Finland changes completely between seasons, and the two versions attract different travelers. Summer brings long daylight, lake routes and archipelago ferries; winter brings snow, northern lights above the Arctic Circle and a set of activities that simply do not exist in the warm months.
The guides on this page cover Helsinki, Turku, Kotka, Lappeenranta, Imatra and a countrywide overview. The southern cities are close together and reachable by train, while Lapland is a separate journey by air or overnight rail. Practical notes worth keeping: daylight in the far north is minimal in December and January and nearly continuous in June, and outside the largest cities public transport thins out considerably, which makes a car useful for lake and coastal routes.