The country guide to Finland.

Finland's capital is Helsinki, on the Gulf of Finland at the southern edge of the country, facing Tallinn across the water. The fast ferry between the two takes about two hours, which makes Helsinki an easy add-on from Estonia and the two cities a natural pair. Helsinki is a city of the sea, built across a cluster of peninsulas and islands.

It is known above all for design. The Design District packs galleries, studios and shops into a few central blocks, the Oodi central library is a landmark of contemporary public architecture, and the sea fortress of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO site spread over several islands, guards the harbour a short ferry ride offshore. The city carries the imprint of Alvar Aalto and a design tradition that runs from Marimekko prints to glassware.

Finland is the most forested country in Europe: roughly 73 percent of it is woodland. It is also, famously, the land of lakes, with some 188,000 of them, most gathered in the southern lake district around Saimaa, the largest lake in the country. Water and trees define the south, threaded with the cottages where Finns spend the summer.

The north is different. Lapland is Arctic, above the tree line in places, a country of open fells, low rounded mountains worn smooth by ice, with the highest point, Halti, reaching about 1,300 metres. This is real relief, not the flat plain of the Baltic states to the south. In summer the far north sees the midnight sun, weeks when it never truly sets; in winter, the long dark brings the northern lights. Off the southwest coast lies a third landscape again, the Turku archipelago, tens of thousands of islands and skerries.

The single most distinctive part of Finland is Lapland, the Arctic north, a third of the country and home to a small fraction of its people. This is the land of the Sámi, the indigenous people of the European Arctic, of reindeer herding, and of the open fell landscape that draws walkers in summer and aurora-watchers in winter.

The gateway is Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, the largest town in the region and the marketed home of Santa Claus. From late autumn to early spring the skies over Lapland carry the northern lights on clear nights, and the winter brings husky and reindeer sleds, snowmobiles and nights in glass igloos and ice hotels. In high summer the same latitudes see the midnight sun, near round-the-clock daylight.

After Helsinki, the city most worth knowing is Turku in the southwest, the former capital and the oldest city in the country. It keeps a medieval castle and cathedral and sits at the edge of its vast archipelago, the tens of thousands of islands that stretch out toward the Åland Sea. Tampere, inland to the north, is the largest inland city, a former mill town on the water between two lakes.

Porvoo, an hour east of Helsinki, is a painted wooden old town on a river, the classic short day trip from the capital. Rovaniemi is the gateway to Lapland in the north. And across the country run the lakeside towns of the interior, Savonlinna among them, with its island castle and its summer opera festival.

Finland is known first for design and for the sauna. Design runs deep here, from Alvar Aalto's architecture and furniture to Marimekko's prints, and the sauna is close to a national institution: there are more saunas in the country than cars, and most homes have one. After that come the lakes, and Lapland with its reindeer and northern lights.

It is also, like Estonia across the gulf, one of the most digital and high-trust societies in the world, a place that runs quietly and works. Finns are known for a certain reserve and for words that have travelled abroad, from sisu, a stubborn resilience, to the ritual of the summer cottage by the lake. The country is consistently ranked among the happiest on earth.

Finland has two very different seasons for visitors. June to August is the summer, when the lakes are warm enough to swim, the archipelago ferries run and the days are long. In the far north the sun does not set at all for weeks around midsummer, the midnight sun, and even Helsinki keeps light in the sky until the small hours.

December to March is the winter window, above all for Lapland: the northern lights on clear nights, snow deep enough for husky and reindeer sleds, and the Christmas season around Rovaniemi. The far north is dark and cold then, but that is the point. The shoulder months of spring and autumn are quieter, with the autumn ruska, the brief blaze of colour across Lapland in September, a quiet favourite.

What is the capital of Finland?

The capital of Finland is Helsinki, on the Gulf of Finland facing Tallinn. It is the design city of the north and lies about two hours away by fast ferry from Estonia, which makes it an easy add-on to a Baltic trip.

What is Finland known for?

Finland is known for design, from Alvar Aalto to Marimekko, for the sauna, of which there are more than cars, for its 188,000 lakes, and for Lapland with its reindeer, midnight sun and northern lights. Like Estonia, it is one of the most digital societies in the world.

Does Finland have mountains?

Finland has no high alpine peaks, but its north is not flat: Lapland is a land of fells, low rounded mountains worn smooth by ice, with the highest point, Halti, reaching about 1,300 metres. That is real relief, unlike the flat Baltic plain to the south.

Where can you see the northern lights in Finland?

In Lapland, the Arctic north, on clear nights from roughly late autumn to early spring. Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, is the usual gateway, and the winter also brings husky and reindeer sleds and glass igloos built for aurora-watching.

Which cities and places should you visit in Finland?

Helsinki first, for its design district, the Oodi library and the sea fortress of Suomenlinna. Then Turku, the former capital, and its archipelago; Porvoo, a painted wooden old town an hour east; and Rovaniemi, the gateway to Lapland in the north.

When is the best time to visit Finland?

June to August for the white nights and midnight sun, warm lakes and open archipelago. December to March for Lapland, the northern lights, snow and the Christmas season around Rovaniemi.

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