Visiting Finland in Winter
Interests
Activities
Skiing or Snowboarding
Finland enjoys a long snow season with snow beginning around November and lasting until May in northern Finland, making it a perfect place for downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowboarding. The main ski season is between December and March.
Dog Sledding
Dog sledding does require a minimum amount of effort, but mostly we found that the dogs seemed to know what they were doing in terms of direction and so on. The main thing to do is to hold on and learn how to operate the brake to stop the sled, because the huskies like to run and they often won’t stop unless you make them!
Enjoy the Finnish Sauna Experience
Someone told us that the only Finnish word commonly used in the English language is “sauna” and we don’t pronounce it correctly (it’s “sowna” not “sawna”). Saunas are an integral part of Finnish culture and historically were the place where many major life events would take place from birth to death.
Sail on an Ice Breaker Boat
For a unique experience, consider a ride on an ice breaker boat. From the town of Kemi in the north of Finland you have the chance to sail on the Icebreaker Sampo.
Tips
Whe you first arrive to Finland, people might seem a bit reserved. Finnish people are polite but not majorly interested in endless chit chat and in talking to strangers. We are not very gregarious but once you get to know us, you have a loyal friend who you can count on.
The Finnish education system is one of the best in the world. And what’s even better, it’s free! No tuition fees. This way, it doesn’t matter what your family background is. You can still go to university and get a good degree.
Yes, this is a bit problematic. You never really know what the weather is going to be like in Finland. I mean, the summer can be quite nice, 20-27 degrees Celsius (68-80 Fahrenheit) or a crappy 18 degrees (64 Fahrenheit). You can have horrible blizzards in winter but nowadays, in the Southern part, the weather can be quite mild as well.
Nature is very important to Finns and we’re never too far from the nearest park or forest. People go jogging, skiing and berry picking in the forest. Or they go there just to relax and “recharge the batteries” as we say in Finnish.
