Sustainable tourism by Alpland
Greetings from wintry Finland, everyone! Last weekend Alpland attended the biggest travel fair in Nordic countries, the Matka fair 2019. It was once again exciting to see how the travel world lies in 2019. The fair consisted of professional days and the open days for public. Once again, the biggest travel companies operating in Finland gave out freebies and their annual brochures to address indecisive travelers. Where to go next? We as Alpland participated in professional days to ensure that we
Life in Luosto
Happy New Year 2019, our dear reader! Last year we covered various travelling topics related to Switzerland and Finnish Lapland, Life in Engelberg, Finnish sauna culture and Swiss time to name a few. We will kick off this year by introducing you how life in Luosto – our other home – is. Luosto, located in the Sodankylä municipality, is literally in the centre of Lapland. It is the home of reindeer herding and the roots deep down to earliest occupations in
Tourism redefined
Why do you want to travel? “To see the World” might be the most cliche answer but if you really stop and think for a moment, you might find various reasons behind your holiday purchase decision. Perhaps you have always wanted to visit the famous Unesco World Heritage sites or visit a country where you can use your studied language skills, Spanish in Spain or French in France. Or perhaps you are interested in a local artist and fascinated about where
How accurate is your Swissness plan?
Everything is on point. Nothing runs late. It feels like every day is a Sunday. Welcome to Switzerland, the home of punctuality, orderly manners and lifestyle built on a precision. This picture-perfect country in amidst of the Alps is very well known of its flawless details and planned everyday life. Here are a few reasons why you should plan your holiday with some flexibility, as you shouldn’t run late! What is the first thing that comes into your mind when thinking
Service culture in Switzerland and Finland
Today’s world is unique, transparent and more connected than ever, a big thanks to the Internet. Never has the human being been as networked than now – and on the contrary, more isolated than ever. Individual culture supported by several digital services has made it possible to avoid human contact in everyday life. Who had ever thought that going to the store meant an online grocery store or your daily dose of personal training happened via an online chat? Digitalization has
Travelling seasons, they are a‑changing
Have you ever caught yourself defining travelling destinations by their stereotypical characteristics? In Rome you should visit the mighty Colosseum. In Egypt you have seen everything after the pyramids. In Iceland all you need is the hot springs. Visit Japan when the cherry blossom is the prettiest, Lapland when the snow is the deepest and Canary Islands when the sun shines down to beaches the warmest. This is the travelling world that we know of and that we are used to.
Sauna culture in Finland
Sauna – probably the most known Finnish word around the globe. You might know this wonderful bathing and washing concept as a part of a visit to spa or being a way to have an evening wash. This steamy tradition has been surrounding Finnish daily routines for hundreds of years. Let’s dig deeper into this hot topic. Sauna in its current modernity is a tradition going back to Bronze Age in Finland. The actual word ‘sauna’ has its origins from a
Life in Engelberg
A typical summer day ahead. Monastery’s bells start ringing, greeting the first sun rays of the day. It is 4.55 a.m. Velvety green mountain hills rise to touch the morning haze while rips of clouds crawl slowly along the rising rocky surfaces. Somewhere up there, looking down from the mountain top and still slightly asleep, is the happiest brown cow in that early morning. The town in the valley is ready to wake up. This is Engelberg. The Angel Mountain. A
Overnight in the wilderness
Grüezi and tervepä terve, our dear reader! Did you know there is a Finnish children’s song starting with the following words: “If you want to go into the woods right now, you will be surprised for sure”? What’s so surprising in the forest? Song tells a story about a group of teddy bears playing around, peaking from underneath tree branches and frolicking around on the forest floor. This makes them all very tired and already quite early in the evening they need
Finnish winter
Hello again, dear reader! Feeling a bit chilly already? No wonder, as it has already been snowing in the Swiss Alps and in Finnish Lapland too. Winter and especially snow are very exotic for people coming from two-season countries but as a Finn, one needs to be very accustomed to this arctic season. Grab a cup of something hot to drink while continuing reading forward because here are a few specialties about living in Finland during winter. Finnish winter can be