Finncon Info Programme In Finnish In Swedish

 

Information for foreign visitors

Accommodation

Official con-hotel is Sokos Hotels. There's also low cost accommodation available. Register now.

Getting to Turku

There is an international airport in Turku from which the trip to the city centre on a local bus takes about 20 minutes. Single fare on the bus is 2 euros. A 24-hour traveller ticket costs 4,50 euros and is valid on all buses in the city area.

If there is no direct flight to Turku from your country, flying to Stockholm, Sweden or Copenhagen, Denmark and taking a connecting flight from there is the easiest way to get here. You can also take a Silja Line or Viking Line ferry from Stockholm (23-37 euros without a cabin).

Another way is by flying to Helsinki Airport and coming to Turku by air, by coach or by train. Coaches from Helsinki Airport to Turku run every hour (except in the middle of the night). A single ticket costs about 22 euros and a return ticket about 37 euros. A train ticket from Helsinki to Turku costs 22-26 euros. You can buy train tickets on the web. From Helsinki Airport you get to the center of the city by bus number 615 or 617, the ticket is 3 euros.

Some cheap airlines fly to other cities in Finland, for example Tampere, from where there are several trains (17-20 euros) and coaches (single 19-22 euros, return 35-40 euros) to Turku every day. Take the bus number 61 from the airport to the city centre (the ticket is 3,50 euros). From there you can take the coach or the train to Turku.

Our Brittish agent Wilf James has made a web page that shows you how to get from Britain to Tampere flying with the budget airline RyanAir.

There are also ferries coming from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki. A single trip costs about 20-22 euros.

Prices valid in January 2003.

Finland

Finland is situated in Northern Europe. It shares borders with Sweden, Norway and Russia. Located between east and west, Finland's role has been unique in many ways. It was earlier part of Sweden, then Russia, and now Finland is an independent nation state and a member of the European Union.

Finland has five million inhabitants and an area of 338,000 square kilometres, of which 65 per cent is covered by forest and 10 per cent by water. Most important industrial products include icebreakers, paper machines, sawn timber, pulp, and nowadays, of course, mobile phones.

Finnish nature and landscape are clean and extremely diverse. In spite of the northern location (about one quarter of Finland's area lies north of the Arctic Circle), the Finnish climate is quite bearable thanks to the Gulf Stream.

Turku

Turku is situated on the coast of south-western Finland. Since the Viking age, south-western Finland has served as a contact point between eastern and western cultures. It is the oldest inhabited area in Finland, dating back 8,500 years. The region is rich in significant historical monuments such as churches, castles, mansions, historic urban areas, villages, etc.

The land area of Turku is 243 square kilometres and it has 174,000 inhabitants. Turku is located right next to the most beautiful archipelago in the world. There are thousands of islands and skerries with their own vegetation and animals. The maritime atmosphere can be experienced in the city centre during the Convention as the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races is hosted by Turku on the very same weekend.

Turku is a bilingual (Finnish and Swedish) growth centre in the Baltic Sea area. The assets of the city are its history, its multicultural, international background and its logistic position. It has a high standard of industrial knowledge and a broad research and education base including three universities, one of which is the only Swedish-speaking university in Finland, Åbo Akademi.

Finland ABC

Currency
The currency unit is the Euro. One Euro roughly equals one USD.

Electrical standards
The electric current is 230 V, 50 Hz. Plugs are two-pin continental sizes.

Time difference
Finnish time is three hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and one hour ahead of Central European Time (Daylight Saving or Summer Time).

Travel/Visa
Finland is a Schengen country. Visitors from other than Schengen countries should check their need for a visa.

Weather
The average midday temperature in the beginning of August is +19,8 oC (67 F) but the weather can vary greatly. Cool weather and constant rain are as possible as sunshine and baking heat.

Links

 

Guests Animecon Links Organizers Press

Sponsorina:

WSOY

Unikankare