I didn’t expect to be going back to Europe so soon, but in just a matter of days I’m heading back to Finland!
I always thought my second trip to Finland would be in the winter time – a visit to Santa and his reindeer, maybe a trip up to Lapland to see the Northern Lights – but life is full of surprises and it looks like I’ll get to experience yet another wonderful summer under the Midnight Sun.
Last year’s trip introduced me to Finland’s Great Outdoors. I got to do a lot of cool things like kayak on the Archipelago Sea, enjoy the slow country life, eat at Farmers’ Markets, explore a Viking village, and even spend the night in a jail hotel. Finland reminded me of Canada in many ways and it was a very easy country to travel through, so I’m thrilled to get to do it a second time with the help of Visit Finland.
While I’ll once again be exploring Southwestern Finland, this trip is going to have a bit of a different schedule and I’ll be visiting places that I missed the first time around.
Here’s a little sneak peek at what I’ll be doing:
- Going on a biking tour of Helsinki
- Kayaking under the midnight sun (that’s the cool thing about travelling to Finland in the middle of the summer – it’s hardly ever dark!)
- Trekking in Nuuksio National Park
- Experiencing a Finnish Sauna
- Visiting the Bengtskär lighthouse which sits out at sea
- Kayaking and island-hopping around the archipelago
- Enjoying some beach time in Hanko
- Going on a cycling tour of Hanko’s local farms
- and much, much more!
After that I’ll be staying back in Helsinki for a few more days to do some exploring on my own. I really enjoyed the city during my last visit, and I’m looking forward to revisiting some favourite spots like the Farmers’ Market (where you can get a delicious meal of salmon, potatoes and veggies at a bargain!), and Suomenlinna for a relaxing day outdoors. I also want to visit the Kamppi Chapel of Silence, catch some live music at Esplanade Park, go inside Temppeliaukio Church which is carved into the rock, and eat my fill of Karl Fazer chocolate bars.
I likely won’t be blogging about the trip until I get back to Canada, but if you want to keep up on social media, you can follow the #OutdoorsFinland and #VisitFinland hashtags. I’ll be posting lots of photos of the Finnish shenanigans on Instagram.
Have you been to Finland?
What should I eat / do / see during my free days in Helsinki?
I’d love to hear your suggestions. 🙂
how exciting!! Is Sam going with you? I know squat about Finland lol so this will be interesting for me.
Yes, the boy will be coming too. 🙂
Excited to read about your upcoming adventures!
I loooooooooved reading about your first trip there – super excited to hear about this one!
Sounds fun! I hope you bring out even better stories from Finland and also treat us with gorgeous photos. Have a great time!
Finland (and most of Scandinavia for that matter) reminded me a lot of Canada too. Love it there. Definitely a special part of the world.
I think it’s all the greenery and the outdoorsy lifestyle – Canada and Finland both have really long winters, so we have to make those summer days count! 😉
I love Finland! Helsinki is cool and the light is amazing in the summer. Are you going to Tampere at all? I was there for almost a week in June. Sauna is definitely an experience – my heart was racing after I’d been inside then into the cold lake! Loved the food too – reindeer, mash and lingonberry was my favourite. Have a great trip!
Hi Maria, I don’t think I’ll be making it up to Tampere this time around – I’ll mainly be visiting the archipelago region and the islands in Southwestern Finland – but I’m glad to hear you had a good time up there. 🙂
Sounds like a lot of fun! Ever since I shared an apartment with a Finnish guy in Montrea, I’ve really wanted to visit Finland. The stories he told about his home were so fascinating, sounds like an amazing place. Enjoy your trip, can’t wait to read all about it!
Sounds like an amazing opportunity! Can’t wait to follow along!
Sounds awesome! Finland has never really been on my radar so I am interested to hear how it goes
That sounds amazing. I have not heard much about Finland, I hope you enjoy the trip. It looks great.
Never been, but I look forward to reading about it!
Green with envy – I’m in the Arctic but haven’t experienced anyone else’s Midnight Sun but this one. Took a couple of weeks to get used to it but 2 months later, I can’t recall what nighttime is like nor what the moon looks like and I honestly don’t miss either. BonVoyage – can hardly wait to read your posts from Finland.
That’s cool, Maria! I hope you’re enjoying the Arctic! Do you find that you rise earlier and stay up later because of the sun. During my last visit to Finland, I found that my body adapted to the longer days and I was sleeping less. Such a strange experience…
Great plan! Just wondering, how expensive is it to travel around Finland?
Good question, Andrea. It is a little pricier than Western Europe, however, during my last trip I found that I was still able to stick to a budget. I found rentals on AirBnB started at around 60-70 Euros a night (hotels are higher than that), and then for meals I was either eating at the local markets or doing picnics, which kept the cost to under 10 Euros a meal. You just gave me an idea for a whole post! 🙂
Sounds like a brilliant experience Audrey! I always associate Finland with Christmas too, so I’m excited to hear about your trip. 🙂
Sounds like a fun trip!
I’ve never been to Finland so I’m super excited to read about your adventures! It looks like a utopia. Have fun!!
That is fantastic, I’d love to go to Finland at some point, it seems such a different country to visit and with plenty of lovely things to see and activities to do like the cycling tour of Hanko’s local farms. Enjoy!!!