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Observation Tower
Above the tunnel before you cross the bridge to Sund, the 30m-high observation tower at Café Uffe på Berget affords superb views of the archipelago and is a popular photo stop. Across the road is Godby Arboretum , a small nature park with native and exotic trees along a short, mark
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Ainola
Sibelius’ home is just south of Järvenpää. The family home, designed by Lars Sonck and built on this forested site in 1904, contains original furniture, paintings, books and a piano on which Sibelius plotted out tunes until his death. The graves of Jean Sibelius and his wife Aino a
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Sinebrychoffin Taidemuseo
The largest collection of classic European paintings in Finland is in this former brewery. The main collection is Italian, Flemish and Swedish in origin. The Empire room is an impressive re-creation that drips with chandeliers and opulence. Entrance rises to €10 if you want to visi
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Sankt Andreas Kyrka
Sankt Andreas Kyrka was built in 1720 making it a relative youngster, but it is Åland’s oldest surviving wooden church, which lends it a certain charm. The curious cross is actually a weathervane that was once attached to the steeple. The large altarpiece was painted by Victor West
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Hossan Luontokeskus
The Luontokeskus is a lakeside nature centre arranging fishing permits (there’s a machine outside too) and hiring equipment including tackle, boats and skis. It also deals with bookings for the network of trail huts scattered around the area and runs the adjacent Karhunkainalo , wh
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KH Renlund Museo
KH Renlund Museo is in a large 19th-century merchant’s mansion. It contains the collection of Karl Herman Renlund, a shopkeeper who left his art collection for the benefit of ‘students and the working class’. The collection is unexceptional, but for a Victor Westerholm canvas depic
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Espoo Museum of Modern Art
This has a huge collection of mostly Finnish modern art, ranging from the early 20th century to the present. It’s definitely worth the trip from Helsinki. Sharing the same address and opening hours, and visitable with the same ticket, are four other museums that can round out a day
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Sibeliustalo
By the harbour on Vesijärvi, this spectacular concert hall in glass and wood is the home of the top-notch Lahti Symphony Orchestra, which is responsible for some of the best Sibelius recordings of recent years (there’s a good selection in the shop here). The hall is wonderfully lit
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Didrichsen Taidemuseo
This striking villa is filled with elegant objets dart, including some Mayan and Chinese pieces, Finnish golden-age works and 20th-century international art, including paintings by Picasso, Miró and Kandinsky and a Henry Moore sculpture. It also offers changing exhibitions. Get her
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Fängelsemuseet Vita Björn
By the entrance to the Jan Karlsgården Museum is this small but interesting prison museum. The building was a jail until 1975 and demonstrates how cells and conditions evolved over the two centuries it was in use. Although it looks like a cottage, the walls and floor are of thick s
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Nanoq Arctic Museum
Nanoq Arctic Museum is a surprisingly good museum housed in a model of a Greenlandic peat house. The collection is the private achievement of Pentti Kronqvist, who has made several expeditions to the Arctic. There are Inuit tools, fossils, authentic Arctic huts from Greenland and e
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Pedersöre Church
Dating from the 1400s, this is one of the region’s oldest churches. King Gustav III of Sweden personally signed off on the plans to expand the church into the cruciform, though builders ignored his instruction to demolish the towering spire, which was later destroyed by fire, befor
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Runebergin Koti
National poet JL Runeberg’s former home has become a museum, with a period interior including stuffed foxes and muskets portraying the poet’s love of hunting. Across the road, the Walter Runeberg Sculpture Collection has 150 sculptures by Walter Runeberg, the poets son. It’s only o
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Verkatehdas
This attractive conversion of a former fabric mill looms large on the waterside across the bridge from the centre and has given Hämeenlinna a new arts and functions complex , which includes a cinema, restaurant and theatre. Though it’s not yet a hub of the community, it’s worth a l
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City Winter Gardens
A good cure for seasonal blues can be the City Winter Gardens , which are elaborate greenhouses, founded in 1893, and containing cacti, palms, and other sun-loving plants foreign to Finnish soil. They are surrounded by botanical gardens, including a spectacular display of roses. Ta
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Närpes Church
Medieval Närpes Church, 1km south of Närpes town centre, is surrounded by over 150 kyrkstallar (church stables), built in the 15th century for parishioners who rode in from rural farms to worship. Its altar dates from 1803 and was painted by the Swedish court painter Pehr Hörberg;
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Heinolan Lintutarhat
Right by the bus station, Heinolan Lintutarhat is a bird zoo with many Finnish species, all injured creatures rescued from the wild, as well as exotic varieties. The owls are particularly impressive, but some of the parrots look ragged to say the least. You can see some of the bird
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Rauma Maritime Museum
Wandering around the Old Town it’s easy to forget that Rauma is a port but its maritime museum is an engaging reminder of the town’s seafaring livelihood. As well as old photos and displays, there’s a thrilling navigation simulator of the M/S Jenny, which you can steer into New Yor
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Ristinkirkko
This striking church was designed by Alvar Aalto and finished in 1978. The brick exterior and concrete steeple give little clue as to the interior, a white and airy triangular space with wooden benches echoing the organ’s pipes. Structural lines angle towards the simple wooden cros
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Ålands Museum & Ålands Konstmuseum
Åland’s museum offers an insight into the islands’ history, with exhibits including a replica of a Stone Age boat made of sealskin and a large illustration of Bomarsund in all its glory. The adjoining art gallery has changing exhibitions and paintings by local artists. Both are exp
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