Christmas trip to Tallinn

One of the best cities to go during the Christmas time is Tallinn. The beautiful old town with all its small lights, Christmas decoration and the smell of glöggi make it the perfect traveling destination for a short Christmas trip.

The highlight during this time of the year is the Christmas market on the old market square of the city. In the scenic setting many small huts surround the big Christmas tree. You find wonderful handicraft, keep the hunger away with delicious sweet and salty Christmas treats and warm up with a cup of hot mulled wine or glöggi.

And getting to Tallinn is fairly easy. Ferries from Eckerö Line, Tallink and Viking Line operate daily and for as low as 11 € for a return trip. The ferry lines also offer very affordable hotel packages for those who want to stay for more than just a day.

Have a nice trip!

Helsinki's Hobbingen island

Suomenlinna is one of Helsinki's most important sights. The fortress island has a lot of history. It has been military base for Swedes and Russians and still is for Finns.

Suomenlinna has a lot to offer from beautiful cafés and restaurants to museums and of course the fortress. But on the far end of the island surrounded by the thick walls you can also find a very interesting landscape that reminds you imidiately of the Lord of the Rings books and movies. Here you get easily reminded of Hobbingen. Even a small lake with some benches around can be found. Those green hills are in fact bunkers that were used by the armys stationed here.

If you come to Suomenlinna check it out. And maybe shoot your own short hobbit video :)

A day at Iso Vasikkasaari

The capital area has lots of beautiful islands. Many of them are private but some are open to the public. One of them that it definitely worth a daytrip is Iso Vasikkasaari on the coast of Espoo.

Several times a day a ferry leaves from Otaniemi, Haukilahti and Matinkylä to bring visitors to the island. For the timetable click here. Adults pay 5 € for a return ticket, children just 2€.

Especially on weekends and when the weather is good the ferries are normally full. So try to get on board before Matinkylä. Luckily the island is big enough to never give you the feeling of being overcrowded.

There are nice smaller and bigger beaches and several idyllic places along the water and further inside on the island. On the South-Western side the sailing boats at the wooden pier give you the feeling of being somewhere at the Mediterranean Sea rather than in Finland.

Closer to the harbor you find a cozy restaurant serving meat and fish dishes. You can of course also just enjoy a cold drink in the shade.

Enjoy your stay!

One day in Stockholm

A really nice trip at any time of the year is to go to Stockholm via ferry. There are two carriers operating between Helsinki and Stockholm: Viking Line and Silja Line. They offer more or less the same trip.

You board the ferry either at Katajanokan Terminaali or at Olympiaterminaali (both really close to Kauppatori) before the ferries both leave at around 5 pm. They drive the night through with a short stop at Mariehamn (Åland) and both arrive at around 9 in the morning at Stockholm. The really convenient thing is that you keep your cabin and can leave all your stuff there during your stay in Stockholm. So no bags to carry around and no second check-in when you come back to the ferry. The ferry leaves back to Helsinki at 4.30/5 pm. That leaves you enough time in Stockholm to get a first good glance at the city and soak in its nice Scandinavian atmosphere.

You should make your decision on which ferry company to use based on the price. The trips don’t really differ that much. At Silja Line the boat is a bit nicer which makes it the first choice of lots of people. But Viking Line is not bad either and has the advantage that the port in Stockholm is much closer to the center then the Silja port.

One important tip though: Never buy the regular price! The two companies have a pretty vivid competition and that’s why you will always find special offers.

If you are really spontaneous you should check out Silja’s recent offer for one day in Stockholm (two nights in a cabin on board) for as low as 10 €. The offer just applies for a few specific days during the next few weeks and since you always pay a whole cabin you should find three friends to join you to really get that price.

Enjoy your trip!