Hyvää huomenta
HÜ-vaa HWOH-men-tah
Good morning
Greeting someone in the morning
Travel guide
Learn Finland before you go
Forests, lakes and saunas, the midnight sun and the northern lights, in the far north of Europe.
CapitalHelsinki
CurrencyEuro (€), since 1999 (notes and coins since 2002); before that, the Finnish markka
Official languageFinnish and Swedish, the two national languages under the Constitution. Three Sámi languages also have official status in the Sámi homeland in the far north
Drives on theRight
Calling code+358
10 phrases to learn
In Finnish (suomi). Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.
Hyvää päivää
HÜ-vaa PAI-vaa
Good day, hello
A polite greeting during the day
Hyvää iltaa
HÜ-vaa IL-taa
Good evening
Greeting someone in the evening
Hyvää yötä
HÜ-vaa ÜÖ-ta
Good night
Saying goodnight
Tervetuloa
TER-veh-too-loh-ah
Welcome
Welcoming a guest, and on signs
Mitä kuuluu?
MI-ta KOO-loo
How are you?
Asking after someone
Hyvää, kiitos
HÜ-vaa, KEE-tohs
Fine, thank you
Answering 'How are you?'
Kiitos paljon
KEE-tohs PAL-yon
Thank you very much
Thanking someone warmly
Eipä kestä
AY-pa KES-ta
You're welcome, don't mention it
Answering someone who thanks you
Anteeksi
AHN-tek-see
Excuse me, sorry
Getting attention or apologising
At the table
- Say 'Hyvää ruokahalua' (HÜ-vaa RWOH-ka-ha-lu-a) before a meal. It means 'good appetite'.
- When raising a glass, say 'Kippis!' (KIP-pis), which means 'cheers'.
- Coffee is part of daily life. Finns often drink it several times a day, with a slice of pulla, a sweet cardamom bread.
- Water and coffee are the most common drinks, but with meals many people, adults included, drink milk or piimä, a sour milk.
- If you are invited to a sauna, it is fine to ask how things are done. Finns usually go in without clothes, but at a private sauna a swimsuit or towel is perfectly acceptable, and men and women often go separately. At swimming pools, saunas are separate for men and women and swimsuits are usually not allowed; mixed public saunas ask you to wear one.
Local tips
Drive on the right, lights on
Cars drive on the right. Finnish law requires headlights to be on whenever you drive, in every season. Usual speed limits are 50 km/h in towns, 80 km/h on country roads and up to 120 km/h on motorways in summer.
Watch for elk and reindeer
Yellow signs with an elk mark places where elk often cross. In Lapland, reindeer are often on or beside the road, so drive with care.
Winter driving
Between 1 November and 31 March, winter tyres are required whenever the weather or road conditions call for them.
Dress in layers
The weather can change quickly. Winters in Lapland can reach minus 30 °C, while Helsinki summers often reach plus 25 °C. Wear layers, and in winter choose wool, which stays warm even when wet.
Midnight sun and winter dark
Around midsummer the sun does not set for weeks in the north, so bring a sleep mask. In winter the far north has very little daylight, and on long, clear nights you may see the northern lights.
Everyone's right
Under 'everyone's right' you may walk in the countryside and pick wild berries and mushrooms, even in private forests, but not right next to someone's home.
Two languages on signs
In bilingual towns, signs show both Finnish and Swedish names, for example Helsinki and Helsingfors, or Turku and Åbo.
Emergencies
The emergency number in Finland is 112. It is free from any phone, including foreign mobiles, and operators can help in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Dishes to try
- Karelian pasties (Karjalanpiirakka): Small open pasties with a thin, crinkled rye crust around a filling of creamy rice porridge. They are served warm with egg butter, a spread of butter mixed with chopped hard-boiled egg.
- Salmon soup (Lohikeitto): A creamy soup of salmon, potatoes, carrots and leeks, seasoned with allspice and finished with plenty of fresh dill. It is served hot with rye bread and butter.
- Sautéed reindeer (Poronkäristys): Thin shavings of reindeer meat, fried in butter and then simmered until tender, served with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. It is perhaps the best-known traditional meal of Lapland.
- Karelian hot pot (Karjalanpaisti): Chunks of beef and pork, and sometimes lamb, slowly cooked in the oven with onions, black peppercorns, allspice and bay leaves until very tender. It is served with potatoes and lingonberry jam.
- Rye bread (Ruisleipä): Dark, dense and slightly sour bread made from rye flour, water and salt with a sourdough starter. Unlike some rye breads elsewhere, Finnish rye bread is not sweetened.
- Kalakukko: Small fish such as vendace or perch, with pork or bacon, baked for hours inside a thick rye crust, so that the fish bones soften. From the outside it looks like a big loaf of bread. You cut a lid from the top and eat the filling with pieces of the crust.
- Fried vendace (Paistetut muikut): Vendace, small freshwater fish from the lakes, rolled in flour and fried until crisp. They are eaten whole, often with mashed potatoes.
- Bread cheese (Leipäjuusto): A mild fresh cheese, pressed into a flat round and baked or grilled until it has brown spots. It squeaks against the teeth, and is served warm with cloudberry jam or sliced with coffee.
Cities to see
- Helsinki (capital): Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral, The sea fortress of Suomenlinna, Design and architecture, including Finlandia Hall.
- Turku: Turku Cathedral, consecrated in 1300, Turku Castle, The Aura River.
- Tampere: The Tammerkoski rapids, Old red-brick factories such as Finlayson, The Moomin Museum.
- Oulu: European Capital of Culture 2026, The Air Guitar World Championships, every August since 1996, Information technology.
- Rovaniemi: Santa Claus Village, The Arctic Circle, Northern lights in winter.
- Porvoo: The Old Town of wooden houses, Porvoo Cathedral, The home of the poet J. L. Runeberg.