Helsinki has it all
HELSINKI can expect another bumper season for tourism this year, with last year’s record-breaking figures for visitors set to be surpassed this summer. In 2011 there were a total of 3,364,000 overnight stays recorded in Helsinki – an increase of 177,000 on the 2010 figures – and the Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau expects 2012 to continue the upward trend.
Go West, young man
Pietarsaari – Jakobstad in Swedish – is a window to a very different part of Finland.
VENTURING to the far west coast of Finland is a rare feat for most Finns, usually reserved for summer festivals, weddings or maybe an occasional away sports fixture. But for those who seek the source of the elusive Finnish soul, the town of Jakobstad/Pietarsaari is as distant as it is domestic – i.e. a town well within travelling reach of the capital, but as different from most as you can go within national borders.
Record numbers of cruise tourists expected in Helsinki
During the international cruise season from May to October, around 400,000 cruise tourists and 285 ships will visit Helsinki. This is around 15,000 visitors more than 2011, the year the last record was set. The cruise tourists will come mostly from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy. The fastest growing group of visitors is from Europe. On average, each visitor spends 66 euros in Helsinki.
Come to Copenhagen
Denmark’s capital is a city recognised as one of the most environmentally friendly and is often said to have the best quality of life of any European city. Incredibly the water in the urban waterways is clean enough to swim in – not something many cities can boast. When you hit this beautiful place, Helsinki Times reveals the best places to visit and the must-see spots.
A city in the heart of Savo
Despite its relatively remote location and modest size, Kuopio has something to offer everyone.
THE ROAD to Kuopio is long and lonely, and seems to stretch deep into the bowels of Finland. There is a certain monotony to the unerringly straight motorway, which reaches far over the horizon before being swallowed up by the endless lakes and forests. However, the long journey, which is interrupted only by uninspiring service stations and small towns with names barely pronounceable by the foreign tongue, has a most pleasant end point: Kuopio.
Kouvola – strategic and beautiful
The largest railroad hub in the country is Finland’s gateway to the East.
HAVING been deemed “the most useless” or “the ugliest” city in Finland, the city of Kouvola might have a bad reputation. It is in fact very useful and can be very beautiful, but like many other things in life, in order to understand it today we must look back at its history.
Logomo is more than a temporary venue
Logomo plans to remain at the heart of culture and creativity in Turku.
Throughout Turku’s year as European Capital of Culture, Logomo, as the main arena for happenings, was the name on everyone’s lips. Yet its substance may remain vague to many, while others ponder the future of the distinguished facility.
“We are not a temporary solution”, stresses Päivi Rytsä, the managing director of Logomo. “A fact that is manifested by the investments made here.”
When families travel, it’s the kids who are concerned about the environment
Business travellers often consider the environment, whereas holidaymakers rarely do so.
Inger Mattson makes a pile of tiny packages on her desk: vinegar, ketchup, mustard, milk, jam, sugar, a shower cap, a bar of soap and a plastic cup in a plastic bag. The packages are from a hotel in London and Mattsson, who is responsible for sustainable development at the Scandic hotel chain, is making a point: “This is something that I do not want to see when I stay at a hotel,” she says. And she believes that she may not have to in the future.
Kotka: Sealife both indoors and outdoors
Tucked away between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg is a city brimming with tradition and history.
Driving east from Helsinki towards the city of Kotka, it is remarkably easy to feel as though you are entering a land that time forgot. Endless stretches of scenery, adorned with lakes and trees, are dotted with traditional Finnish farmhouses and quaint eateries. As you progress, road and restaurant signs begin to appear in Russian, which only serves to increase the timelessness of the region. However, a petrol station or an advertising billboard soon jolts you back into the twenty-first century.
Under the Northern Lights
In ancient times the Aurora Borealis were thought to be the Gods appearing to humans, or souls dancing in the sky. Science has explained, almost mechanically, what causes them, but nothing can take away the breathless wonder that everybody who sees this natural phenomena will experience.
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