A natural choice for flying to Finland is one of the world's oldest operating airlines called Finnair. Other airlines you can use are for example SAS and Blue1. The arrival is at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

There are different kinds of transport services at the airport:

• Taxi. The cost is about 35 EUR to Otaniemi.
• Airport Taxi. A yellow cab, which is a bit cheaper, around 25 EUR. It takes other passengers heading for your direction as well, so the trip takes a bit longer. The airport taxi has a booth in the lobby right after the customs.
• Finnair Citybus which takes you to the Helsinki City center. The cost is 5,20 EUR.
• Bus 615 to the Helsinki City Center (recommended). The cost is 3,80 EUR. The ticket is valid 80 minutes from the time of purchase in all public transport vehicles in the capital area. More about public transport in Helsinki area.

Buses 102 and 103 shuttle from the early morning till midnight between Helsinki bus station (Kamppi) and Dipoli (Otaniemi). They depart from piers 41 and 42, respectively, in Kamppi bus station building, which is co-located with Kamppi metro station. The trip takes 13-20 minutes, 3-5 minutes more if the bus goes via Lauttasaari (marked by T on the bus). The bus routes are marked in the map of Otaniemi by a blue color.

Examples of departure and arrival times for buses from Helsinki Kamppi Bus terminal to Dipoli, Otaniemi HERE.

One-way ticket: 3.80Euro

• Dipoli in Google Maps
• City of Espoo
• Finland Capital City area and Helsinki

Visiting Finland is always a good idea, and especially during the summer and early autumn, when the weather is fairly warm, everything is green and flourishing and the days are long. To these pages, we have gathered you some basic information about Finland and the Helsinki region with places to visit with your free time, especially, if you are planning to come with the family and stay a couple of days after the conference.

Finland is a safe country, and most of the people speak some English, so getting around shouldn't be a problem. We have a reputation of being silent and reserved, but that is just the surface.

The Finland has a reputation for high tech innovation and strong hi-tech expertise, for instance, in the fields of environmental technologies, neural networks and data mining, low-temperature physics and brain research, and, of course, telecommunications.

Finland has its calm side, too. Finns like to enjoy the surrounding beautiful nature. To enjoy the life, a Finn does not always need any complex arrangements, just a visit to a simple cottage and sauna by the sea or a lakeside is enough -- there are 188 000 lakes in Finland and 81 000 islands altogether in the archipelagos of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. And if there is no time to travel close to the water, there are well over one million saunas in private apartments in Finland, in the country the population of which is just above 5 million.

Facts and about Finland

• Member of the EU since 1995
• President of the republic: Mrs Tarja Halonen
• Population: 5.2 million
• Area: 338 000 square km, 10% water, 69% forest
• Climate:Cold winters, fairly warm summers
• Official languages: Finnish and Swedish. Finnish is spoken by 91.3% of the population and Swedish by 5.4% of the population
• Religion: 85.6% Lutheran, appr. 1% Orthodox
• Currency: Euro, since 2002

Weather

Weather in Espoo, Finland and Climate in Finland (Finnish Meteorological Institute)

General information about Finland and the Helsinki region can be found from these sources:

Virtual Finland: A great site of information about Finland ranging from Politics and society to arts, people and travel. Stories, maps, everything.

Journey planner: How to get around in the Helsinki region with the public transport. Fill in the origin and destination of your journey, and this service will tell you which transports to take and when, and it shows your route on a map as well.

Below are listed some attractions in the Helsinki metropolitan region. Click links to get to the respective webpages of the attractions. Complete lists can be found from the tourist information web pages. We recommend a visit to the Suomenlinna Fortress and the Seurasaari Open Air Museum.

Ateneum Art Museum Ateneum Art Museum holds the largest collection of Finnish art from 1750 to the 1960s. The museum is conveniently located at the City Center, near the Central Railway station.

Gallen-Kallela Museum The museum is located at the studio of the Finland's national artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela, and presents a rich variety of his work: paintings, drawings, graphics, sculpture etc. The museum is located in Espoo, some 15 minutes by bus from the Conference venue.

Heureka, Finnish Science Center Heureka, located in Vantaa some 20 minutes by train from the Helsinki City centre, houses scientific exhibitions. There are over 200 exhibitions in the main exhibition, with many activity points for the whole family as well as two temporary exhibitions. In June 2008 the temporary exhibitions are Music and T-Rex-the disputed dinosaur.

Helsinki City Art Museum Helsinki City Art Museum has three museums in Helsinki: Tennis palace art museum in Kamppi (near Bus station), Meilahti art museum in Meilahti (near Seurasaari), and Kluuvi Gallery.

National Museum The National museum of Finland presents Finnish life from pre-historic times to the present. It is located near the Helsinki City centre.

Sea Life Helsinki Sea Life Helsinki, connected to Linnanmaki Amusement Park, is a new aquarium in which the underwater life from sharks to native Finnish freshwater species can be admired.

Seurasaari Open Air Museum Seurasaari Open Air Museum is located in a beautiful green island (Seurasaari) a fifteen minute walk away from the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, some kilometers from the Helsinki City Centre. The island itself is a tranquil spot in the city area, favored by the townspeople for picnics and walks. Perhaps you will even meet a tame squirrel or two.

Suomenlinna, Viapori-Sveaborg Fortress The Suomenlinna Fortress is located on the islands just off the Helsinki and was built in the middle of the 1800th century by the Swedish to protect the city. It also belongs to the UNESCO world heritage list as a monument of unique military architecture. There is a regular ferry-boat connection to Suomenlinna from the Market Square.