Discover Finland: Nature, Culture and Sauna

Finland brings together UNESCO sites, expansive natural landscapes and a deeply rooted sauna tradition. When planning your trip, it’s worth first choosing the experiences that matter to you: Would you like a short marked trail, museums and history, activities on the water, or a combination of culture and nature? Options range from Suomenlinna near Helsinki to national parks and architectural and industrial World Heritage sites across the country.

Culture and World Heritage Sites

Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Finland’s most popular attractions. The HSL ferry connects Helsinki’s Market Square with the island year-round; the crossing takes about 15 minutes. Once there, you can use the Blue Route as a guide: it is about 1.5 kilometres long in one direction and marked with blue signs and a blue line on maps. Suomenlinna also has five museums. This combination offers a clear choice for anyone who wants to pair an island visit with a cultural programme.

Finland has eight World Heritage sites. These include Aalto Works, a serial UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising 13 architectural sites spread across Finland. If you’re interested in architecture, it’s therefore worth keeping the individual locations in mind rather than thinking of the site as a single place to visit. Sammallahdenmäki, in Lappi in Rauma in Lower Satakunta, is an exceptionally valuable Bronze Age monument. The Verla groundwood and board mill, in turn, is a unique small-scale industrial complex from the early years of Finland’s wood-processing industry. The different themes can help you choose cultural stops based on your personal interests.

Nature trails, lakes and islands

For a trip that includes time outdoors, the national parks offer a range of options. Nuuksio National Park has more than 30 kilometres of marked trails. The two-kilometre Maahisenkierros Circle Trail is suitable for wheelchair users and families with prams or strollers. This makes it easy to choose between a single shorter trail and a stay that includes other marked routes. In summer, local providers rent canoes, SUP boards and fat bikes in the national park.

In the Archipelago National Park, you can go boating, canoeing, swimming, diving, hiking and cycling. The park protects a large part of the world’s largest archipelago and includes more than 2,000 islands. The Kvarken Archipelago is Finland’s first natural heritage site and, together with Sweden’s Höga Kusten, forms a geological complex shaped by land uplift. Anyone interested in coastal landscapes and geology will find a different focus here from the marked trails in Nuuksio National Park. The hills and lakes of Koli National Park offer good opportunities for excursions and activities throughout the year.

Sauna and Finnish food culture

The Finnish sauna is deeply rooted in tradition and open to everyone. Finnish cities, from the Lakeland to Lapland, have several public saunas that visitors can enjoy. If you’d like to include sauna in your trip, you can treat public saunas as a cultural activity in their own right, without limiting your stay to a single landscape or activity theme.

Culinary experiences also offer a way to connect with Finnish traditions. A group rye bread workshop gives visitors the chance to hear stories, learn old techniques and take home a piece of Finnish culinary history. Experiences awarded the Sustainable Travel Finland label include berry picking, mushroom picking and foraging for holidaymakers. Everyone’s right gives everyone the freedom to walk, cycle, ski and forage in nature, regardless of land ownership. It offers general guidance for outdoor activities; the national parks mentioned above also provide specific trails and experiences described here.

For an overview by region, you can explore Lapland, Uusimaa, South Karelia, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme, Pirkanmaa, Satakunta, Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and Central Finland. The cultural and nature experiences mentioned can help you choose a suitable theme for your trip to Finland.

For the general travel overview: Scandinavia.