Activities ideas for trip

[mary_wintersoul]

Hi!

Newbie here, and I hope somebody can help me with this.

I am looking for types activities that I could do during my trip of 2 weeks in september to Finland. I do plan on visiting, but I find that spending 2 weeks for visiting may end up being boring.

At first, I wanted to take a finnish class (for beginners, I don't speak finnish well enough for communication) at the summer university, but unfortunately the timing is not convenient. So now I am looking for other ideas of activities/courses, that could keep me a tad structured, but also something where I would be able to learn about the finnish culture and hopefully meet people.

In terms of city, Helsinki or elsewhere is fine by me.

I am not sure if my posting is clear, but feel free to ask for more precision on my part if I am not being clear enough,

Thanks a lot!

Mary

[Jukka Aho]

I am not sure if my posting is clear, but feel free to ask for more precision on my part if I am not being clear enough,

OK, I’ll bite:

What is the main purpose of your trip? (Business? Leisure? Study? Or what makes your destination of choice Finland, specifically, and not Sweden, Estonia, or any other country?)

Do you have any set plans for your two weeks, at all, or is your schedule completely empty?

Where are you planning to stay?

Do you have a car at your disposal? Or are you planning to rely on taxis and public transport?

You’re saying the suggested activities could be ”in Helsinki or elsewhere”. I still assume you probably have some limits to that: you wouldn’t spend those two weeks in Utsjoki, for example, even if someone suggested that, right?

[mary_wintersoul]

I am not sure if my posting is clear, but feel free to ask for more precision on my part if I am not being clear enough,

OK, I’ll bite:

What is the main purpose of your trip? (Business? Leisure? Study? Or what makes your destination of choice Finland, specifically, and not Sweden, Estonia, or any other country?)

Do you have any set plans for your two weeks, at all, or is your schedule completely empty?

Where are you planning to stay?

Do you have a car at your disposal? Or are you planning to rely on taxis and public transport?

You’re saying the suggested activities could be ”in Helsinki or elsewhere”. I still assume you probably have some limits to that: you wouldn’t spend those two weeks in Utsjoki, for example, even if someone suggested that, right?

Yeah, I guess I was vague and a tad out of context too...thanks for pointing this out to me.

In anycase, I have been studying Finnish for the past 2 years or so (by myself, with few courses here and there) mostly as a leisure activity as it isn't required by work or anything. The goal of the trip is leisure/learning. And if I end up really enjoying the country, then I will see if maybe in a few years from now I could go and work there for a while (I do work in the healthcare system here in Canada, so I would most likely try to work something out in that domain).

My schedule is flexible. I would work something around my main plan if that makes any sense.

I would stay in a small studio apartment or hotel where I do have access to a kitchenette (or at least a microwave) and public transport as I don't have a car and don't plan on renting one.

Utsjoki is (obviously) way too far North. Mostly I'd stay in the middle/south of Finland, and the big cities in which you can manage without a car.

In terms of activities, I'd say the only thing I wouldn't really enjoy is sports.

I really don't know if there is an answer to this question quite honestly. And the fact that I am my Finnish is still a work in progress is not really helping. But who knows, maybe somebody will have suggestions or will think of something which I haven't really though of.

Thanks!

[cors187]

Places like eurohostel http://www.eurohostel.eu/ have a vast selection of pamphlets,maps and all sorts of info that set you up perfectly for your first few days.Another good one is the info desk at the main train station in Helsinki,The young people in there are switched on to everything that's going on.

[tuulen]

And the fact that my Finnish is still a work in progress is not really helping.

The fact that you are not a native Finnish speaker means that your Finnish will ALWAYS be a work in progress, just as mine is! :-D

[Jukka Aho]

The goal of the trip is leisure/learning. And if I end up really enjoying the country, then I will see if maybe in a few years from now I could go and work there for a while (I do work in the healthcare system here in Canada, so I would most likely try to work something out in that domain).

So I guess unless you’re a nature-loving person who’d like hiking, camping, fishing, etc. in the woods — and you could do that in Canada just as well — the northern part of the country is not that interesting for you... even though the display of the colors of the fall is impressive in Lapland, just as well as the other scenery far in the north, with northern lights and all, and there are people who develop a special kind of attachment to that part of the country.

Since your trip would take place in September, summer activities are mostly out of the question as well. (Depends on the weather, really, and it could be quite different from one year to the next, but it’s probably safe to say it might be a bit too cold for a lot of such things.) Likewise, winter activities aren’t yet possible. You would possibly still be able to enjoy one of the last visits to someone’s summer cottage by the lake or a boat trip to a villa located in the archipelago, though. If given the chance to participate in anything like that, just dress up appropriately for the weather/temperature.

Maybe you’d want to experience the smoke sauna (click, click, click, click). Or spend time with an actual Finnish family who would be willing to spend an evening or some days with you and take you around to see places and experience their style of life. The previous link is for students but there are similar services for tourists as well. And don’t overlook the possibility of couch surfing (take a look at here as well.)

You might want to do a random search on the events arranged in September 2012, maybe you’ll find something interesting. Speaking of events, search for tapahtumat and maybe add the name of the desired city. The so-called Finnish Lakeland (Järvi-Suomi) and its smaller cities might be an interesting area for exploration. Almost all Finnish cities have a municipal website of the format http://www.name-of-the-city.fi/ which offers information about local events and attractions. For technical and historical reasons (the Internet domain name system didn’t originally allow accented letters) the domain names for such municipal websites typically omit the dots in the letters ö and ä and replace them with o and a.

As for finding more information about various local services, especially where they’re located on the map and their distance from your possible accommodation, apply the sites and general principles laid out in this post. You can simply replace the searched city and address with one of your own choosing. VirtualTourist.com might also be helpful in finding people’s opinions and tips about the local attractions and interesting places to visit and things to do.

For public transport, check out hsl.fi for the capital area and expressbus.fi, matkahuolto.fi, and vr.fi for long-distance travel.

The old marketplaces and market halls are always worth a visit. If you’re after museums or art exhibitions, you’ll surely find more of them than your two weeks allow you to check out. You could also find various kind of concerts (both classical and rock/pop/etc.), night clubs, theatrical plays etc. just like in any place. If you’re lucky, some interesting event or exhibition could take place somewhere in the country during your visit but in order to find such things you’d probably need to plan ahead and/or describe in greater detail what kind of things do interest you, in general.

I would stay in a small studio apartment or hotel where I do have access to a kitchenette (or at least a microwave) and public transport as I don't have a car and don't plan on renting one.

Finding a furnished studio apartment might be challenging. Students (in student housing or free-market apartments) sometimes eagerly rent their apartments if they want to hold onto them but are e.g. working in another city at the moment... but that’s mostly for the duration of summer jobs or the like and September is not the “season” for that.

Utsjoki is (obviously) way too far North. Mostly I'd stay in the middle/south of Finland, and the big cities in which you can manage without a car.

See this list of cities — a recent survey claims they are the Finnish cities the natives would like to move into.

I really don't know if there is an answer to this question quite honestly. And the fact that I am my Finnish is still a work in progress is not really helping. But who knows, maybe somebody will have suggestions or will think of something which I haven't really though of.

I hope some of the above links will give you further ideas, but until you have set your sights on a certain city or locality, it’s difficult to provide you with any specific suggestions.

If you’re living anywhere near Calgary or Kingston, you might want to pay a visit to The Vocal Ensemble Rajaton’s a cappella concert (click, click). (Note: the dates are in Finnish format: dd.mm.yyyy.) Check out them on YouTube (click, click, click, click, click, click, click.)

Last but not least, here’s Finland for you... as illustrated by a compilation of YouTube videos!

[mary_wintersoul]

Thanks guys for such helpful answers!

Unfortunately, there been changes to my schedule with work, and I won't be able to go this september. Then again, after reading Jukka's comments, I was starting to wonder if september was really such a good time for a trip...

All this being said, I'll read all of this info soon, and will definitely use the ideas to start planning my trip next year.

@tuulen: True, true, my finnish will always be a work in progress. I'll remember that when I go to Finland, and will speak it even though it will be not so good.