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Travel and Tourism in Finland
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Finland.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
- Time Difference
- UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- Currency
- .885
- Climate
- Virtually all of Finland lies between latitudes 60°N and 70°N, but the Gulf Stream and the prevalence of warm westerly winds make the climate several degrees warmer than elsewhere at the same latitude. Summers are short and mild, and the days are long. In June and July only a 2-3 hour period of twilight separates sunset from sunrise. In the extreme north the sun does not set for 73 days during the mid-summer period. Precipitation, averaging 63cm (25 inches) annually, is distributed over all seasons. Winters are long and cold. Snow is possible from October through April, with January through March having the heaviest accumulations. Temperatures may vary from north to south, as does the snow coverage from one winter to the next. Despite Helsinki”™s location on the Gulf of Finland, the humidity is low. The city”™s average temperature is +5°C (42°F). February and July mean temperatures are -5°C (23°F) and +17°C (63°F) respectively. Average temperatures in Lapland are -12°C (10°F) in January and +17°C (63°F) in July.
- Language(s) Spoken
- The Finnish people take great pride in their language. Through the years they have resisted other nation's attempts to impose their language on them. Over 93% of the population speaks Finnish, a Finnish-Ugric language coming from a language family different from Scandinavian languages. It is closely related to Estonian. Finland recognizes Sami, the tongue of the indigenous minority Sami. English is popular as a second language. Swedish is the second official language, spoken by 6% of the population. Finnish is a hard language to learn because the same word is used for "he" and "she" and the articles "a" and "the" are rarely used.
- Ethnic Groups
- Finn 93%, Swede 6%, Sami 0.11%, Roma 0.12%, Tatar 0.02%
- National Holiday
- Independence Day, 6 December (1917)
- Geographic Coordinates
- 64 00 N, 26 00 E
- Location
- Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia
- Airports
- 148
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Finland is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a collection that reflects the country's rich natural heritage, its distinctive architectural traditions, and its long history as the meeting point of Western European and Eastern European cultures. Each of these sites rewards a dedicated visit and offers a different lens through which to understand the depth and diversity of Finland's cultural and natural inheritance.
Suomenlinna, the sea fortress on the islands outside Helsinki harbor, has already been described at some length in the section on Helsinki. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1991, it is recognized as an outstanding example of European military architecture that adapted the principles of 18th-century fortification to a unique island setting, and as a living community that has maintained a continuous human presence since the fortress was built.
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Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
In Finland, medical facilities and staff are generally excellent and widely available for emergency services. English is commonly spoken by Finnish medical personnel. Helsinki is a frequent medical evacuation point for emergency cases from the countries of the former Soviet Union. The public hospital system and many private hospitals honor foreign credit cards. Most pharmacies (apteekki in Finnish) are open during normal shopping hours and major cities have at least one 24-hour service pharmacy.
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