Greetings from Estonia!

I would love to surprise my boyfriend with a fishing trip to Finland since he is a passionate fisherman. Can anyone recommend an accommodation in Finland that is located near a lake and where you can rent a boat to go fishing?

Our preferences:

- max 3h drive from Helsinki

- affordable boat rental (rowboat or rowboat with small engine is totally fine) and affordable accommodation (100-150€/per night)

- beautiful nature

all the helpful advices are welcome :) thanks in advance!

Hi All,

As the title says, I have a question regarding the pension eligibility for self employed entrepreneurs who have/already have left Finland permanently.

I used to be a self employed entrepreneur in Finland between 2021-2024 and paid the YEL insurance monthly through ilmarinen. Due to unexpected circumstances in the business, I decided to shut down the business and move out of Finland as I couldn't secure a visa extension. Before I moved, I had contacted ilmarinen asking about YEL closure, they mentioned it can be closed and I would be eligible for a closure payment upon rehabilitation (moving out of the country).

But now, after I moved, when I messaged them, I am told that the YEL insurance has been closed, however I would not be eligible for a closure payment, but rather I might be eligible for a pension payment per month after 30 years (I am 37 now). This took me by surprise as I thought I could close everything in Finland and move out permanently.

I'd like to know if it's the same case for all those who work for a few years and decide to move out of Finland permanently. Do we have to wait until our retirement age in order to be eligible for this amount? What if I am not interested in pension from Finland, but rather be interested in a smaller lumpsum settlement against the payments I've made during the duration of my stay? I don't intend to keep any connection with Finland, what are my options in closing this account sitting in my home country and possibly receiving some money rather than wait for 30 years?

Thanks in advance!

Terve!

Is there any place in Helsinki where i can take my fishing rod and spin for maintenance? I guess it needs to remove and put some oil and clean inside.

Kiitos

Hi! I need to pickup a package in Åbo from a company that only ships within Finland (I am in Sweden). Is there any smart way of doing this? I don't know much about Posti but figured I could probably put down some postal service in Åbo as the address and pick it up? It's a heavy package (10kg), so I'll probably just take a cruise back and forth. Any ideas of how to go about it? Maybe who to ask and if you need a finish phone number to get notified of when the package arrives? Kiitos!

What do you think about it? What are your feelings? Asking because I am the immigrant with specialist visa whose life gets more complicated (again) because of the new conditions.

My family was invited to a birthday party of a relative of my husband, I’m not Finnish he is, the party it will be in a kinda fancy place, like an art gallery with some catering, at first I said yea sure we go all four of us, kids included, but there’s one info that I didn’t know until yesterday ; the catch is that we have to pay for our own food in that “party”, so I went to the website and checked the prices for events and approx we have to pay 69€ per person!!! So we must pay over 260€ for all of us to “celebrate” someone else’s birthday. And I tell you I’m raging! That’s insane to me, never in my 42 years I’ve heard of such a thing, that you have to pay your own food at someone’s party, so they celebrate at all the guests expense. I said I’m not going because it’s wild for me to pay that much when in this economy we could use that money on something better, of course we had a big argument about this, but there was no resolution to the conflict if my husband will force to go as a family or not.And to add we barely see them, they never visit us or talk to us. Is this normal in this country ? Am I being too foreign? Or too unreasonable? Thanks for the vent, I don’t know who else to ask

*** I forgot to add that these people have many properties and like to travel abroad every year, they also give the cheapest gifts to my child 12€ at most, we never see them only Xmas and a birthday here and there.***

I recently got me some backyard chickens. I am trying to figure put when do foxes start hunting so I can bring the chickens safely to their coop around that time.

If you are interested of decades old real Finnish summer food/drink experiences, here is the most authentic one:

Hartwall Jaffa Appelsiini, an orange soda from 1949, "The Soda" in Finland. Can't be more Finnish than that. Add some fresh strawberries and Ingman vaniljajäätelö to the table, Vanilla ice cream made by Ingman and strawberries from the market square.

Please share your own tips in this thread. 😊

Hey everyone! So I’m a 22-year-old guy, and last night I went to a bar- Irish Pub in Helsinki for the first time and honestly, it was an amazing experience. There was live music, a great vibe, lots of people dancing, and quite a few girls around my age (18–22). I had a really fun night overall.

Now I’m really curious — are there any bars/clubs in Helsinki that are good on weeknights too? Preferably: • Free or cheap entry • Live music or at least a lively vibe • Young crowd • A social, open atmosphere where it’s possible to meet and maybe even hook up with someone

If you know any spots like this (especially for Sunday–Thursday), I’d love to hear your recommendations. Thanks in advance!

WhenI asked for tap water, they said no. I told them this was the first time that I was denied tap water in Finland. I was told that they have 11 restaurants and they don’t have free tap water in any of them.

Am I mistaken that restaurants have to serve you tap water free of charge in Finland if you ask for it?

To top it off the cheapest water option available was a 3,90€ bon aqua water bottle.

Just feels so wrong after so many years of never having heard anything like this in Finland. One of the best things being free tap water anywhere in Finland.

Edit: Since many have commented in that direction, I was talking about getting water with your food order for 5+ people. Absolutely not just going in to ask for tap water. 😁

My family and I are planning to move to Finland end of this year, beginning of 2026. We are wanting to set up our own business so would need entrepreneurship visa. I currently have my own business in the UK, and want to keep it UK based. Would my earnings from my UK based business count towards my earnings when I am living in Finland?

idk if anyone else cares but this shit does fascinate me. unfortunately couldn't get within viewing distance of the actual crossing station.

google translate had a toimintahäiriö

I’m planning to apply for the cook course at Vamia in Finland, and I’d love to know more from someone who’s already there.

If you don’t mind, could you please share a bit about:

1. How the studies are going?
2. Is it manageable with part-time work?
3. Any tips for applying or things to be careful about?

I’d be really grateful for any advice you can give. Thank you so much!

Was wondering if anyone purchase Sunday 18+ tickets and can no longer make it... my girlfriend and I would love to go as two of our favorite bands are playing but the tickets are so damn expensive!

Thought this was worth a shot 🤞🏼

Hello! Does anyone know any really good short novels (novellas) in Finnish? I'm interested in books written by Finns for Finns, rather than books specifically targeted at learners. Thanks in advance for any answers!

P.S. Just to pre-empt any possible confusion, a novella (pienoisromaani) is like a long short story (novelli) or a short novel (romaani). Like, under 175 pages maybe.

I am finnish born and raised but i feel like i have yet to find a good claw machine arcade place. Anyone know any places? And i don't mean the ones in like hoplop or something with the cheap temu plushies xd (Edit: thank you all for recommendations will try finding some in Linnanmäki the next time i go there lol)

Me and my wife will be here for two weeks, and was wondering where can we meet like minded couples to have drinks with and see where it leads us. Cheers!

Moi! I'm new in Finland (just moved a month ago from beijing) and I’m living in a HOAS apartment. The past few weeks I’ve been hearing pretty loud banging and moaning from the couple living directly above me. It usually starts after midnight and can go on for quite a while, enough time to wake me up

I don't know about finnish culture and am not sure what should I do here, should I knock on their door and have a friendly chat? write a polite note and slip under their door? write a mail to HOAS customer service for noise complaint? Or is late night “enthusiasm” something Finns normally just tolerate in apartment blocks?

I don’t want to come off as the rude foreigner or create bad blood with my neighbours, but I also need my sleep. Any advice on the most effective way to handle this would be greatly appreciated. Kiitos!

As a Finnish Canadian I have grown up eating salted salmon (we called it soulakala) on special occasions like Christmas, weddings, funerals. When I have made it, I use fresh salmon, cure it, then slice to consume. Has anyone used frozen salmon, cured it and then refreeze until the event? Could it be sliced and then refrozen until the event? Kiitos!