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Kauppatori
Oulu has the liveliest market square of all Finnish towns, and its position at the waterfront makes it all the more appealing. The square is bordered by several old wooden storehouses now serving as restaurants, bars and craft shops. The squat Toripolliisi statue, a humorous repres
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Hiekkalinna
Every summer around 30 sand artists from Finland and abroad gather to build the Hiekkalinna, a giant themed ‘sandcastle’ made from some three million kilograms of sand. Previous themes have included dinosaurs, a Wild West scene incorporating a gigantic steam train, and outer space
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Palanderin talo
Finland loves its house-museums and this is among the best, offering a wonderful insight into well-off 19th-century Finnish life, thanks to excellent English-speaking guided tours. There’s splendid imperial and art nouveau furniture as well as delicate little touches like a double-
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Hiihtomuseo
A history of skis includes excavated examples from 2000 years ago. The fun starts in the next room: frustrate yourself on the ski-jump simulator, then try the biathlon: skiing on Velcro before nailing five bulls-eyes. In summer take the chairlift up to the observation terrace at th
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Keuruun Vanha Kirkko
Keuruus fascinating wooden church, built in 1758, has superb portraits of Bible characters (although the artist didn’t complete the set, due to a pay dispute), and dark clouds all across the ceiling depicting the firmament, peopled by scattered beasts, angels and devils. There are
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Petäjäveden Vanha Kirkko
Thirty-five kilometres west of Jyväskylä, pause at Petäjävesi to see the wonderfully gnarled Unesco-listed wooden church. Finished in 1765, it’s a marvellous example of 18th-century rustic Finnish architecture with crooked wooden pews, a pulpit held up by a rosy-cheeked St Christop
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Bonk Museum
The creation of local artist Alvar Gullichsen, this spoof museum-art installation is a classic display of oddball Finnish humour. It traces the rise of the Bonk dynasty, who rose from humble beginnings to become the owners of a multiglobal industrial empire producing ‘fully defunct
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Pilke Tiedekeskus
Downstairs in the Metsähallitus (Finnish Forest and Park Service) building next to the Arktikum, this is a highly entertaining exhibition on Finnish forestry. It has dozens of interactive displays that are great for kids of all ages, who can clamber up into a logging vehicle or pla
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Temppeliaukion Kirkko
The Temppeliaukio church, designed by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen in 1969, remains one of Helsinki’s foremost attractions. Hewn into solid stone, it feels close to a Finnish ideal of spirituality in nature – you could be in a rocky glade were it not for the stunning 24m-diameter roo
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Maritime Centre Vellamo
In a tanker-sized, wave-like building with walls of metal and printed glass and a rooftop stage, this state-of-the-art dockside museum recounts Finland’s seafaring life. The star exhibit is the Tarmo, the world’s oldest ice-breaker (1908), which ploughed Finnish waters until it was
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Linnoitus
Standing guard above the harbour, this hulking hilltop fortification was begun by the Swedes and finished by the Russians in the late 18th century. Today it contains galleries, craft workshops and fascinating museums, including the history-focused South Karelian Museum , Cavalry Mu
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Lumilinna
Of all the marvels under the big sky, few things conjure the fairy-tale romance of a snow castle. First built in 1996 as a Unicef project, the castle is a Lapland winter highlight and favoured destination for weddings, honeymoons, or general marvelling at the weird light and sumptu
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Vapriikki
A bright, modern glass-and-steel exhibition space in the renovated Tampella textile mill. As well as regularly changing exhibitions on anything from bicycles to Buddhism, there’s a permanent display on Tampere’s history, a beautiful mineral museum , a natural history museum and a s
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Sjöfartsmuseum
Sjöfartsmuseum was originally built in 1837 as a merchant’s home to dominate the market square. Today it showcases Kristinestad’s maritime heritage, especially ship-building, with reconstructions of a captain’s cabin and a ship’s helm.
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Pohjanmaan Museo
Vaasa’s dynamic, modern museum is divided into three sections. Downstairs, Terranova has a brilliant evocation of the region’s natural history – complete with dioramas and storm-and-lightning effects – that includes information on the Kvarken Archipelago. On the ground floor, yeste
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Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova
Art and archaeology unite here under one roof. Aboa Vetus (Old Turku) draws you underground to Turku’s medieval streets, showcasing some of the 37,000 artefacts unearthed from the site (digs still continue). Back in the present, Ars Nova presents contemporary art exhibitions. The t
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Vanha Porvoo
One of Finlands most enticing old quarters, this tangle of cobbled alleys and wooden warehouses is still entrancing. Once a vibrant port and market, Porvoo now has craft boutiques, art galleries, souvenir stores and antique shops jostling for attention on the main roads, Välikatu a
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Mannerheim
This fascinating museum by Kaivopuisto (park) was the home of Baron Gustav Mannerheim, former president, commander in chief of the Finnish army and Finnish Civil War victor. The great field marshal never owned the building; he rented it from chocolate magnate Karl Fazer until his d
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Kuusamon Suurpetokeskus
There’s a great backstory to this bear sanctuary 33km south of Kuusamo on the Kajaani road. Rescued as helpless orphans, the bears were nursed by their ‘father’ Sulo Karjalainen, who then refused to have them put down (they can’t return to the wild) when government funding dried up
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Tuomiokirkko
One of CL Engel’s finest creations, the chalk-white neoclassical Lutheran cathedral presides over Senaatintori. Created to serve as a reminder of God’s supremacy, its high flight of stairs is now a meeting place for canoodling couples. The spartan, almost mausoleum-like interior ha
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