Helsinki University Botanic Garden

Location

Helsinki
Finland
60° 10' 30.3852" N, 24° 56' 44.646" E
FI
General info: 

A perfect getaway from the city in the middle of the city. Entering this park of hundreds of exotic plants is sometimes even better than actually travelling to the tropic. Helsinki University Botanic garden is the oldest scientific plant collection in Finland. The Garden was founded in 1678 in Turku and moved to Helsinki in 1829. The old style of the garden has been preserved as well as several old Empire style buildings from the 1830′s.

The gardens greenhouse is currently home to more than 800 different species of plants and its grounds to more than 2,800 plants of different origins. Botanic Garden and Herbarium is part of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, which is a national natural-history collection.

The University of Helsinki Botanical Garden at Kaisaniemi is one of Helsinki's most popular visitor attractions. The Garden is situated very close to the city centre, and its glasshouses and surrounding grounds offer nature lovers a unique experience all year round. The gallery between the large and small glasshouses is used to host temporary exhibitions, mostly on themes connected to the natural world.

Getting there: 

The garden is within a walking distance from the city center.

Costs: 

Entrance
• Outdoor garden: free of charge
• Greenhouses 6/3 euros, Thurdays 16–18 free of charge

Opening hours
Greenhouses
• Monday: closed
• Tuesday–wednesday 9–16 (9 am – 4 pm)
• Thursday 9–18 (9 am – 6 pm)
o 16–18 free entrance
• Friday 9–16 (9 am – 4 pm)
• Saturday–Sunday 10–16 (10 am – 4 pm)
Outdoor garden
• Mon–Sun 9 – 20 (9 am – 8 pm)

Interesting places nearby

Based on the Storlien Hotel, Sweden's oldest and largest high mountain hotel, offers skiing best suited to beginners and intermediates. The wonderful, friendly hotel has swimming pool, gym and sauna.

There are more than 350 km of prepared tracks in the Sjusjoen area, of which about 100 km are prepared for ski skating. The snow conditions are always stable from November and through to the end of April.

BASE: 410ft
SUMMIT: 1279ft
VERTICAL DROP: 869ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 7
Gondolas: 0
Chairs: 2
Surface: 5

BASE: 721ft
SUMMIT: 1220ft
VERTICAL DROP: 459ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 3
Gondolas: 0
Chairs: 0
Surface: 3

Almost 250 skiing days a year - from October to June! Ruka's 29 slopes provide something for everyone. They range from gentle slopes for beginners to taunting gradients for professional skiers.

Romme Alpin is the biggest skiarea in Sweden, beofre you get further north and up in the real mountains. Romme Alpin offers 23 runs and 19 km of total slope length.