Anyone from Finland?

[minitauros]

I'll be visiting my girlfriend who's staying in Helsinki, Finland until the end of december, and I'd like to surprise her by taking her on some kind of trip or event or something. However, last time I was there we have already seen the most popular places in Helsinki. So I was wondering, is there anyone here from Finland (or not from Finland) who knows some cool things to do in/around Helsinki? I've been thinking about renting a small cabin, but I'd actually like to get some more inspiration if I can :).

[<M/>]

Well, what sort of activities does your girlfriend like? By the sound of it, from what I have read, you should take her hiking. Sadly, i have not been to Finland, so I don't know what activities are fun there :P

[Dani]

You should reach out to pyTony, he's a moderator here.

https://www.daniweb.com/members/734700/pyTony

[minitauros]

She does indeed like to hike, and so do I, but I'm only going there for a weekend and I'd like to spend some .. quiet time with her. Activities like hiking we can always do later :).

Thanks Dani!

[HiHe]

Why do you want to rent a small cabin?

[mike_2000_17]

I used to live in Helsinki (Otaniemi), but I'm not sure I can be of great help.

I guess one issue is that this is a weird time for anything in Finland. You didn't say exactly for when you'll be visiting, but anytime between now and the end of december is going to be cold but not cold enough. What I mean is you can't really do a "summer" activity because it's too cold, and you can't really do a "winter" activity, because winter is barely started come January.

Nature in Finland is nice (a cabin by a lake would be great getaway), but it's a bit too cold to enjoy it at this time of year.

But there are plenty of nice places around. St-Petersburg will be nice this time of year (but takes a bit of planning to enter Russia). Taking a fairy to Tallinn could be pretty nice too, I've heard plenty of good things about Tallinn, but didn't get a chance to go myself. A trip by the archepelago to Åland would be nice too, those cruise / fairy trips are cheap and fun. Turku ought to be nice too.

Sveaborg is nice place for a day trip, if you like historic places.

Closer to Christmas, some interesting things come up. There are definitely nice things in Helsinki at that time, like Christmas markets and outdoors activities in town. I guess the ice skating rink (IcePark) might open up early enough too, I don't remember. And, of course, in winter, you can go see Santa, but Rovaniemi is quite far.

And, of course, you could also go for a round trip to Stockholm by cruise boat. It'll cost you about 30-40 euros for the round trip, which is dirt cheap and real fun (each trip is overnight, and involve lots of partying). And Stockholm is one of the nicest cities in the world, if you haven't been, you have to go.