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🇫🇮Things to Do in Finland
From Helsinki's design scene to the Northern Lights over Lapland - the essential sights, and how to keep your own record of them.
Travel guide - last updated September 2026
Finland splits between Helsinki's compact, design-forward capital in the south and Lapland's forests and reindeer country in the north, home to both Santa Claus's official village and some of Europe's best odds for seeing the Northern Lights. The two halves are different enough in feel that most trips lean toward one or the other rather than combining them in a short visit. Here are 8 places worth building a trip around.
Top attractions
The sights most first-time visitors build an itinerary around.
Helsinki Design District & Suomenlinna
Central Helsinki's design shops and cafes, with Suomenlinna - a UNESCO-listed sea fortress on a cluster of islands - a short ferry ride from the market square.
📍 Helsinki
🚉 The Design District is walkable from Helsinki Central station; Suomenlinna is reached by the HSL ferry from Market Square, 15 minutes, and included in a normal transit ticket.
Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi
Built directly on the Arctic Circle, with a year-round Santa Claus meet-and-greet and a line painted on the ground marking the circle itself for a photo.
📍 Rovaniemi, Lapland
🚉 Nearest station: Rovaniemi, the end of the overnight Santa Claus Express from Helsinki, then bus 8 for the 8km to the village on the Arctic Circle.
Northern Lights, Lapland
Lapland's dark, low-light-pollution skies give it some of Europe's best aurora odds, roughly September through March. Glass igloo hotels around Saariselkä and Levi let you watch from bed if the sky cooperates.
📍 Saariselkä & Levi, Lapland
🚉 Rovaniemi, Levi, Saariselka and Ivalo are the bases: trains run as far as Rovaniemi and Kemijarvi, with coaches continuing north, and aurora tours drive out from each in the evening.
Finnish Sauna Culture
Finland has roughly one sauna for every two residents, and sauna culture is recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Helsinki's public saunas, like Löyly on the waterfront, are open to visitors without a hotel stay.
📍 Helsinki
🚉 Helsinki's public saunas are all on transit: Loyly is a tram 6 ride to Eiranranta, Allas Sea Pool is by Market Square, and Kotiharjun, the old wood-fired one, is at Sornainen metro.
Reindeer & Husky Safaris, Lapland
Reindeer sleigh rides and husky sledding are both widely available around Rovaniemi and Levi in winter, often paired with a visit to a working reindeer farm.
📍 Rovaniemi & Levi, Lapland
🚉 Farms sit outside the towns with no bus service - operators in Rovaniemi, Levi and Saariselka include hotel pickup, which is how nearly everyone gets there.
Åland Islands
An autonomous, Swedish-speaking archipelago between Finland and Sweden, with a slower pace, medieval castle ruins, and a strong cycling culture across its flat main island.
📍 Åland Islands
🚉 Viking Line and Tallink ferries call at Mariehamn on the Stockholm-Turku route, and Finnair flies from Helsinki - the islands are then covered by bicycle and free inter-island ferries.
Turku & Turku Castle
Finland's oldest city and former capital, with a medieval castle on the harbor and a lively riverside restaurant scene along the Aura River.
📍 Turku
🚉 Nearest station: Turku, two hours from Helsinki, with the castle a 3km walk or a bus 1 ride down at the harbour beside the Stockholm ferry terminal.
Finnish Lakeland
Finland has close to 188,000 lakes, concentrated in the eastern Lakeland region around Savonlinna, where Olavinlinna Castle hosts an opera festival on the water each July.
📍 Savonlinna, Finnish Lakeland
🚉 Trains from Helsinki reach Tampere, Jyvaskyla, Kuopio and Savonlinna in two to five hours; the lake steamers between them run in summer and are the traditional way to travel here.
Mark Finland, get the stamp
In MyPassportStory, every country you mark - visited, lived in, or still on the list - becomes a stamp like these in your own travel passport. Add the cities you stopped in, draw the route between them, and turn the whole trip into a shareable passport-style image.
Open MyPassportStoryPlanning questions
How many days do you need in Finland?
4-5 days covers Helsinki thoroughly. A Lapland trip (Rovaniemi, Northern Lights, huskies) is worth treating as its own 4-5 day extension given the flight involved from the south.
What's the best time to visit Finland?
June-August has mild weather and near-constant daylight in the north (the midnight sun). September-March is best for the Northern Lights in Lapland, with December-February the classic snowy, Santa-Claus-Village season.
Is Finland good for a first-time visit?
Yes - Helsinki is compact and easy to navigate, English is very widely spoken, and Lapland's tourism infrastructure is well set up for visitors despite the remote setting.
Do I need a visa to visit Finland?
Finland is part of the Schengen Area, so citizens of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa arranged in advance. Check the official visa information for your nationality: um.fi.
What are some things to do in Finland on a tight budget?
Suomenlinna's grounds and most of Helsinki's parks and waterfront cost nothing beyond the ferry fare, Finland's right-to-roam laws (jokamiehenoikeus) allow free access to forests and lakes for hiking and even wild camping, and self-catering from a grocery store cuts significantly into the country's high dining costs.
Can I rent a car in Finland, and what licence do I need?
Yes, and in Lapland it saves waiting on thin bus timetables. EU and EEA licences are valid as issued; licences from other countries are accepted for visits when in the Latin alphabet, otherwise an International Driving Permit or official translation is needed. Minimum age is generally 19 to 21 with under-25 surcharges. Winter tyres are compulsory from November to March, and in the far north reindeer wander onto the roads constantly - hitting one must be reported to the police by law. The Transport and Communications Agency publishes the rules at traficom.fi; cars come from Hertz, Sixt and Europcar.