Espoo Things to Do

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During winter, when the ice is thick enough there are lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in Kivenlahti, Espoo. You can go on the sea and walk, skate, cross country ski, ice fishing and even people drive on the sea with cars...

WeeGee is a huge museum cluster located nearby Tapiola center, about ten kilometers from Helsinki downtown. The former printing house contains five museums, including Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA, a toy museum, a clock museum and a couple of others.

The building is a sight itself, one of the best works from the 60s in Finland. It's made from concrete, but the superstructure of the building is so light and airy that the ceiling looks like hanging in middle of air. This effect combined with huge windows looking to a small forest makes you wonder that the building wasn't converted earlier.

The biggest museum in the house is EMMA. The museum is currently (2007) the biggest art museum in Finland with floorspace over 5000 square meters. The permanent collection focuses on Finnish artists, but there are also some international flavours and the exhibitions are top-notch -- Malevich and his suprematism being the first when the museum opened the doors late 2006.

The other museums are worth a stroll, and children love the toy museum and engineers love the clock museum. Others will probably feel entertained, too.

There is also a small café and a bookstore on the ground floor, accessible also without tickets.

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The Nuuksio National Park is amazing place to see if you want to enjoy the Finnish wilderness without the need to travel too far. Yes, it is partly in Espoo city and you can go there with the local bus service.

The buildings in the large yard area at Glims are in their original locations. I liked to go there when I was a child to see old houses and they often had some special events like puppet shows as well as demonstrations of working methods, musical performances,and story-telling.

A basic exhibition and temporary exhibitions.

Nice cafeteria as well.

See photos e.g. here http://www.museoraitti.fi/index.asp?yv=2&av=193&kieli=

I can recommend this especially for families - I myself visited "Glims" few times every summer during my childhood (should go there again, I shame how long time it is from my last visit)

Finland's national artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) designed and built his studio and home at Tarvaspää near Helsinki in 1911-1913. Tarvaspää is now open to the public as the Gallen-Kallela Museum.

The collections of the Gallen-Kallela Museum: paintings, drawings, graphics, sculpture, posters, photographs and works of applied art, in addition to his personal effects and documents. The museum also tells about Gallen-Kallela's colourful life and friends.

As a Finnish person I find this museum very intresting. And I am sure, even You are not familiar with Gallen-Kallela work or history, You can still find museum enjoyable. I myself visited museum already as a child almost every year - both with my family and with school tours.

There is also idyllic cafeteria in the wooden villa building opposite the museum. I even once took part in a wedding parties of our friend in that cafeteria.

April Jazz Espoo 25.04. - 01.05.2007

- It is organized already 20th time
- Five days of international and Finnish jazz bands in different locations in Tapiola (restaurants, cultural building's concert halls and in "jazz tent")
- Organizer: Espoo Big Band ry.

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This lake is really in Espoo city, well, not exactly in the centre but it still belong to the city and you can swim here, fish here, canueing here, well, almost everything. It has very nice sand beach and a good place in the summer for picnic and family fun.

The charming Bembole cafe house was built in 1737. Originally it was the farm`s mainbulding. Since 1938 it has worked as an eating cafe. Before that house has been used as school and as hospital. Nice meals and good cakes available in a reasonable price.Very popular so be prepared for waiting.