Why Finland
The country is covered in forest and lakes — a hundred and eighty-eight thousand lakes, and that is an official figure, not an image. Helsinki is in the south, on the Gulf of Finland, two hours by ferry from Tallinn and a night from Stockholm. Finnish Lapland occupies the northern third.
The gap between seasons is extreme. In June the sun does not set in the north; in December it does not rise. The south has six-hour days in winter and nineteen-hour days in summer.
June to August for the lakes, the forest and the midnight sun. December to March for snow, the aurora and the dry cold — which regularly drops below minus twenty in Lapland.
Entry and stay
An EU and Schengen country. An identity card is enough for nationals of the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
For other nationalities, the European Entry/Exit System (EES) has been in service since 10 April 2026 and digitally records every crossing of a Schengen external border, with or without a visa, against the ninety-days-in-a-hundred-eighty allowance. ETIAS, a twenty-euro authorisation for visa-exempt nationalities, is expected in the final quarter of 2026.
Source: France Diplomatie and the European Commission, checked on 22 September 2026.
Getting around
VR trains are comfortable and link Helsinki to Rovaniemi overnight, with carriages that carry cars. It is the natural way to head north.
Helsinki has an efficient tram and métro network, and the ferries to Suomenlinna leave from the market square on an ordinary transport ticket.
Distances in Lapland are large and the road network there is good but snow- covered for months: winter driving means studded tyres, which are compulsory in season.
Money
Euro — Finland is the only Nordic country to have adopted it.
Cards work everywhere, including for very small amounts, and the country is largely cashless without going as far as Sweden.
Before you go
The sauna is not a tourist activity, it is a domestic habit. There are more than three million of them for five and a half million inhabitants. You go in naked, men and women separately except within a family, and you wash before entering.
The right of public access, jokamiehenoikeus, allows walking, camping and foraging on uncultivated land, with the same duties of discretion as in Sweden.
The northern lights cannot be ordered. They need a clear sky, darkness and solar activity: three nights on site give a reasonable chance, one night gives none.