Finland

Get in

thumb|upright|While most come to Finland from another Schengen country, the border to Russia is strictly controlled, with a no-entry border zone

You can read more about the topic on the Finnish Border Guard's website.

Visas cannot be applied for on the road, but must be applied for in advance, in person at the Finnish embassy in your country or in another designated place (see instructions); for some countries a commercial entity handles the applications. In some countries, the processing of Finnish visa applications may be delegated to the embassy of another Nordic country. Most of the requirements are common for all the Schengen area, but what funds are regarded sufficient varies between countries.

Visa processing times tend to be quite lengthy and the process might be one of the more stringent ones overall. It's not uncommon to wait for a month or more to get a Finnish visa, so plan and prepare well. In simple cases the processing time should be at most 15 days, but 45 days may be needed. The application can be made at most half a year in advance.

For Russians, tourism isn't a valid reason to enter Finland (because of the Russian war on Ukraine) and multi-entry visas may be retracted. Tourist visas are still granted and valid for certain other types of visits. See the Border Guard's information.

Finland is also a member of the European Union, which has common import regulations (with some specific exceptions). Import for own use (including ordinary gifts) from other E…

Get around

thumb|The Finnish rail network (passenger lines in green)

Finland is a large country and travelling is relatively expensive. Public transportation is well organised and the equipment is always comfortable and often new, and advance bookings are rarely necessary outside the biggest holiday periods, but buying tickets on the net in advance (preferably as soon as you know your plans) may give significantly lower prices. Trains are usually the most comfortable and fastest method of inter-city travel, while bus may be needed for smaller towns and the countryside.

There are several route planners available. VR and Matkahuolto provide timetable service nationwide for trains and coaches, respectively, and there are several regional and local planners. As of 2020, Google Maps and Apple Maps have coverage nationally. Opas.matka.fi includes train traffic, domestic flights, local transport of many cities and towns and public service obligation traffic (i.e. services offered on behalf of the government) in the countryside. Matkahuolto Reittiopas is focused on local, regional and long-distance buses and trains. There are deficiencies in most or all of the planners, so try different names (perhaps an intermediate town, or one which should be later on the same coach line) and main stops if you don't get a connection, and do a sanity check when you get one. You might also want to check more than one when services shown are sparse or complicated. Knowing the municipality and the name in both…

See

thumb|You'll definitely know you're in Helsinki when you find its most famous landmark, the Lutheran Cathedral. thumbnail|Kivijärvi in Central Finland, one of Finland's thousand lakes

Tourist commonly head for Helsinki, Lapland, the Lakeland or the Archipelago Sea. While it is more easy to find package tours and businesses used to foreigners at those locations, there are many interesting places elsewhere, and you can pick destinations off the beaten path also in those regions.

A selection of top sights in Finland: Central Helsinki, the Daughter of the Baltic, on a warm and sunny summer day The historical sites of Turku and the Archipelago Sea around it, best viewed from a yacht or from the deck of a giant car ferry. Puttering around the picturesque wooden houses of Porvoo, Finland's second-oldest city, near Helsinki Renting a car and exploring the Lakeland of Eastern Finland, an area dotted with around 60,000 lakes with a similar number of islands, which in turn have their own lakes... Olavinlinna Castle in Savonlinna, Finland's most atmospheric castle, especially during the yearly Opera Festival Hämeenlinna Castle in Hämeenlinna is Finland's oldest castle. Built in 13th century. Icebreaker cruising and the world's biggest snow castle in Kemi Seeing the Northern Lights and trying your hand sledding down a mile-long track at Saariselkä A ride on the historical wooden roller coaster of the Linnanmäki amusement park (Helsinki). Unlike modern designs, only gravity keeps it on t…

Eat

thumb|A typical Finnish meal. Clockwise from bottom: warm smoked salmon, boiled potatoes, cream sauce with chantarelles, lightly pickled cucumbers with dill

Finnish cuisine is heavily influenced by its neighbours (see Nordic cuisine and Russian cuisine), the main staples being potatoes and bread with various fish and meat dishes on the side. Dairy products are also important, with a wide variety of cheeses, and milk a common beverage even for adults. There was a culinary revolution in the 1990s, with a boom in classy restaurants experimenting with local ingredients, often with excellent results. Contemporary Finnish cuisine includes tastes and influences from all over the world, and the dining scene in larger cities has become quite cosmopolitan.

The agricultural products might suffer of the cold climate, but in summer many products benefit from the nearly eternal sunlight. The fish, while small in size, are tasty.

In working days locals typically eat a substantial breakfast, lunch (at a workplace cafeteria, a nearby restaurant, or packed), dinner after work, and a light evening meal before going to bed. If eating the dinner out, it is eaten later and the evening meal skipped. In weekends lunch and dinner are often combined. Full board lodging may include the evening meal, sometimes as a basket to eat at your room or in communal areas.

In proper hotels the included breakfast is extensive. In other lodgings, if breakfast is included, it is usually sufficient to keep you go…

Drink

Thanks to its thousands of lakes, Finland has plenty of water supplies and tap water is always potable – except on trains and the like, where this is clearly indicated (see Stay healthy below). In fact, never buy bottled water if you can get tap water!

The usual soft drinks and juices are widely available, but there is also a wide array of berry juices (marjamehu), especially in summer, as well as Pommac, an unusual soda made from (according to the label) "mixed fruits", which you'll either love or hate. Juice from many berries is to be mixed with water, also when not bought as concentrate; sugar is often already added. Note the difference between mehu (juice) and mehujuoma (saftdryck), where the latter may have only traces of the nominal ingredient.

It is quite common for people of all ages to drink milk (maito, mjölk) as an accompaniment to food. It is absolutely normal to see businessmen having a lunch and drinking milk. Another popular option is piimä (buttermilk, Swedish: surmjölk).

Sleep

thumb|Ski resort hotels in [[Ruka]]

Accommodation in Finland is expensive, with typical hotel rooms about €100/night or more. Many large hotels are cheaper during the weekends and in summer. Foreign hotel chains are rare outside the capital; most of the hotels are run either by locals or by some domestic brand. So do not expect to accumulate your points when staying anywhere but in major cities. More or less national hotel chains include Scandic, Finlandia and Sokos. The Omena chain offers self-service hotels, where you book online and get a keycode for your room, with no check-in of any kind needed (and little service available). If you insist on a five-star hotel, the rating is up to the individual hotelier.

When searching for budget options – and outside cities – check whether breakfast and linen are included; they are in regular hotels, but not in many budget options. Extras, such as sauna, are sometimes included also in cheap prices, and virtually all accommodations (except remote cottages) nowadays have free Wi-Fi.

Bed and breakfast is not well-known in Finland. In the countryside there are lodgings that are similar, or use the term, but neither does guarantee any specifics. They are often nice, and might be your only option, but check what to expect, such as whether breakfast is included or you are supposed to self-cater. Some B&Bs border to agritourism. Some offer dinner on advance request.

Short-time rentals are available in many mid-size to big cities, homestays…

Stay healthy

You're unlikely to have tummy troubles in Finland, since tap water is always drinkable (except on trains etc., and there will be warnings in those cases) and generally quite tasty as well, and hygiene standards in restaurants are strict. Dairy products are nearly always pasteurised. If you have any sort of allergies, many restaurants often display in the menu the most common ingredients that people typically are allergic to. Examples: (L) = Lactose free, (VL) = Low Lactose, (G) = Gluten free, if you are unsure just ask the waitress or other restaurant staff.

At cottages and in the wilderness different considerations apply; quality of water from local sources varies. In much of the country even water of lakes and rivers is potable and tasty, but this varies and there is no guarantee. Usually boiling it for a few minutes is recommended, although hikers often drink good-looking water untreated. If there is tap water from a local well, your host should be able to tell whether it is safe to drink (this information is included in wilderness hut information folders).

Respect

Finns generally have a relaxed attitude towards manners and dressing up, and a visitor is unlikely to offend them by accident. Common sense is quite enough in most situations, but there are a couple of things that one should keep in mind:

Finns are a famously taciturn people who have little time for small talk or social niceties, so don't expect to hear phrases like "thank you" or "you're welcome" too often. They usually go straight to business. The Finnish language lacks a specific word for "please" so Finns sometimes forget to use it when speaking English, with no intention to be rude. Also lacking in Finnish is the distinction between "he" and "she", which may lead to confusing errors. Loud speaking and loud laughing is not normal in Finland and may irritate some Finns. Occasional silence is considered a part of the conversation, not a sign of hostility or irritation. Indeed, you may need to keep quiet for a while now and then for your Finnish acquaintances to talk.

Notice that although the phrase mitä kuuluu translates to "how are you", it has a literal meaning in Finnish, i.e. a longer discussion is expected; it is not a part of the greeting as in English, and asking about health or relatives is not expected from strangers.

That said, Finns are generally helpful and polite, and glad to help confused tourists if asked. The lack of niceties has more to do with the fact that in Finnish culture, honesty is highly regarded; one should open one's mouth only to mean what one…

Go next

Karelia and Russia proper to the east, including Saint Petersburg. However, due to the Russian war on Ukraine, most transport options were suspended in 2022, and the border has mostly been closed since the autumn of 2023. Sweden, of which Finland was part for 650 years, is reachable by an overnight (or day) cruise, or overland from Lapland. Estonia, a couple of hours away from Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland. Norway's county of Finnmark and Troms can be accessed overland from Lapland. Åland, an autonomous region on the Archipelago Sea between Finland and Sweden.