Finlan trip.

hi!

we are going to Finland for 8 day trip.

our itiniery is as follows.

day 1 - helsinki

day 2 - Fiskar and Hanko

day3 - Turku or Tampere

day4 - Lahti area or Lapeeranta

day5,6 - Savonlinna (opera festival)

Day 7,8 - helsinki.

We love nature and walking.

which one should we go? Turku or Tampere?

Lahti or Lapeeranta? most cottages have one week

minumum for reservation. any solutions?

and we%26#39;ll rent a car.

Parking is free on wekkends in Helsinki?

too many questions....

any info would be very much appreciate.

thank you!

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Hello,

Your itinary is quite full. Are you absolutely sure that you would like to do all this during your stay?

Renting a car is definitely good opition. The speeding is quite expencive here. And also the parking fines.

The parking is not free, price depends on the city, during the weekends. There are some free of charge areas, the easiest way to find those is to read the signs carefully.

Nuuksio is a natural park (wilderness in the city) located in Espoo. You can hike there for free.

For details english.espoo.fi//default.asp?path=32373

At this down fall you might find still some cottages for rent over a weekend.

Keep in mind that the distances here are long, and ever the roads are mostly good, you need to reserve time for transferring location to an other. Other wise you%26#39;ll just stay in your car whole holiday:(

Now a days%26#39;s Helsinki and Finland in general is quite expencive place to visit.

To keep your budget in balance my recommendatios are:

- walk as much as possible

- In Helsinki:

visit Linnanmäki (amusement park, no entrance fee), most of the museums have one day free of charge admitation (check those out advance),

Seurasaari (take only the walking tour, in case you are not intersted history of the builings),

try sauna in some of the open air swimming pools (Station, Kumpula (also in other cities usually have these),

go picknik; buy your lunch from the %26#39;box stores%26#39; like Alepa, Lild (actually a German chain), Siwa...

Those for beginnig:)

Helsinki you can take a boat trip to Porvoo and come back by buss.

Or to Estonia, Tallin for a day.

Lappeenranta is nice city, in case you are interested they make day trips to Russia from there too.

Now we are enjoying a nice summer days here but be prepared for +15 celcius degrees and rain.

Have a nice stay here in Finland:)

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You%26#39;ve got quite a busy itinerary there...

I%26#39;d forget about Fiskars or Hanko - they are both nice places, I personally would choose Fiskars and Inkoo, but in your shoes I%26#39;d drive from Helsinki to Turku, stay overnight and then drive to Tampere. From Tampere I%26#39;d drive to Savonlinna.

Another option would be to drive from Helsinki to Porvoo, spend a day there, drive to Kotka and then to Lappeenranta the next day and from there to Savonlinna.

Or if you really insist going to Fiskars and Hanko, why not drive to Fiskars, the Inkoo and Hanko, spend a night there and the next day drive to Turku and continue to Savonlinna from there.

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The time you%26#39;re coming to Finland (end July, August) is the end of the main vacation season in Finland. This means more opportunities for short rents. Some friends of mine who visited Finland at that time had no trouble getting cottage places in nice locations. They simply looked for roadside ads, drove in and asked.

It%26#39;s difficult to choose between Turku and Tampere. I suggest you read some background info and make your own choice.

Lappeenranta beats Lahti as a city, easy.

For day 2 you might consider Snappertuna instead of Hanko. There%26#39;s a beautifully restored medieval castle there and a quaint village. It%26#39;s close to Fiskars.

Parking is fairly easy in Helsinki on weekends in July, but you will find it easier to use public transport for your sightseeing in the city center.

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I would also prefere Lappeenranta over Lahti as a town to visit, but since you are renting a cottage, there%26#39;s no bog difference. Both towns are connected to very large waterways.

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thank you very much all. you helped me a lot!

i am having difficulty setting my itiniery as i can%26#39;t tell what it would be like after reading the Lonely planet on Finland. i%26#39;ve seen many picture on places in finland and they look about the same to me. lakes, cities, small villages. is it that wherever i go, i wouldn%26#39;t get disappointed? or is it that i would be disappointed no matter where we go....

I decided to drop both of Tampere and Turku as they look like big towns and we prefer small villages. it will save a lot of time as well.

so, i amedned my plan as follows.

day 1 - helsinki.

day 2- rent a car. go to small towns. (one or two of fiskars, ingoo, hanko. or porvoo). and stay 1 night.

day3 - Lappeeranta

day 4,5 - Savonlinna region.

day 6,7 - helsinki.

i have one spare day so that we can use it to do whatever we want on the way.

questions.

1.in Helinski, street parking is free on sundays? not saturdays also?

2. we was told driving in helsinki is hassle free. is it that we do not buy an super cover insurance when we rent a car?

3. the hertz office on Mannerheiminntie steet is not very far from the helsinki train staion?

thank you again and your answers would be really appreciated.

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i forgot to ask one thing.

the Nuuksio park. what is it like?

we%26#39;d like walking but i thoght we could do a lot of hiking in the countryside. the biggest forte of the Nuuksio i found is its distance to Helsinki. am i wrong? is it worth visiting though we already included many countryside in our itinerary?

and how about Ekanas?

among Hanko, Ekanas, Ingoo, Fiskars, which one

do you thnik is best?

i will have another 2 weeks in Baltic before getting to finland. will leave for Europe in a few days and still haven%26#39;t even reserved a hotel.

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%26gt;2. we was told driving in helsinki is hassle free. is it that we do not buy an super cover insurance when we rent a car?

Compared to the Asian cities I%26#39;ve seen, driving in Helsinki is very low-hassle. You%26#39;ll have to make your own mind up about the insurance.

3. the hertz office on Mannerheiminntie steet is not very far from the helsinki train staion?

The address of Hertz is Mannerheimintie 44. That%26#39;s a 10-minute walk from the station.

the Nuuksio park. what is it like? ... is it worth visiting though we already included many countryside in our itinerary?

http://www.luontoon.fi/page.asp?Section=5131

among Hanko, Ekanas, Ingoo, Fiskars, which one

I%26#39;d pick Fiskars.

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%26gt;2. we was told driving in helsinki is hassle free. is it that we do not buy an super cover insurance when we rent a car?

Compared to the Asian cities I%26#39;ve seen, driving in Helsinki is very low-hassle. You%26#39;ll have to make your own mind up about the insurance.

3. the hertz office on Mannerheiminntie steet is not very far from the helsinki train staion?

The address of Hertz is Mannerheimintie 44. That%26#39;s a 10-minute walk from the station.

the Nuuksio park. what is it like? ... is it worth visiting though we already included many countryside in our itinerary?

http://www.luontoon.fi/page.asp?Section=5131

among Hanko, Ekanas, Ingoo, Fiskars, which one

I%26#39;d pick Fiskars.

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thank you very much for your answers!

i will leave next week and arrive in Helsinki

the last week of July. hope it is hot enough to swim.