Perfect weather for ice swimming

Now that the extremly cold days are over the weather is quite perfect for some truely Finnish Avantouinti. That means swimming in a frozen lake. 

One perfect spot for this is Kuusijärvi in Vantaa. Warm up first either in one of the last smoke saunas you can find in the Helsinki area or in a normal electric sauna. When you are warm enough, grab your towel and flipflops (very important) and head to the ice hole for a dip.

Yes, the water is pretty cold but you will feel really good afterwards. Don't forget to warm up in the sauna afterwards again.

For more information on Kuusijärvi and how to get there check out the website.

Have a great Sunday and a wonderful winter!

Library on wheels

The library system HelMet in the capital area works flawlessly and is just really good both in terms of service and selection. But there is even more to it than just the normal libraries. Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa also have their own mobile libraries.

Big busses filled with books drive through the cities and stop at several destinations every day to make the library service even more accessable. You can just come here and browse through the books or even reserve your book to be brought to your neighborhood by bus.

For the schedule and all stops check out the timetable of the library busses in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa.

A beach weekend

This weekend awaits with hot summer temperatures again. The best thing to do is to spend the time at the beach and refresh in the cold water.

Around Helsinki you find lots of great beaches along the shoreline. And even though it has been quite cold during June the warm temperatures of the last days and weeks have warmed up the sea that much that swimming is possible without problems. Especially at beaches with shallow water like Lauttasaari's Kasinonranta the temperatures can be as high as 23 degrees and more. Or head to a lake in Espoo or Vantaa.

Check out the list of all the beaches in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa and enjoy the weekend!

The budget airport taxi

Taxi rides from and to the airport can be pretty pricy. You can calculate with around 50 € easily if you leave somewhere from the center.

Of course you can take the Finnair bus or line615 instead. But if you want it to be a taxi there is also another option.

With Airport Taxi Yellow Line you can save quite some money on that trip. Depending on your location in Helsinki prices for the ride start from 27.50 €.

For taxi rides the price depends on the amount of passengers and where you want to go in Helsinki. Most of the city lies in zone 1 for which they have a fixed price of 29.50€. For more than two passengers or destinations in wider Espoo the prices are slightly higher.

For more information on rates and on how to book a taxi check out their website.

Try something new

SYÖ!-Viikot are on again. And as always that is a great chance to try out places you haven’t been to yet. Till October 17 restaurants in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Porvoo, Tampere and Turku offer selected dishes for just 10 Euro. That way you get to experience location, service, food and atmosphere of places you don’t know yet or haven’t been to in a long time for a reasonable price.

To find more information on participating restaurants and their offers visit the city magazine website or the official facebook page.

Changes in public transport

Some of you might have already wondered what happened to tram lines 3B and 3T. During HSL’s latest restructuring line 3B has been renamed to number 3 and 3T to number 2. Their routes remain the same (except for changes for line 3 around the Hakaniemi stop due to renovation till the end of September).

Also some other minor changes have been made concerning bus timetables and numbers in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. You find details on all recent changes from the HSL website.

So don’t get lost and travel savely!

Easy travelling

The public transport in Helsinki works perfectly. It is even ranked as one of the best in the whole world. Both for locals and visitors it provides the better and cheaper alternative to using a car in the city.

To make your travelling as easy as possible you should not buy single tickets from the machine or the driver every time but rather get your own Travel Card. With this electronic card you don’t need to carry around cash with you all the time and travelling becomes even cheaper. Especially if you are registered in the capital area tickets become noticeably cheaper. You can either upload time or value onto your card. Then just hold it against the card reader when you enter the bus and that’s it.

You can get a Travel Card on your name from the HSL service center at the main station underneath Elielinaukio. To find more information on prices for travelling in the capital area and to find out how much you can save using the Travel Card check the official website of HSL.

Hyvää matka!