World Heritage
Petäjävesi Old Church
UNESCO World Heritage Site in Petäjävesi, Finland
A wooden church in Petäjävesi, Finland, built from 1763 to 1765, while Tavastia still belonged to Sweden.
Photo: Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 4.0
FI · Curated travel guide
Finland: 10 places worth the journey
Petäjävesi Old Church, Helsinki Cathedral, Sammallahdenmäki and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.
- Places
- 10
- World Heritage
- 3
- Language
- Finnish, Swedish
- Currency
- EUR
What to see in Finland
Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Finland and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets. 3 are on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
World Heritage
Helsinki Cathedral
Church in Helsinki, Finland
The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of Helsinki's diocese, on the Senate Square in Kruununhaka, in central Helsinki, Finland. It was first built in 1830–1852 in tribute to Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, who was also Grand Duke of Finland.
Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0
World Heritage
Sammallahdenmäki
Historic Bronze Age burial site in Satakunta, Finland
A Bronze Age burial site at Rauma, in Finland's Satakunta region, with 33 granite burial cairns over 3,000 years old, from 1500 to 500 BC.
Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 3.0
World Heritage
Verla
Finnish UNESCO world heritage site
A well-preserved mill village of the 19th century at Jaala, Kouvola, Finland, beside the northern Kymi River. The mill, the power plants near it and the residential houses joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 as a record of the 19th-century lumber industry and of how its industrial workers lived.
Photo: Picture taken by user:michaelXXLF , August 1997, CC BY-SA 3.0
Turku Cathedral
Church in Turku, Finland
Finland's sole medieval basilica, and the Mother Church of the country's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku centres on it, and it is where Tapio Luoma, Lutheran Archbishop of Finland, has his seat.
Photo: Otto Jula, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ateneum
Art museum in Helsinki, Finland
An art museum in central Helsinki, Finland, one of the three that make up the Finnish National Gallery, on the south side of Rautatientori square near Helsinki Central railway station.
Photo: Finnish National Gallery, CC BY-SA 4.0
Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear power plant in Eurajoki, Finland
One of just two nuclear power plants in Finland, the other being the two-unit Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant. Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) owns and runs it. It stands on Olkiluoto Island, by the Gulf of Bothnia, in Eurajoki municipality in western Finland, roughly 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Rauma and roughly 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Pori.
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
Turku Castle
Castle In Finland
A medieval building in Turku, Finland, which with Turku Cathedral ranks among the oldest buildings in Finland still in use.
Photo: Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kvarken
Region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay from the Bothnian Sea
The narrow part of the Gulf of Bothnia dividing the Bothnian Sea from the Bothnian Bay. The Finnish and Swedish mainlands are around 80 km (50 mi) apart here, and the outermost islands just 25 km (16 mi).
Photo: Henrik Sendelbach, CC BY-SA 3.0
About Finland
Officially the Republic of Finland, a Nordic country of Northern Europe. Russia lies to its east, Norway to its north and Sweden to its northwest; the Gulf of Bothnia is on its west, and the Gulf of Finland, with Estonia across it, on its south. Helsinki is both capital and biggest city.
Officially The Republic of Finland. Known locally as Suomi, Finland.
Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.
Questions travellers ask
What is worth seeing in Finland?
This guide lists 10: Petäjävesi Old Church, Helsinki Cathedral, Sammallahdenmäki and Verla and others. Petäjävesi Old Church, Sammallahdenmäki and Verla are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
How were these places chosen?
By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Finland that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.
Which places here are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
3 of the 10 in this guide: Petäjävesi Old Church, Sammallahdenmäki and Verla. That is not the full count for Finland, only the listed sites that made this guide.
What language is spoken in Finland, and what currency?
Finnish, Swedish. The currency is EUR.
How do I get mobile data in Finland?
A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $1.81 for 2GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.
Which networks would my phone use in Finland?
DNA. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.
One practical note: staying online
Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to DNA once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.
See 11 Computatus eSIM plans for Finland from $1.81
| Plan | Data | Valid | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2GB per day Cheapest | 2 GB | 1 day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| 2GB per day | 2 GB | 1 day | $2.15 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 15 days | 3 GB | 15 days | $2.69 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 30 days | 3 GB | 30 days | $2.86 | Get it → |
| 3GB per day | 3 GB | 1 day | $3.04 | Get it → |
| 5GB per day | 5 GB | 1 day | $3.67 | Get it → |
No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.
DNA 5G
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.