Travel - thisisFINLAND

Finnish comic artist Kaisa Leka breaks preconceptions about disabilities and being outdoors

Award-winning artist and adventurer Kaisa Leka wants to ensure that nature is accessible for everyone. Her prosthetic legs have taken her across the United States and all the way to the Arctic Sea, but her hidden gems are on the countless islands of the Finnish archipelago.

Life & society Architecture

Admiring art nouveau: Helsinki’s architectural eye candy

Helsinki showcases one of Europe’s richest concentrations of photogenic art nouveau buildings. We aim a camera at some of our favourite Finnish façades, towers, doorways and balconies.

Life & society Sustainability

On a roll: Helsinki urban planning continues to expand bike path network

The Finnish capital places high on the growing list of enlightened world capitals that embrace cycling as an urban planning priority. Broad political agreement is a factor in the long-running development of its bike path system.

Mellunmäki

The world's northernmost metro station, in Helsinki

Arts & culture Cuisine

Food first: Finnish festival cuisine emphasises sustainability and artisanal touches

The recipe for the perfect bite? Sustainable, local ingredients turned into world-class artisanal dishes, served with a smile in a laid-back festival setting.

Life & society Nature

Spending an idyllic week in a Finnish national park, on a shepherding holiday

In several of Finland’s national parks, grazing sheep and cows help maintain traditional landscapes. Holiday-goers can enjoy a week surrounded by natural beauty while looking after the animals.

#1 passport

Finns can travel visa-free to 174 countries (Germans, Brits and Swedes share this honour)

Source: Visa Restrictions Index

Arts & culture Finnishness

Visit a scenic Finnish lake essential to the country’s cultural legacy

The shores of one picturesque lake were home to a community of Finland’s most significant artists in the early 1900s – a cultural powerhouse whose legacy and influence is still vibrantly alive.

Life & society Cuisine

Après-steam cuisine: 7 Finnish waterfront sauna restaurants serving delicious meals

Famous for its sauna culture, Finland continues to innovate in the sauna space. Sleek new sauna restaurants have cropped up around the country in recent years. A few have already become classics and local landmarks.

Arts & culture Culture

In the far north, Siida shows a Sámi view of how nature and culture go together

Hundreds of kilometres above the Arctic Circle, the Siida Sámi Museum and Nature Centre portrays the culture of the Indigenous Sámi people and the diversity of the region’s flora and fauna.

500,400

Number of summer cottages in Finland

Source: Statistics Finland