Helsinki plays
Helsinki is an incentive destination for business travel.
You will, of course, find the best hotels, fine dining, international events and venues, and modern meeting and convention facilities across the scale. That is to be expected of an area that especially welcomes business visitors.
What you will not find elsewhere is the unique combination of adventure and soothing silence, in one of the purest natural settings in the world. Winter or summer, there are plenty of new and stimulating experiences to be gained. We like to think of them as making business a pleasure.
Finland's world heritages
One of the best things about being out and about in Helsinki is that, despite its laid-back surface, one can dig a little bit deeper and find some world-class gems. Finland hosts seven UNESCO World Heritage sites: the fortress of Sveaborg Sea Fortress, Old Rauma, the Petäjävesi old church, the Verla groundwood and board mill and the archaeological site of Sammallahdenmäki, the Struve geodetic arch and the Kvarken archipelago.
Perhaps the best known of these is the island fortress of Sveaborg Sea Fortress, which is a 20 minute ferry trip from Helsinki's market place (or you can walk to it across the sea in the winter). More than 600,000 people a year visit the 8 islands that comprise the site, where construction began in 1748 when Finland was under Swedish rule. Intended as a naval bulwark against Russia the fortress was actually referred to as the "Gibraltar of the North". The islands got caught up in the Crimean War of all things and actually got bombarded by an Anglo-French fleet in 1855.
After further events, including hosting a prison camp for the defeated Red Guards after Finland's Civil War and an Olympic sailing competition (not at the same time), Sveaborg Sea Fortress is today one of Finland's most popular tourist attractions, as well as a community of 900 inhabitants. On the main fortress islands it's extremely easy to spend at least a whole day exploring. You can check out one of Finland's WWII submarines (originally built in 1933 and named Vesikko), visit one of the five other museums, ten cafes or restaurants, or just take a picnic and enjoy the view over the Baltic Sea.
It's easy to see that the Finns enjoy a close relationship with the sea. Further activities include boat trips to Helsinki's other main island attraction Korkeasaari Zoo, and sightseeing tours abound. However, if you get lucky and make friends with the locals who have second homes on the archipelago lying off the coast then you'll really be able to appreciate the Finnish holy trinity of sauna, beer and sausages in its proper setting.