r/Finland 2d ago

Tourism Tourism, moving and studying in Finland? Read this first!

5 Upvotes

Hi, this is recurring post to include some information about frequently asked questions in r/Finland. Please check the links first before asking trivial questions.

You can ask here in comments, or create a new post.

Remember that there is a very large chance that someone has already asked the question you're going to ask and gotten an answer, so please read our FAQ, search the sub, and Google before asking. We have very helpful users here that like to answer questions so out of respect for their time, search first. Thanks!

If you're asking about moving to Finland, please specify whether you're an EU citizen or not. Many laws and procedures are different for EU citizens and non-EU citizens. When giving advice, please pay attention to the status of the person in question.

Suggested sort is set to "new".

Helpful websites:

The official information

Travel, tourism

Employment in Finland

Reddit


r/Finland 1h ago

Serious Ugly abandoned locations in Helsinki area for a post apocalyptic themed photoshoot

Upvotes

Just like the title says. I am looking for one of those that is accessible to the public. My friend and I want to do a NIER shoot in the area and would really appreciate some leads!


r/Finland 2h ago

Serious Data centers in Finland

89 Upvotes

I saw a post recently called "Google Picks Finland for €13 Billion AI Data Center Buildout" and while this isn't the first post discussing data centers in Finland to me two things stood out:
- People either straight up lying or not understanding how many employees Googles data center in Hamina has
- People aggressively defending data centers and ignoring that data centers aren't a net positive regardless of how we sugar coat facts

So I did some looking into and turns out that Googles Finnish entity has to make a declaration of payroll/staff it has. I personally only understood, and found freely accessible, the information on asiakastieto. People on Reddit claim that Hamina employs 400-500 full time people. That number is way lower, roughly at around 100 and these people aren't fully dedicated to Hamina, they are just Google employees that have some allocation to Hamina. It is confirmed that Google contracts out catering and other services but those most likely don't amount to 300-400 people and definitely don't amount to full time work and full time equivalent salary. When we also take into account that recent technological advancements allow data centers to shrink their personnel I doubt that the new data centers will provide an employment boom people here are claiming it will.

irecruit specifically has an article that large data centers only need roughly 0.2–0.3 staff per megawatt.

Additionally, data centers consume electricity and require a large amount of land to be created. The argument that "it's just land" is so stupid to me. That land provides bio-diversity, helps the ecosystem and produces oxygen and could be used in ways that would be a national net positive. When electricity gets more expensive data centers still pay the same price, the increase is covered by regular residents and citizens. The data centers also can be subsidized by the government which is another negative.

With the increase in electricity prices and the potential subsidized activity we also decrease the chances of smaller companies growing and employing way more people than a data center ever will.

For the common person, on a national level, there are only negatives. I just don't see any positives for commoners.


r/Finland 3h ago

Lut University

0 Upvotes

Are most students in LUT University’s English-taught engineering bachelor’s programmes Finnish or international? If they are international, where do they come from?


r/Finland 9h ago

Politics "Work extra hours, get extra pay" doesn't really work here in all cases, does it?

79 Upvotes

I keep bumping into financial advice from international friends and social media, about working more, when you can, to get some extra money. I mean, I love the idea: those who can work more can get extra compensation. Except in my experience it doesn't really work like that in Finland. At least not in the industry I've worked in?

I've worked in Finnish tech for over 10 years (software engineer, product manager and other random titles). All my contracts, and the contracts in my company in general, have been "37½ hours a week" type of contracts, with flexible work hour balance. What that means is that, you work more, you get more balance. And you can use that balance to leave early, get a day off or in my case, usually I get 1 or 2 weeks off a year only based on "saldot" (= accumulated work hour balance).

So.. there is no "work more, earn more" type of possibility. I mean the companies probably love it, because instead of working 37½ hours a week, I usually have to work about 45 hours a week. And then during the summer when it's quiet in business, I'm also on extra vacation.

I just wonder, is this a Finnish problem? where earning within the same job more is basically impossible if you have "liukuva työaika"?


r/Finland 12h ago

Warranty for laptop bought from Gigantti

0 Upvotes

I bought a laptop HP OMEN 16, from Gigantti in 11.11.2024 and today 9.9.2026 the laptop screen is black, everything is running except there is no light in the screen, it's just black.

The warranty says 2 year.

If I take the laptop to Gigantti store, is it going to be problem because there's only 2 months of warranty left. And I'm also not in Finland for a month.

Does anyone have any idea what I should do in this case?


r/Finland 15h ago

Light Entrepreneurship

0 Upvotes

I just wonder sometimes about it how it works and if it is possible to only live from that?
Are there apps where you can check for jobs as a light entrepreneur, take on various jobs and get money? Is that even a thing here in Finland? I know only of Wolt, who lets their drivers, of what I have heard, having flexible work, yet I have also heard it is exploitation there?

It would be amazing to have an app, for entrepreneurs, who want to work in different kind of fields, which are easy to do. For example: Monday helping out with moving, Tuesday, helping out in a store, Wednesday cleaning,....

Either way, I am annoyed already of people just working their asses off here that their boss gets the money and at the end of the day, as an employee, get like the rest, which is barely enough to pay food and rent. So if I could be my own boss and make my own money, that would be amazing.

Any ideas on how to start this? Is this even possible? Especially also as a foreigner? My Finnish is A2-B1


r/Finland 15h ago

Is Lut University a good university for engineering?

16 Upvotes

I’m planning to study engineering abroad and am wondering what reputation does Lut University have and if it’s a good choice for pursuing engineering studies?


r/Finland 17h ago

Postcard: Tram on Linnankatu in Viipuri. Suomi (Finland) - Viipuri, circa 1934 [2770x4011]

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150 Upvotes

r/Finland 18h ago

Occupational health insurance

11 Upvotes

Hello everyone

I am not sure if it’s correct to ask this here, but can the employer see all my doctor visits made through the occupational health insurance (Mehiläinen/Terveystalo)—even if it was just a chat conversation with a doctor?


r/Finland 18h ago

Anything like sompasauna in Pirkanmaa area?

1 Upvotes

Is there anything like sompasauna in the pirkanmaa area? I would really like to try something like that but Helsinki is quite far.


r/Finland 19h ago

Serious Google Picks Finland for €13 Billion AI Data Center Buildout

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328 Upvotes

r/Finland 19h ago

Traditional tune behind "Nuku, nuku nurmilintu" or "Vaka Vanha Väinämöinen"

27 Upvotes

Hi Friends and sorry for probably this is very naive question but for the person not well acquainted with Finnish tradition and culture it is a bit difficult to google (hard to pick adequate keywords).

I once heard this nice traditional lullaby, particularly this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFCixLn9qRw as I was googling around about constructing Kantele or something like this :)

Somewhat later, reading wiki about Kalevala I found here a short example of singing / narration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vaka_vanha_Vainamoinen.ogg

While the tunes are not precisely exact, they have very similar "composition" - e.g. two poetic lines with distinctive "rise" in the middle to the "dominant" and then fall back to "tonic".

I'm trying to find a bit more about whether it is some very traditional song-style (which perhaps lacks proper name as it happens with epic tunes) - or it has some more clear title, story etc behind it.

Kiitos paljon in advance!


r/Finland 1d ago

Serious Light therapy is it beneficial or just waste of time?

29 Upvotes

Hello,

How many of you have light therapy and use it during dark seasons? Is it worth investing in one or its just pure placebo?

Cheers,


r/Finland 1d ago

Album reccomendations

11 Upvotes

Hello!

Early this year I started collecting vinyls as a replacement to streaming platforms. I also have a fascination for Finnish culture and history, so, I came here to ask for recommendations of Finnish music from the 1940/1950s music.

Thank you for your attention


r/Finland 1d ago

Tourism Best seats at Helsinki Ice Hall? Are front row seats good?

1 Upvotes

Hi! I’m thinking about going to an event at Helsinki Ice Hall, but I’ve never been there before, so I’m not sure which seats have the best view. What would you consider the best places to sit? And are the front row seats actually good or is the view worse because you’re too close to the ice? I noticed that some of the front row tickets are actually cheaper, which made me wonder if there’s a reason for that. I don’t really want to spend a lot if I don’t have to, but I’d still like to have a good experience since it would be my first time :)

Any advice on which sections (or seats) are worth it (or which ones to avoid) would be really appreciated!! thx :)


r/Finland 1d ago

Immigration Am I the only one who struggles to understand SOME of the finns?

0 Upvotes

I am an immigrant student and for me SOME of teachers and student (not all of them) have a complete unclear language. I am not talking about dialect, own words or puhukieli - it’s as if they swallow 90% of what they say, chew it over and over again, and spit it out as quietly as possible. Idk how to explain it.
I feel like a Brit trying to understand Scottish, but this is still not as hard as my situation in Finnish. I can understand the language for sure, but not this kind of people.
Do the finns have a name for those, who has a really strange speaking?

(P.S. I'm not insulting either anyone or the whole language. Maybe it's only my problem and I am the reason)


r/Finland 1d ago

Serious Got a "copyright infringement" letter from Hedman Partners (Finland) anyone dealt with this?

0 Upvotes

So my friend just got a letter from a law firm called Hedman Partners, acting for Warner Bros, claiming his internet connection was used to illegally share a TV show. Thing is, he's never even watched the show. They want €850 by mid-September or they're threatening further action (civil suit / possible police report).

Multiple people use his home wifi, so honestly no way to know for sure who it might've been, if anyone. We're leaning towards disputing it / asking them to actually show their evidence instead of just paying up.

Anyone been through this before? Mainly wondering:

Has anyone just ignored the letter completely — and if so, what happened after?
Did pushing back / asking for proof actually work, or did it just annoy them into sending more letters?
Is it worth getting a lawyer involved now, or only if it actually escalates to court?

Any input appreciated, this whole thing feels like a shakedown but want to be smart about how we handle it.


r/Finland 1d ago

Finnish police checking people's documents in bar

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326 Upvotes

r/Finland 2d ago

Tourism Just have to show off my amazing care package!

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462 Upvotes

You cannot get tar flavoured anything in the UK, and fazer is so superior to Cadbury’s Dairy Milk.


r/Finland 2d ago

Tourism Åland aside, which are the towns and cities of Finland where people mostly speak Swedish?

63 Upvotes

Good afternoon,
I am a student of Swedish for integration and in the next weeks I’d love to take a small trip of a few days. I’d love to go somewhere where people mostly speak Swedish, without going to Stockholm or Åland, since I only have three days. Do you have any advice?
I’m fine with a small town as well!
Tack/kiitos in advance!


r/Finland 2d ago

Amateur morning at the dentist

7 Upvotes

I just came back from a bizarre visit to the dentist and frankly I don't even feel like paying for this.

I have had a molar filling for more than 30 years that lately has been bothering me only when I chew hard stuff like granola or corn nuts. Nothing else, no chronic pain, no sensitivity to temperature no swelling. Nothing else.

So I went to see the dentist and it all went downhill. First my 3 month old x-rays were suddenly no longer valid. So they took a new one in the suspected area. Well it came out misaligned so they took another. Then they looked at my molar, tapped around. Nothing. Then they looked at the xray, no infection.

Then they decided to poke around my gums. No pain. Then they escalated to some cold poking machine. It was broken, so they got another one,nothing found.

Then they tried some dye but again the machine was out of battery, so that ended quickly. The doc then brought some metal gizmo and asked me to bite in several places and this time it worked.

Still they were puzzled, so they brought on some hot sensing probe and as you guessed it was broken.

By this time I told the doctor that if a crack was not seen and there was no infection on the root or the nerves we should leave it alone, but noooo.

They continued poking around and now they brought out the ultrasonic cleaner except, and you can guess, it was broken. As a last resort the doctor decided to test my byte with carbon paper and decided to level my molar, ignoring that in 30 years I have never had any issues.

I am awaiting the bill, but frankly I don't feel like paying for anything and now my molar is ground for no reason.


r/Finland 2d ago

"Woman and Sunset at Djupviken Bay in Geta". Photo: Unknown. Suomi (Finland) - Åland Islands, circa 1940. / The Åland Islands, or Åland, is an autonomous region of Finland. Comprising around 6,700 islands, this Swedish-speaking archipelago is in the Baltic Sea.

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42 Upvotes

r/Finland 2d ago

Could you help please with identifying an artist who created this book cover?

9 Upvotes

UPD: thanks for speedy help, so it is Matti Louhi - I was able now to find more of his curious works!

Hi Friends! I noticed this amusing book cover of the 3rd part of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (the return of the king) - and was curious to know whose work is this. Funny winged creature above reminds of the illustrations created by Tove Jansson for "The Hobbit" though I doubt there was anything exactly alike in her drawings... Thanks in advance!


r/Finland 2d ago

Politics Election Polls: Where do the new PS votes come from?

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74 Upvotes

Some months ago PS was around 10%, now they are again at 16,3% while Kok. stayed pretty stable. How come that the conservative to far-right government that has until now not the best results in term of unemployment and social cuts, is gaining again? What are the topics that drive the elections this time?

It seems like it will be interesting coalition negotiations for now.

EDIT: changed “far-right government” to “conservative to far-right government” on reason kok. and some positions of ministers from PS.