Tourism in Finland

Finland attracted over 6.8 million foreign tourists in 2018, with 53 percent coming from other European Union states.

Finland is also known to have excellent water quality, and green deep woods and forests around the sea, rivers, and the waterways.

Throughout Finland, Santa Claus (Joulupukki) is commonly considered to live on the Korvatunturi fell in Lapland.

Other popular tourist destinations within Finland include Tampere, Jyväskylä, Turku, Oulu, Kuopio, Rovaniemi, and Porvoo.

Many of Helsinki's main attractions are also related to the sea, including the Suomenlinna naval fortress (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the Seurasaari Island with its parks and open-air museum.

In the winter-time Helsinki's northern position makes it dark for most of the day, with lighting fixtures such as Aleksanterinkatu's Christmas street (Joulukatu).

During the coldest months of the winter, it is very common for locals to go for walks on the frozen sea, although authorities recommend caution when the ice is thin.

Helsinki was ranked 10th of the most expensive cities in the world according to UBS Group AG's Prices and Earnings report for 2018.

[11] Travelers should plan to spend around US$216 or €199 per day on their vacation in Helsinki, which is the average daily cost of staying in a 4-star hotel, visiting 2 popular attractions, using public transportation, and eating out in mid-range restaurants with a glass of wine included.

The old industrial city built on between lakes Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, and along Tammerkoski rapids has also proved to be quite a significant tourist destination with its various national and international events,[15][16] museums (such as Moomin Museum) market places (such as Tampere Market Hall[17][18]) and, of course, its Särkänniemi amusement park, not to mention the world-acclaimed nature in Tampere.

[19] Tampere's local traditional food "mustamakkara" in particular has aroused a lot of interest in the world, all the way to celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

[27] Lonely Planet calls Jyväskylä as a Mecca for architecture lovers around the world for its large collection of Alvar Aalto buildings.

[28] Later, a modern architect Arto Sipinen, a pupil of Aalto, has influenced in the cityscape since the 1970s by designing most of the new university buildings in the city.

[33][34] Finnish cuisine includes fresh ingredients, particularly game and fish, foraged berries and mushrooms such as false morels, and even reindeer.

It's possible to take the Silja, Tallink and Viking Line ferries from Helsinki to Mariehamn in the Åland archipelago, Stockholm (Sweden), Rostock and Travemünde in Germany, and to Tallinn, (Estonia).

Helsinki-Vantaa airport is Finland's global gateway with scheduled non-stop flights to such places as Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Miami, Nagoya, New Delhi, New York, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo and Istanbul.

Helsinki has an optimal location for great circle airline traffic routes between Western Europe and the Far East.