Places in Finland
The red wooden huts of Porvoo are considered to expand the list of UNESCO world heritage sights.
Average costs
Stay – Finland is located in Scandinavia and this region is very expensive! With a little luck you can find a five-star hotel for two hundred euros, and if you’re really in luck you might even find one for €150 (check out this one). A more affordable four-star hotel will cost a minimum of about €120 per night.
Three stars will cost anything between €80 and €100 per night.
Fortunately, there are also quite some budget accommodations for those who don’t need all that luxury. A hostel will cost twenty to thirty euros per night and a single room starts at fifty euros.
Remember that adventurous souls can also set up their tents in the beautiful Finnish nature. This is free but obviously requires a bit of experience…
Compare offers and prices on Booking.com to guaranty that you get the lowest prices.
Eat – The area around Helsinki is much more expensive for food than other parts of the country. For fast food or a cheap restaurant in Helsinki you pay at least €12.5 to €15 per meal. The cheapest pizza will cost you fifteen to twenty euros. For other kinds of meals you’ll easily pay more than twenty euros.
A small sandwich costs five euros, and for a cupcake you pay almost three euros.
In other areas of Finland €15 to €20 will buy you a soda and a meal in a good restaurant.
Transportation – The cost of transport depends on the distance you travel. Short distances are three euros per ride and for longer journeys you pay five euros (or more). Long distance buses start at fifteen euros per person. Taxis quickly costs you a few of your organs, with a basic amount of five to ten euros and a few euros per kilometer traveled.
The ferry from Finland (Helsinki) to Tallinn costs at least twenty euros.
Rovaniemi is the perfect location in Lapland to do some arctic activities!
Saving money
Cook yourself – If you have lunch and dinner everyday in a restaurant in Finland you’ll soon have several loans going on. With average prices of €25 per meal it is perhaps better to prepare your own meals instead! In the supermarkets you will find many ready-made meals and you can also easily buy ingredients for an easy lunch (sandwiches, cheese, vegetables …). In some stores, there are also microwaves that you can use to heat your meal.
Buffet – If you can’t or don’t really want to cook you can (especially at noon) find a lot of buffet restaurants in Finland. For a fixed price you can eat as much as you want, and often it is not so expensive.
Travel in groups – Wait with heading to Finland until you can travel with friends, acquaintances or family. If you are traveling through the country with other paying guests you can split the costs. Hotels or apartments get a lot cheaper this way.
Drink tap water – The purest water in the world flows through the Scandinavian countries. So you can definitely fill your bottle with tap water in Finland! Feel free to ask your restaurant for some tap water, since it is also free.
Pre-drinks – Alcohol is very expensive in Helsinki. Bars, clubs and restaurants soon charge ten euros or more for a beer. A glass of wine or a glass of bubbles costs even more. Do as the locals do and head to the supermarket to get some alcoholic beverages first, and once you have your buzz on go enjoy the Finnish parties.
Day trip Helsinki – Are you just interested in seeing Helsinki? Then just take a day trip from Tallinn to Helsinki. You can easily see the Finnish capital in one day, and with the ferry from Tallinn you don’t need to pay for lodging and you could possibly smuggle some food aboard from the cheap Estonia.
Camping – The ‘Everyman’s right’ or Jokamiehen Oikeus of Finland ensures that everyone can go camping in the wild. As long as you keep a couple of rules in mind, you can set up your tent at a respectable distance from other houses. (yes, in some cases even on private domains!) A perfect solution to save on the expensive accommodations and additionally a dream for the adventurous nature lovers. Berry picking is allowed, just as hunting animals. (not all species are allowed, however!)
Book in advance – Hotels, tours, flights, … Nearly everything gets fully booked very fast in Finland. And once this is the cast, only expensive leftovers remain. Try to arrange most things before you head to Finland because it can easily save you a couple of hundreds of euros!
The cathedral of Helsinki. Probably the most well-known building of the capital.
Do’s
Helsinki – The capital of Finland makes a nice day trip. The modern city is relatively small and is most pleasant during the summer to walk around in. A famous sight is the white cathedral of Helsinki towering over the city, but also a little further outside the central point of the city you can spot some nice attractions. Much longer than one day you really don’t need.
Porvoo – From Helsinki you can easily head to the cute Porvoo. It’s about one hour away. The city is filled with some typical red, wooden huts that are so characteristic for Finland. Especially the old part of town is nice to see. Definitely climb a little into the city, because from there you get a good view of the city and surrounding countryside.
Exploring islands – Everyone that thought you could only do island hopping in the Caribbean is wrong! In front of the Finnish coast there are hundreds of small islands. During the summer they are frequented by tourists and locals. Some of the islands have beautiful beaches, natural parks or historic buildings built on it. It can be cool by the sea, so always bring some extra clothes.
The wild nature! – Finland consists out of 90% nature. The beautiful arctic north, deciduous forests in the south and the thousands of lakes in between. Unwind in one of the most beautiful natural sites in the world.
Aurora Borealis – The northern lights or aurora borealis is a unique spectacle which you can never get enough of. The green light dancing is mainly visible in the north between November and March. It’s not easy to see this spectacle with your own eyes, because bad weather often makes it impossible to see. If you see it, however, it might as well be the most beautiful natural phenomenon that you will ever see.
Midnight Sun – Once the frequency of the aurora starts to go down, the days get longer and longer in Finland. For two months the sun never completely sets. A unique natural spectacle with an incredible palette of colors and a revival of nature as you can see nowhere else in the world.
Sweating in the sauna – Finland is thé country of the sauna. Almost everyone in Finland (one in three people!) has their own sauna. As a tourist you should also immerse yourself in the local cultural phenomenon. There are plenty of public saunas, and once it gets too hot, you can quickly cool off in one of the nearby lakes. Best feeling ever!
For some nice addresses you definitely should read this article.
Meet Santa Claus – Did you know that the official address of Santa Claus is in Finland? Just above the arctic circle you can find the city of Rovaniemi. This village in Finnish Lapland attracts a lot of tourists who want to come and see Santa from a bit closer. Have you been good enough this year to go visit the big bellied Santa Claus?
First you have to sweat it all out in the Finnish sauna and afterward you need to jump into the ice cold ater! Best feeling ever, I promise you!
Don’ts
Take off clothes in every sauna – Are you heading to the sauna? Most public saunas have a mixed audience and thus you will be asked to put on a swimsuit. You prefer to walk around nude now and then? On certain hours or days some saunas are only opened for a specific gender.
Only go for the northern lights – The aurora borealis is magical, and many people dream to see it. But above all, it is very unpredictable. A large number of clouds in the sky, fog, too much light pollution or just a very low presence of the lights can all spoil your chance at seeing the lights. The chance that you will see the aurora borealis in Lapland is quite big, but don’t forget to schedule some other activities as well. You can never know in advance how the local weather will be turn out that day.
The beautiful Aurora Borealis. Finland is one of the few countries where you can see this amazing spectacle!
