Finland's scariest town?

Advantages: Limestone mines, Opus K pub, the lake, walking trails
Disadvantages: Very frightening people, nowhere to eat on Sundays

...On the final leg of our Estonia/Finland travels in September 2007 we needed to find somewhere to spend our final two nights travelling before we arrived back in Helsinki prior to our return home. We wanted somewhere roughly midway between Turku and Helsinki with a bed and breakfast or hotel, somewhere to eat and something interesting to do or see. Only one of the places we identified on our map as being likely also appeared in our Lonely Planet guide - that place was Lohja. We arrived in the town soaking wet on Saturday lunchtime and squelched our way to Matkakoti Linnakangas, described in Lonely Planet as a 'comfortable and well-equipped guesthouse' with 'a variety of homely rooms with fridge, TV and toilet'. After a minute or two standing on the doorstep absorbing more rain, the proprietor appeared and in what seemed...

fizzytom 06.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Lohja, Finland

Tampere, The best city in Finland

Advantages: Small heart in big city
Disadvantages: (road to Turku !)

...Awww.. Finally I will give my all to this. Really, this is my baby and I hope you will be gentle with it. As some of you know I'm from Finland and from Tampere or Manse as we locals say. Funny I still see myself as local even I haven't live there for last? (God) nearly 10 years. As most of Finnish cities Tampere got its Swedish name as well, it Tammerfors. But before I can start my review I have to say "Moro" (Tampere language and meaning "hi"). *************************************************************** *************** Location: City is situating between two lakes, Lake- Nasijarvi and Lake- Pyhajarvi in southern Finland. Tampere is the third largest city in Finland, and the largest city outside the Greater Helsinki area. Its part of Western Finland province, 173 km north from Helsinki and it have nearly 200 000...

Winterangel76 12.03.2007 (03.04.2007) · Read review
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Review of Tampere, Finland

Ruka Cottages, Ruka, Finland Christmas 2008

Advantages: Stunning Scenery, Skiing, Snow & Santa
Disadvantages: Expensive

...21st December 2008 is the day we have been waiting for we booked our 1st family ski holiday to Ruka in Finland. The kids have been non stop talking about this since we booked it on 8th Jan 08. This is not a holiday where you think about cost it is worth every penny and when we got back money was never mentioned as it was one of those priceless moments. Flight for Manchester to Kussamo took aprox 3hrs & 40 mins and was at 6.40am. As we bagan out descent into Kussamo we could see lots of trees and plenty of snow I myself was getting giddy by this time in equal ammounts as my 8,6 & 5 year olds my husband was playing it cool but not for long. Kussamo airport is very small with no duty free shop just a small shop offering souveniers and coffee's and pasteries. Cases were pretty quick coming to us and the coach journey to our accomodation...

flossy999 19.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Lapland (Finland)

  A truly magical Christmas experience

Advantages: Memories to treasure
Disadvantages: Quite expensive, but well worth it

...around 3 hours, and was extremely pleasant. Don't worry about landing in snow, these guys do it all the time. Flights are also available from other major UK airports. We flew directly into Kittila, though a number of flights now go through Helsinki and on to Kittila. The afternoon flight meant we arrived late, but the hotel laid on dinner for us and we didn't have that horrible after-effect of a 4am start. If you go, be ready for a huge cheer on landing when all the children get their first glimpse of the snow. ********************************************** Lapland Representing around 30% of Finland's total land area, Lapland shares it's borders with Sweden, Norway, and Russia. The actual borders are a little blurred however, as the native Saami people are distributed throughout all four countries. Although they are often referred to...

matsu65 23.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Lapland (Finland)

A foreign view of finland

Advantages: Great public transport, clean, relative low crime, safe for single females.
Disadvantages: People push alot and dont say sorry, spitting, dark winters.

...I am a foreigner living in helsinki, I came to finland as a student and then found work here. I have very mixed views about the country and its people. I have had some very positive experiences here and made many good friends. The public transport in Helsinki is fantastic and cheap, the city is only small in comparison to most european capital cities and is clean. Finnish is a very dificult language since it is unrelated to other languages (except maybe estonian) and and all finns are at least bilingual (which i have great respect for) however many are reluctant to speak english. I have often hit major language barriers in my daily life but as a tourist you can do fine with no finnish skills. Finnish people tend not to speak unless spoken to and i find them often arrogant and selfish, also spitting in the street is a very common habit...

virhea 26.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Finland

Finland - Where is that?

Advantages: Wounderful, nordic country
Disadvantages: there are none

...Have you ever been to Finland? No? Oh, dear, you don´t know whar you miss! Well, here are some news from Father Chrismas-Land. Finland is not an arctic region, quite the oposite! More than half of Finland lies south of the Arctic Circle. Finland has got more reindeer than people, that´s true. But all of the 5 million Finns are very nice and nearly everybody speaks perfectly English. In Finland it is cold in winter, but in the south the snow does not come before November and is gone by April. In the three summer months June, July and August the average temperature in daytime is more than 5 degrees Celsius higher than in the UK. Finland has mor than 50.000 big lakes and an uncountable number of smaller ones and around nearly every one you can find a summercottage. There is nothing you can compare with swimming in the warm water (up...

minae 27.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of General: Finland

Turku - worth a little work

Advantages: Superb bars, laid back, friendly
Disadvantages: Fewer things open in off season, not for lazy visitors

...Situated in south west Finland, Turku is the closest major city to Sweden, and as such is often regarded with some suspicion by residents of other parts of the country; in particular it is the focus for some considerable rivalry with the city of Tampere some two hours or so north (which seems to me just too far to have any kind of point). Turku is a seaport and it is used by many holiday makers a as base for exploring what is known as the south western archipelago - hundreds of little islands which (I learned from Griff Rhys Jones in his book "To the Baltic with Bob") lie in only partially charted sea, so great is the number of islands involved. If you visit in the summer you can sail - by public scheduled services or by private charter - to many of the islands; however, if you fail, to open your guidebook before you arrive in mid...

fizzytom 05.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Turku (Finland)

I loved it - by the Finnish

Advantages: Great architecture, good food, lots to do
Disadvantages: Closure of many attractions in the off season, expensive by UK prices

...Helsinki was not my choice. My partner had for a long time wanted to visit Finland's capital (he collects capital cities) and so I treated him for his 40th birthday. I wasn't against the idea, I just didn't really know anything about the place. We did buy a Lonely Planet well in advance of the trip but since we were also planning to visit Estonia my mind was focused more on my beloved Eastern Europe than on Finland. All I set out with was my pre-conceived idea of a very modern and forward-thinking city in the Scandinavian model; I did not expect much in the way of history, certainly not in the capital though I knew that Helsinki is a city with a strong maritime background. There is a band called "Architecture in Helsinki"; I don't know much about them other than that I have often thought it a good name. Having now seen much...

fizzytom 05.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Helsinki (Finland)

Lapland Yllas Santa short Break (Inghams)

Advantages: Lots of fun things to do (santa park, reindeer ride, husky ride, snow mobile)
Disadvantages: Inghams could have organised better for snowsuit + boot pick-up & return

.... These huskies are very strong. The ride is about 2km, a very good taster. Then we were taken to a hut with a fire in the middle and were served hot drinks and biscuits. The instructor told us all about these dogs - how fast they can run etc. Apparently there is a 1000km Finland to Norway Arctic husky race every year. After that we were shown one of the five very cute husky puppies. We are allowed to stroke it and hold it for a picture. This serves the purpose of the husky being used to human handling. Also around the farm there are several very friendly retired huskies on leashes for you to take picture or stroke. However they are a bit strong for very young children and they are a bit playful i.e. snatching gloves off children as well. One more thing: you can book rides for 5km, 10km or even 50km with this farm...

volcano 22.12.2007 (25.12.2007) · Read review
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Review of Lapland (Finland)

Street Poets from Finland

Advantages: An upbeat album featuring a few tracks of Glam Rock glory.
Disadvantages: Some of the tracks fast become really rather irritating.

...Having formed in Finland way back in 1979 and split up in 1985 after the death of their drummer, Hanoi Rocks reformed in 2002 and are now very much making the most of their second wind. It is an interesting one that a band should reform nearly twenty years on, however I am very glad that they did as since returning they have released a further three albums of varying quality. 'Street Poetry' is the latest album from Hanoi Rocks and was given its release through Demolition Records in the UK in September 2007. Although only two of the original band members remain in the band, those being vocalist Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy; you should not let this fact put you off as Hanoi Rocks are still making some great music. Featuring the single 'Fashion' which went straight to Number 1 when released in Finland, 'Street Poetry' is...

RazzaLazza 24.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Street Poetry - Hanoi Rocks