Finland

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Introduction

To Finland with the family

Thousands of lakes, a sauna by the water and then a jump into the lake: that’s how I picture a Finnish summer evening. The boys are mostly excited about the Moomins.

With the ferry from Germany you reach Finland in your own car. Families praise the Lakeland for paddling and the national parks with free campfire sites.

Researched by Arjan from Zuidlaren, so you don’t have to · Sources: Metsähallitus: Everyman's rights, Traficom · updated 24 October 2026 · About this page

• Language: Finnish and Swedish; English widely spoken
• Currency: Euro
• Driving: Drive on the right, dipped headlights compulsory during the day too
• Wild camping: Allowed under jokamiehenoikeus (everyman’s right), with rules

Internet on the road: Finland is part of the EEA, so “Roam like at home” usually applies. Note: on ferries and at sea, maritime networks apply, and they are not included.

Rather travel to Finland via the Baltic States? Oost-Europa Reizen has everything about Estonia with kids, where the ferry to Helsinki leaves from.

Days out

The 4 best days out around Helsinki

In and around Helsinki you take the ferry to the sea fortress, hike in the national park and let off steam at the amusement park; the Arktikum is in Rovaniemi. We’ve done the research for you: prices come from the providers themselves, and we calculated distances from Utrecht.

🎯 Ferry to Suomenlinna (Helsinki)

📍 Location: Helsinki (Kauppatori)🏷️ Type: Ferry · island

💶 Cost: HSL AB single ticket adults (app/card): € 3.30 · HSL AB single ticket child 7–17: € 1.65 (source)

The sea fortress of Suomenlinna, on a group of islands off Helsinki, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You get there on the regular HSL ferry from Market Square (Kauppatori), with an AB public transport ticket.

Find out more

All prices: HSL AB single ticket adults (app/card): € 3.30; HSL AB single ticket child 7–17: € 1.65; HSL AB day ticket adult / child: € 10.60 / 5.30

Distance: ± 3,306 km from Utrecht (± 39.2 hrs drive, one way, no breaks) (OSRM, 21 Oct 2026)

Prices according to staticfiles.hsl.fi, checked on 21 Oct 2026.

👉 See current prices & availability

Also via Tiqets · official website · location on the map

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🎯 Nuuksio National Park

📍 Location: Espoo🏷️ Type: Hiking · nature

💶 Cost: Price: see official website (source)

Nuuksio is a national park with forests, rocks and lakes, about 40 kilometres’ drive from the centre of Helsinki. From Haukkalampi, among others, the Haukankierros starts, a 4-kilometre circular trail. At the Haltia nature centre you can learn more about Finnish nature.

Find out more

Distance: ± 3,338 km from Utrecht (± 39.6 hrs drive, one way, no breaks); ± 39 km from Helsinki (± 0.8 hrs) (OSRM, 21 Oct 2026)

👉 See current prices & availability

Also via official website · location on the map

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🎯 Linnanmäki (Helsinki)

📍 Location: Helsinki🏷️ Type: Theme park

💶 Cost: Wristband (all rides): € 53 · Pikkuhupi wristband (19 family rides): € 43 (source)

Linnanmäki is Helsinki’s amusement park, with wooden and modern roller coasters and lots of rides for young children. With a wristband you can use all rides as often as you like, within the height and age limits.

Find out more

All prices: Wristband (all rides): € 53; Pikkuhupi wristband (19 family rides): € 43; grounds only (Area Entrance Ticket): € 5

Distance: ± 3,304 km from Utrecht (± 39.1 hrs drive, one way, no breaks); ± 4 km from Helsinki (± 0.2 hrs) (OSRM, 21 Oct 2026)

Prices according to linnanmaki.fi, checked on 21 Oct 2026.

👉 See the official website & info

Location on the map

🎯 Arktikum (Rovaniemi)

📍 Location: Rovaniemi🏷️ Type: Museum · indoors

💶 Cost: Adults: € 22 · child 7–17: € 10 (source)

The Arktikum in Rovaniemi is a science centre and museum in one, about the Arctic, Lapland and the northern lights. According to the museum you need 1 to 2 hours. There’s a free audio guide in over 30 languages.

Find out more

All prices: Adults: € 22; child 7–17: € 10; family 2+2: € 54; child under 7: free

Distance: ± 2,692 km from Utrecht (± 31.4 hrs drive, one way, no breaks) (OSRM, 21 Oct 2026)

Prices according to arktikum.fi, checked on 21 Oct 2026.

👉 See current prices & availability

Also via official website · location on the map

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Some buttons take you to a partner such as GetYourGuide or Tiqets. If you book through them, we receive a small commission; you pay nothing extra. If there’s no suitable product, we simply link to the official site.

More highlights with kids

• Moominworld in Naantali
• The sea fortress of Suomenlinna in Helsinki
• Nuuksio National Park
• Heureka science centre
• Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi

Camping

⛺ Campsites in Finland: a first selection

A first selection to go with the regions and days out on this page. The details come from the campsite’s official website or from Booking.com.

We only fill in “Who for” and “Setting” when the source says so; otherwise you’ll see –.

We haven’t (yet) found a campsite for this group where a source says so. Choose “All” to see the whole list.

Amounts in euros, as the providers give them. Prices read on the official websites on 22 Oct 2026 (days out: 21 Oct 2026).

Checked on 22 Oct 2026. The button goes to Booking.com (affiliate link); the campsite’s own website is listed below it. We haven’t (yet) stayed there ourselves.

Rules for wild and free camping are on Camping in Finland and in the right to roam guide. An overview by country: camping in Scandinavia.

Tolls & bridges

🛣️ Tolls, bridges and tunnels

There are hardly any barriers: cameras read your number plate. Handy, but good to know what’s coming on the route. If you drive via Sweden to a ferry port for Finland, you pay for the Danish bridges and possibly the congestion charge if you drive into Stockholm. With Finnlines from Travemünde you skip them.

Amounts checked on 21 Oct 2026 (bridges, Transportstyrelsen, AutoPASS) and on 22 Oct 2026 (veggjald.is and the Øresundsbron, AutoPASS and EPASS24 websites).

Everything about AutoPASS, EPASS24 and the Swedish charges is in the guide Tolls and AutoPASS/EPASS24; we compare bridges and ferries in Ferry or bridges?

On site

💡 Prices & good to know on site

How expensive is Finland in the supermarket or a restaurant, and do people still pay cash? We looked it up at Eurostat, the central banks and the official bodies. More figures in the cost guide.

Supermarket

Price level 107.5 (EU = 100). For comparison: the Netherlands 99.4.

Source: Eurostat prc_ppp_ind_1, 2025

Photo: Janne Rentola · CC BY 4.0 · Photo credits

🍽️

Restaurants and accommodation

Price level 121.7 (EU = 100). For comparison: the Netherlands 119.9.

Source: Eurostat prc_ppp_ind_1, 2025

🍷

Alcohol (price level)

Price level 207.3 (EU = 100). For comparison: the Netherlands 99.5.

Source: Eurostat prc_ppp_ind_1, 2025

Buying alcohol

Since 10 June 2024, supermarkets may sell fermented drinks up to 8 % (others up to 5.5 %); anything stronger is sold at Alko. Age: 18 years up to 22 %, 20 years above that.

Source: Finnish Government, Alko

Photo: Santeri Viinamäki · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo credits

Northern lights & midnight sun

Northern lights: late August to early April, most often September–October and February–March. North of Rovaniemi, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, about every other clear night (Visit Finland).

Source: Visit Finland

Photo: WikiLucas00 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo credits

Right to roam

Wild camping is allowed if you’re considerate. How long, how far from houses and when a campfire is allowed is explained in our guide.

Go to the right to roam guide →

Photo: Outdoors Finland · CC BY 2.0 · Photo credits

Do you notice while planning that Finland is blowing your budget? On our sister site Oost-Europa Reizen you’ll find cheaper destinations with wild nature and mountains, in the guide Nature & mountains on a budget.

Food & drink

🍽️ Food and drink in Finland

A warm salmon soup after a day by the water and a cinnamon bun with every coffee: Finnish food is simple, honest and very child-friendly. These are the dishes the official tourist board recommends itself.

🛒 Shopping

Two groups dominate Finnish supermarkets: the S Group (Prisma, S-market, Alepa) had a market share of 49.0 percent in 2025, the K Group (K-Citymarket, K-Supermarket, K-Market) 33.5 percent and Lidl 9.5 percent.

Source: PTY, Päivittäistavarakaupan tilastot 2025, checked 22 Oct 2026.

What a holiday costs is in our guide What does a family week in Scandinavia cost?, with our own measurements and the price levels for groceries and petrol

Good to know

🧭 Plan further

Our guides are available in English. The day-out guides and some practical pages are so far only available in Dutch; the prices, maps and links in them are still easy to follow.

🧖 Sauna in Finland? Löyly and Allas in Helsinki, with children’s prices and rules: see Sauna & wellness.

More ideas

🧭 Routes and travel ideas

• 🗓️ Travel ideas by season
• 🧭 Lapland and the North Cape
• 📚 Camping guides
• 🥾 Hiking
• 🚗 Car hire
• 🚆 By train

References

📚 Sources

Every figure and every rule on this page has a source. Here they all are at a glance, checked on 21 and 22 October 2026.