"Helsinki is lovely in the summer" Helsinki by hanula

I'm from Finland and lived in Helsinki for 2,5 years. Helsinki is very nice in the summer time. June and July are the best months to visit Helsinki. Go and see Suomenlinna, a fortress island that is in the UNESCO world heritage list. It's a fantastic place for picnic in a sunshiny summer day. You can take a boat there for about 4 euros return.

From Helsinki you can also take a boat to Stockholm (capital of Sweden), Tallinn (capital of Estonia) and Riga (capital of Latvia). People usually go to those boats to get really drunk, buy tax free goods and find a nice "holiday partner"... It's quite sad but also entertaining!

There is also a train connection from Helsinki to Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, so you can start your trans-Siberian travel from Helsinki, if you like. When I took the train to Moscow in 2002 it was around 80 euros one way.

• Pros:Lovely and lively in summer
• Cons:Cold in winter
• In a nutshell:Finnish capital with good connections to the capitals of other nearby countries