Insight Guides Finland (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

Description

Insight Guides England

Travel made easy. Ask local experts. 
Inspirational travel guide with fascinating historical insights and stunning imagery.

From deciding when to go, to choosing what to see when you arrive, this guide to Finland is all you need to plan your perfect trip, with insider information on must-see, top attractions like Kiasma, Helsinki; Lapland; Lakeland; the Aland archipelago; and Sibelius Hall, Lahti; and cultural gems like Karelia's Russian Orthodox history, the Lenin Museum and SIIDA in Inari.

Features of this travel guide to Finland:
- Inspirational colour photography: discover the best destinations, sights and excursions, and be inspired by stunning imagery
- Historical and cultural insights: immerse yourself in Finland's rich history and culture, and learn all about the Northern lights, Saimaa ringed seals, Sapas and littala glassware
- Practical full-colour maps: with every major sight and listing highlighted, the full-colour maps make on-the-ground navigation easy
- Editor's Choice: uncover the best of Finland with our pick of the region's top destinations
- Key tips and essential information: packed full of important travel information, from transport and tipping to etiquette and hours of operation
- Covers: Helsinki, Southern Finland, Southwestern Finland, The Aland Islands, The West Coast, Lakeland, Karelia and Kuusamo and Lapland

Looking for a specific guide to Helsinki? Check out Insight Guides Pocket Helsinki for a detailed and entertaining look at all the city has to offer.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps, as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

Sujets

• Travel
• Scandinavia
• Finland
• Norway
• Finlande
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781839052064
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Finland, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Finland. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Finland are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Finland. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd




Table of Contents
Finland’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s Choice
Introduction: A Natural Beauty
A Unique Experience
Decisive Dates
The Finns Arrive
Birth of a Nation
Living with Russia
The Two Wars
A Shift in Balance
The Finnish Soul
Art, Architecture and Design
Music and Film
Insight: Finland’s Summer Festivals
The Writer’s Dilemma
Finns who Speak Swedish
The Sami and Their Land
From Flying Finns to Formula One
Food and Drink
In Defence of Greenness
Insight: Lapland: The Home of Santa Claus
Introduction: Places
Helsinki
Insight: The Traditional Finnish Sauna
Southern Finland
Southwestern Finland
The Åland Islands
The West Coast
Insight: Enjoying the Finnish Summer
Lakeland
Karelia and Kuusamo
Lapland
Travel Tips: Transport
Travel Tips: A–Z
Travel Tips: Language
Travel Tips: Further Reading


Finland’s Top 10 Attractions



Top Attraction 1



Karelia and Russian Orthodox history. Much of present-day Finnish Karelia was once a part of Russia, and the churches, monasteries, museums and frontier-running bunkers evoke a strong sense of history, beauty and – for Finnish people, at least – immense nostalgia. For more information, click here .
Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 2



Taking a sauna. Spending time broiling in a sauna and then cooling off by jumping into a nearby lake or the sea is a Finnish national pastime and favoured tradition. An invitation from a Finn to his or her sauna is not one to turn down – it means you have made headway to a close and lasting friendship. For more information, click here .
VisitFinland


Top Attraction 3



Exploring Lakeland by kayak. Finland is famous for its lakes, and one of the best ways to enjoy them is by renting a kayak. For more information, click here .
VisitFinland


Top Attraction 4



Snowmobiling along the Russian border. Lapland is known for three things: Father Christmas, the Sami people, and its amazing, immense wilderness. Get to know the region’s furthest reaches by hopping on a diesel-powered skidoo and taking to roads, trails and frozen lakes. For more information, click here or click here .
VisitFinland


Top Attraction 5



Kiasma, Helsinki. The cutting-edge art at this excellent museum gives a strong sense of what modern-day Finland is all about. For more information, click here .
Joel Rosenberg/Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art & Central Art Archives


Top Attraction 6



Exploring the Baltic states. From Helsinki it’s easy to take a ferry to Estonia; Tallinn has a fine medieval Old Town, a lively nightlife and the lure of cheap alcohol. For more information, click here .
Helsinki Tourism


Top Attraction 7



Sibelius Hall in Lahti. Only one concert hall in Finland is named after the country’s greatest composer, and Lahti’s world-renowned symphony orchestra is based here. For more information, click here .
VisitFinland/Sami Lettojärvi


Top Attraction 8



Jugend architecture in Helsinki. On the headland of the Helsinki peninsula is Katajanokka, the best-known historical part of town, with sights including the Russian Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral and architect Alvar Aalto’s most controversial construction. For more information, click here or click here .
Helsinki Tourism


Top Attraction 9



Biking around the Åland archipelago. This lush collection of islands off the western coast is one of the most enigmatic and handsome in all of Europe, and is great for exploration by bike. For more information, click here .
VisitFinland/Thorsten Brönner


Top Attraction 10



Gold panning in the far reaches of Lapland. Lapland once experienced a small but frenzied gold rush along the Ivalojoki river valley in the 1860s, and locals and visitors alike still come to sift for whatever might have been left behind. There’s even a Gold Prospectors’ Museum. For more information, click here .
VisitFinland


Editor’s Choice




Sauna bliss.
iStock


Only in Finland

Saimaa ringed seals. There are only about 390 of this endangered freshwater species in the world and all of them live in Finland’s Lake Saimaa .
Sapas. These Finnish tapas are some of the most unusual dishes you’ll ever try in Finland. Noteworthy nibbles include black pudding with lingonberry, smoked reindeer heart and smoked bream with potato mousse and fried rye dough. For more information on Finnish food, click here .
Iittala glassware. Founded in 1881, the glassworks’ ethos is to design beautiful things that last a lifetime, producing objects combining high quality, aesthetics and functionality. For more information, click here .
Northern Lights. Finland is probably the best place to see the Northern Lights: the Aurora borealis can be seen in Lapland more than 200 nights a year. For more information, click here .



Huskies.
VisitFinland


Best outdoor adventure activities

Huskies. Lapland is the place for outdoor adventure experiences – none as thrilling as driving a pack of sledge dogs through the snow and out towards the middle of, well, nowhere. For more information, click here .
Kayaking. Kayaking in Finland is great, whether you are experienced or a novice. Hiring a kayak or canoe is the best way to see some of the most remote, and otherwise inaccessible, parts of the country. For more information, click here .
Taking a sauna. No trip to Finland is complete without experiencing this most Finnish of activities, an invigorating and restorative way to get to know nature – and the locals. For more information, click here .
Cycling. Quiet, flattish roads and courteous car drivers make cycling in Finland a pleasure – particularly in the charming Åland islands, which even have two bicycle-only ferry services.
Snowmobiling. The Sami people have been relying on snowmobiles since the 1970s, so there are umpteen trails running through forests, across empty tundra and over frozen lakes. For more information, click here .



Lenin Museum.
VisitFinland


Best Museums

Aboa Vetus Ars Nova. This striking museum in Turku combines city history and modern art and is set right on the Aura River. For more information, click here .
Kiasma, Helsinki. The gorgeous architecture of Finland’s premier modern art museum is a top attraction in itself, but venture inside to take in the compelling exhibitions. For more information, click here .
Lenin Museum . The world’s only museum on the revolutionary covers his life both during and after he lived in Finland. For more information, click here .
Mannerheim Museum. An immensely engagi