We sincerely hope
that this general information about Tampere and Finland will help you with
your travel plans and make your stay in our country more enjoyable.
GENERAL FACTS
Travelling
information and airport transfer
Finland is easily
accessible from any part of the world. Finnair, the national airline, has
scheduled flights to Helsinki from most major cities in Europe. There are
also direct flights to Helsinki from major cities outside Europe e.g.
Bangkok, Beijing, Tokyo and New York. In addition to Finnair, 22 other
international airlines offer regular flights to Helsinki. SAS has daily
flights from Stockholm and Copenhagen to Tampere. For schedules and
ticketing please contact your travel agency or airline office. Helsinki is
also easily accessible by boat from Sweden, Germany or Estonia and by
train from Russia.
Tampere within
easy reach
Getting to Tampere is
really quite easy. There are frequent airline services via Helsinki,
Stockholm and Copenhagen to Tampere-Pirkkala International Airport daily.
And the trip from Tampere-Pirkkala Airport to Tampere's city centre can be
covered in less than half an hour. Regular trains and buses bring you
smoothly to Tampere from Helsinki and Turku in less than two hours. From
Helsinki, services run approximately every hour. In general, transport
connections within Finland are often excellent standard. The easiest way
to travel to Tampere are frequent and comfortable coach connections
between Helsinki Airport and the Tampere city centre. Main roads are good,
and public transport is punctual, efficient, and comfortable.
From Helsinki airport
use the Paunu express bus service which operates directly from
Helsinki-Vantaa airport (platform no. 1); the journey takes about 2,5
hours. There is a bus almost at every hour. A one-way ticket costs EUR 18.
For details, timetables and reservations, please see Paunu www.paunu.fi
or
contact by email merja.nurminen@paunu.fi.
From Tampere airport
the best way to reach the city centre is to take an Airport taxi, which
will take travellers to all city hotels in Tampere (not to Hotel Hermica).
The fare is EUR 10. A normal taxi costs about EUR 20-30.
For the Conference
guest, getting around in Tampere is easy, too. Most hotels, Conference
venues and other interesting attractions are located within walking distance of each
other, so extra time and money need not be spent on going from one place
to another. When transportation is needed, taxis and buses can take you
there comfortably.
Please check the
timetables for trains VR www.vr.fi
and for
coaches ExpessBus www.expressbus.com
Public
transportation in Tampere
The public
transportation system of Tampere includes bus and taxi services. The blue
and white buses of Tampere City Transport offer an extensive service
network of 26 routes covering almost the entire city. A single ticket of
EUR 2 is valid for one hour inside the Tampere city limits. A tourist card
provides a simple and convenient way of paying the fare. This smart card
is valid for day or two, as required. Taxis have meters indicating the
fare and tips are unnecessary.
Passport and Visa
Finland is a member
of the European Union and visas are not required for citizens of
EU-countries. A valid passport is required. Citizens of other countries
should contact the nearest Finnish embassy for further information.
Participants requiring a visa for entry to Finland are strongly advised to
make an application in their home country at least three months before the
intended date of travel. Participants who need a Finnish visa and who plan
to fly back home via Helsinki after visiting St Petersburg should have a
double entry Finnish visa.
Schengen visa
application form and details can be found at Visa for Finland formin.finland.fi/doc/eng/services/visa/visafinl.html
Letter of
invitation
The organising
committee will be pleased to send a letter of invitation to any individual
requesting one. It should be understood that an invitation is intended to
help potential participants raise travel funds or obtain a visa. It is not
a commitment on the part of the congress to provide any financial support.
Currency
The currency in
Finland is the EURO (since 1.1.2002), which is divided to 100 cents. It is
the same currency as in 12 other Euro countries. In Finland europrices are
rounded up to the nearest 5 cents. Foreign currencies are easily exchanged
to Euros at exchange agencies and banks in the airport, at the railway
station, and in many places in the city centre.
For exchange rates
and list of other euro countries, please see Bank
of Finland: Euro conversion and markka bilateral rates as of Jan 1, 1999
www.bof.fi/env/eng/new/muuntok.stm
For exchange rates of
other countries, please see Bank
of Finland: Exchange rates www.bof.fi/env/eng/new/fixlist.stm
Note:
At Tampere Airport there is no bank nor possibility to change currency.
There are no currency restrictions in Finland.
Bank and money
exchange
Facilities for
cashing traveller's cheques in Finland are available at banks (opening
hours 9.30-16.00), exchange agencies and at most hotels. Banks are closed
on Saturdays and Sundays.
Tipping
Tipping is not
expected in Finland.
Electrical current
The electrical
current in Finland is 230V (50 Hz). Plugs and sockets are the same as in
the continental countries of the European Union. In case your equipment
requires different voltage, an electrical transformer will be needed.
Weather
Nature’s gift to
Finland is its four seasons, each providing unforgettable experiences.
Despite cold winters, or rather because of them, Finnish houses are well
heated. Flats, hotels, offices, and public facilities are built to keep
one warm when temperature outside drops sometimes to -30°C between
December-February. The air is fresh and clean and, due to the low
humidity, the climate feels less cold than the actual temperatures
indicate.
In the Internet
www.fmi.fi/ENG/weather.html you can check the weather forecast for
Tampere and Finland for the time of our conference.
Time difference
The time in Finland
is 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). World times at The
World
Time Server.com www.worldtimeserver.com,
time and
date.com www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=101
Telephone area code
The telephone area code for Tampere is 03. If you
dial from abroad, first dial the code for Finland, 358, and then the area
code without 0, then dial the subscriber number (for example: +358 (0)3
3664400).
Insurance
The congress
organisers cannot accept liability for personal injuries sustained, for
loss of, or damage to, property belonging to conference participants (or
accompanying persons), either during or as a result of the Conference
and/or tours. Please check the validity of your own insurance.
Medical services
Medicines are sold at pharmasist (”Apteekki”). If
you need medical consulting, dial 10023 (public health care) or any
private clinic (”Lääkäriasema”).
Shopping
There are numerous department
stores, shops and boutiques in Tampere. The town is known for its factory
outlets. For example, Finlayson textiles and Palmroth shoes and leather.
Most shops are open Mon-Fri at 9 am-6 pm, department stores close at 9 pm.
On Saturdays the shopping hours are from 9 am to 2-6 pm. In the summer
department stores are open also on Sundays.
Food and beverages
In general Finns have their breakfast 7 am-10 am,
lunch 11 am-2 pm and dinner 5 pm-8 pm. Breakfast contains usually
porridge, bread with cheese and ham, boiled eggs, coffee or tea and juice.
The finest Finnish cuisine consists of fish and vegetables. Salmon,
whitefish and Baltic herring as well as mushrooms are popular. Wild
berries are often served for dessert. Restaurant menus reflect a strong
international influence, French and Italian in particular. In Finland tap
water is safe to drink. Wines and spirits are sold by state-owned ALKO
shops. Grocery stores sell beer and other drinks with no more than 4.7%
alcohol.
Wood, water, stone and fire
The
ultimate experience: the four elements of Finland are all together
in the sauna. However, as
”crazy” as Finns are about sauna,
they will understand if you
politely decline. Then again, many foreigners have tried it,
survived it and loved it! For more information see The
Finnish Sauna www.hut.fi/~icankar/sauna/bigindex.html
Liability
The Conference
Organisation and the Congress Agency act as agents only in securing
hotels, transport and travel services and shall in no event be liable for
acts or omissions in the event of injury, damage, loss, accident, delay or
irregularity of any kind whatsoever during arrangements organised through
contractors or the employees of such contractors in carrying out services.
Hotel and transportation services are subject to the terms and conditions
under which they are offered to the public in general. The Conference
Organisation and the Congress Agency reserve the right to make changes
where deemed necessary, without prior notice to parties concerned. All
disputes are subject to Finnish Law.
FACTS ABOUT
TAMPERE, HELSINKI AND FINLAND
Finland
Finland is a modern
western country located in the north of Europe with a total land area of
338,000 square kilometers. It is a land of forests and lakes with clean
cities, a prosperous countryside and lots of open space and natural
settings. Finland is a modern country with high standards of living,
advanced technology and stable democracy. The form of government is
republic and the Parliament consists of one chamber of 200 elected
members. Finland lies between Sweden and Russia and is the link between
East and West with cultural influences from both areas, and Finland is a
member of the European Union (since 1995).
Finland information
at Virtual
Finland virtual.finland.fi
Statistics about Finland at Statistics
Finland www.tilastokeskus.fi/index_en.html
Population
The population is 5,2
million. There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish is spoken by
93% of the population and Swedish is the mother tongue for 5,8% of the
population. Finland is a very accessible country for foreign visitors
since fluency in English is quite high.
Tampere,
Conference city
The Conference will
be held in the city of Tampere, the centre of the second largest urban
region in Finland and a dynamic centre of industry, culture, research and
education. Tampere is a prime example of a clean, modern and safe Nordic
city. The city has two major universities, a university hospital, numerous
research centres and institutes of higher education, making the city an
important centre for research and high-tech industries. The city itself
has 200.000 inhabitants. Tampere is located 180 kilometres (110
miles)north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The city, situated
between two beautiful lakes, has a distinct air of natural peace. Tampere
is large enough to provide all the services that a major Conference may
require, yet small enough to make the delegates and their families feel at
home during their stay.
More information
about Tampere is available on the Tampere City Tourist Office and about
the real time weather get a closer look at A
view from Tampere www.tampere.fi/live
Helsinki, the
capital
Helsinki, the capital
of Finland since 1812, is a modern, vigorous city and the centre of
Finland's administrative, cultural and economic life. Many big national
and international companies have offices and headquarters here. Helsinki
is a spacious city where nature is close wherever you are. Clean air and
water, the archipelago and over 6000 hectares of green areas provide
excellent opportunities for recreation. Helsinki has become a more popular
tourist city year by year. Most tourists come from Sweden, United States
and Russia, followed by other parts of Europe and Japan. Helsinki is above
all a meeting place. Due to its geographical location, Helsinki has been
influenced throughout its history by both east and west. Unparalleled in
Europe, it is an ideal logistics centre for trade and business. Moreover,
in Helsinki old blends with new, small with big, natural with man-made,
all in a most charming way. The unique spirit of Helsinki is due to the
fruitful interaction between diverse influences. Several summit meetings,
numerous conferences and congresses show that Helsinki is considered a
safe and pleasant place to meet. And no wonder: Helsinki is a metropolis
on a human scale. Connections by air, sea and rail are excellent.
More information on
Helsinki is available on the Internet at www.hel.fi
INFORMATION ABOUT FINLAND IN THE INTERNET
Virtual Finland virtual.finland.fi
Travel Guide to Finland www.mek.fi/
Web
Travel, Finland www.webtravel.fi
Super TravelNet.com, Finland www.stn.fi/english
Lonely Planet, Finland www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/fin.htm
TAMPERE CITY TOURIST OFFICE
tel. +358 (0)3 3146 6800
fax +358 (0)3 3146 6463
email
touristbureau@tampere.fi
homepage www.tampere.fi
Further information:
IFCO 2002
Tampere Conference Service Ltd.
P.O.Box 630
FIN-33101 TAMPERE
FINLAND
tel. +358 3 3664400
fax +358 3 2226440
email ifco@tampereconference.fi
homepage www.tampereconference.fi
Hosted
by:
Perhehoitoliitto ry
Kauppakatu 26 A 2
FIN-40100 Jyväskylä
FINLAND
tel. +358 (0)14 3344900
fax +358 (0)14 3344910
email toimisto@perhehoitoliitto.fi
homepage www.perhehoitoliitto.fi/phengl.htm
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