turku

    Like the bow of a ship tipped on its end, this unusual structure is perched on a rock and surrounded by forest on Hirvensalo island, 7km south of Turku…

  • Olavinlinna

    The Finnish Lakeland

    Built directly on rock in the middle of the lake (now accessed via bridges), this heavily restored 15th-century fortification was constructed as a…

  • Kierikkikeskus

    Central Finland

    This excellent museum is by the Iijoki, whose banks are riddled with important Stone Age settlements. The informative display zeroes in on a handful of…

  • Seurasaaren Ulkomuseo

    Helsinki

    Situated 5.5km northwest of the city centre, this excellent island-set museum has a collection of 87 historic wooden buildings transferred here from…

  • Turun Linna

    Turku

    Founded in 1280 at the mouth of the Aurajoki, mammoth Turku Castle is easily Finland’s largest fortress. Highlights include two dungeons and sumptuous…

  • Lusto Suomen Metsämuseo

    The Finnish Lakeland

    'Lusto' is the Finnish word for a tree’s annual growth ring, and this well-curated and cleverly presented museum is all about forests and the growth of…

  • Kiasma

    Helsinki

    One in a series of elegant, contemporary buildings in this part of town, curvaceous, metallic Kiasma, designed by Steven Holl and finished in 1998, is a…

  • Arktikum

    Rovaniemi

    With its beautifully designed glass tunnel stretching out to the Ounasjoki, this is one of Finland’s finest museums. One half deals with Lapland, with…

  • Vanha Porvoo

    Turku & Finland's South Coast

    One of Finland's most enticing old quarters, this tangle of cobbled alleys and wooden warehouses is entrancing. Once a vibrant port and market, Porvoo now…

  • Pilke Tiedekeskus

    Rovaniemi

    Downstairs in the Metsähallitus (Finnish Forest and Park Service) building next to the Arktikum, this is a highly entertaining exhibition on Finnish…

  • Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova

    Turku

    Art and archaeology unite here under one roof. Aboa Vetus (Old Turku) draws you underground to Turku’s medieval streets, showcasing some of the 37,000…

  • Amurin Työläismuseokortteli

    Tampere

    An entire block of wooden houses – including 32 apartments in five residential buildings, a bakery, a shoemaker, a public sauna, two general shops and a…

  • Amos Rex

    Helsinki

    Set beneath the iconic 1936 Lasipalatsi building, art museum Amos Rex opened in 2018. Sweeping staircases take you below ground to the exhibition halls…

  • Kajsaniemi

    Helsinki

    Rambling over 4 hectares in the city centre alongside the north harbour, Töölönlahti, Helsinki's botanic gardens are filled with plants from Finland and…

  • Turun Tuomiokirkko

    Turku

    The ‘mother church’ of Finland’s Lutheran faith, Turku Cathedral towers over Turku. Consecrated in 1300, the colossal brick Gothic building was rebuilt…

  • Särkänniemi

    Tampere

    This promontory-set amusement park complex offers dozens of rides, an observation tower, art gallery, aquarium, farm zoo and planetarium. A one-day pass…

  • Tuomiokirkko

    Turku & Finland's South Coast

    Porvoo’s historic stone-and-timber cathedral sits atop a hill overlooking the quaint Old Town. This is where Tsar Alexander I convened the first Diet of…

  • Juminkeko

    Central Finland

    If you're interested in the Kalevala or Karelian culture, pay a visit to this excellent resource centre inside a beautiful hand-hewn timber building made…

  • Kevo Strict Nature Reserve during autumn.

    Kevo Strict Nature Reserve

    Northern Lapland

    Some of Finland's most breathtaking scenery is within the 712-sq-km Kevo Strict Nature Reserve along the splendid 40km gorge of the Kevojoki (off-limits…

  • Helsingin Kaupunginmuseo

    Helsinki

    This museum complex spreads over five buildings from different eras, including Sederholmin talo, Helsinki’s oldest central building (dating from 1757 and…

  • Aerial view of the Iron beach on the Jussaro island, in Ekenas Archipelago National Park, Finland.

    Ekenäs Archipelago National Park

    Turku & Finland's South Coast

    Almost 90% of the 5200-hectare Ekenäs Archipelago National Park is water, so to explore the 1300 islands you’ll need to take a tour from Ekenäs harbour,…

  • People strolling through Esplanadin puisto - Esplanade park in central Helsinki, Finland.

    Esplanadin Puisto

    Helsinki

    Locally known as 'Espa', oblong-shaped Esplanadi stretches for four blocks between the squares Erottaja to the west and the kauppatori to the east…

  • Bengtskär lighthouse in Gulf of Finland in summer.

    Bengtskär Lighthouse

    Turku & Finland's South Coast

    Towering 52m above the waves 25km offshore from Hanko, the Nordic countries' tallest lighthouse was built in 1906 to protect ships from the perilous…

  • The Auttikongas Forest in the municipality of Rovaniemi in Finland.

    Auttiköngäs

    Lapland

    The highlight of this protected old-growth forest, 80km southeast of Rovaniemi off Rd 81, is the 16m-high Auttiköngäs waterfall. It's reached by a 3.5km…

  • Canoeing on the Oulanka river in Oulanka National Park, Kuusamo region, Finland.

    Oulanka National Park

    Central Finland

    Stretching from Koillismaa to Lapland and along the Russian border, this superb national park was established in 1956 and covers 27,000 hectares of…

  • Interiors of a church, Temppeliaukion Kirkko, Helsinki, Finland

    Temppeliaukion Kirkko

    Helsinki

    Hewn into solid stone, the Temppeliaukion church, designed by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen in 1969, feels close to a Finnish ideal of spirituality in nature…

  • The Raseborg Castle ruins in Finland.

    Raseborg Castle Ruins

    Turku & Finland's South Coast

    Looming on a high rock overlooking a grassy sward, the late-14th-century Raseborg Castle was strategically crucial in the 15th century, when it protected…

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