10 reasons to visit Finland

Seeing the Aurora Borealis in a clear night sky can be an awe-inspiring experience. In Lapland in northern Finland, the Northern Lights appear on about 200 nights a year. Auroras, seen mainly at high latitudes, are produced when electrically-charged particles in the solar wind meet oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere.

Of course in 2017, the hundredth anniversary was celebrated in grand style in the capital Helsinki, especially on December 6, Finland's independence day. But a visit to this port city is also worthwhile because of its architecture and many restaurants and bars. Before independence in 1917, Finland was an autonomous grand duchy in the Russian Empire.

Saunas are integral to Finland and the Finnish way of life. For centuries, Finns have been sweating, relaxing and discussing issues in these hot bathhouses - and the icy Finnish winters provide the perfect contrast. There are saunas everywhere in Finland. There's even one in the parliament in Helsinki.

The Finnish coast in the southwest of the country is dotted with tens of thousands of rocky offshore islets, the skerries. The Kvarken Archipelago is part of the skerry coast and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Finland is world famous for design. Several renowned designers, such as Alvar und Aino Aalto, came from Finland. Design District Helsinki boasts countless shops featuring young creative artists' work, and in the Design Museum you'll find Finnish design classics from vases and tableware to furniture.

Some 100,000 moose live in Finland's huge forests, but you'll rarely run across these shy animals in the wild. If you want to see moose it's better to go to one of the parks or zoos in which they live. At Moose Manor near Jämsä in central Finland, you can stroke tame moose.

To mark the 100th anniversary of independence, Finland's 40th national park was opened in 2017. Many wild animals including bears, lynx and eagles live in the parks. A rare subspecies of freshwater seal, the Saimaa ringed seal, lives in the national parks around Lake Saimaa.

Finland has a venerable vodka-making tradition. Finnish vodka is usually made from barley, and the distillation process can take months. There are vodka varieties flavored with bilberries, Arctic raspberries or lingonberries.

There is certainly no lack of snow in Finland in the winter. If you enjoy skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or dogsledding, this is the place for you. Many husky breeders in Lapland have specialized in tourism and offer dogsled tours through the wilderness.

Almost all Finns love salmiakki, or salty licorice. Traditional salty licorice comes in both hard and soft varieties, but you can also find new types of this typically Finnish specialty - for instance, with chocolate.