IIW Circular n°2 FINAL

Sightseeing Tours

PRE TOUR TO TALLINN, ESTONIA Saturday, 27 June at 9:00-22:30

Porvoo Old Town and Art Factory Explore the medieval city of Porvoo, Finland’s 2 nd oldest town

Departure from Crowne Plaza for West harbor by bus with your English speaking tour leader. Check-in at the terminal and 10:30 departure to the Estonian capital Tallinn with m/s Tallink Superstar. At 12:30 arrival to Tallinn. At Tallinn pier, meet your local Estonian guide and coach for a short panoramic tour around Tallinn city. Pass by the Kadriorg Palace and the Song Festival Grounds, and learn from the guide a little about modern life in Tallinn. Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant. Disembark the coach for a walking tour of the Old Town. Experience the history as you walk through the tight and winding medieval streets up to the top of Toompea Hill which offers fine views

Wednesday, 1 July at 9:00-14:00

Departure from Crowne Plaza with a coach and guide towards Porvoo, Finland’s second oldest town that is located 50 minute drive to the east from Helsinki. First stop is at the Art Factory, a superbly renovated factory milieu with concert venues, gallery, restaurants and artists’ studios. Visit the Art Hall gallery displaying

across the red roofs of the old buildings to the sea beyond. The walking tour also passes the Parliament Building, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Dome Church and ends at the Town Hall Square. After free time to shop or relax in a street side cafe, the tour continues back to the port by coach with guide. Departure back to Helsinki at 20:30 with arrival at 22:30. Coach transfer to Crowne Plaza. Price includes: - bus transfers as indicated in the programme - local English speaking guide in Tallinn - lunch in Tallinn - city sightseeing in Tallinn as indicated in the programme - return ferry Helsinki-Tallinn-Helsinki - English speaking tour leader during the whole tour Tour price: EUR 145/person

exhibitions of contemporary art. The gallery shop sells art and design products from local artists. At the Old Town, stroll through the old cobble stone streets in the medieval old quarter, with its historic painted wooden houses, cafes, and antique stores. The town is famous for its ochre-painted shore houses along the riverside. The 13th century cathedral is the town’s major historic landmark. Lunch is served in one of the atmospheric restaurants in the Old Town. The tour ends at hotel Crowne Plaza.

Tour price: EUR 95/person

Price includes: bus transportation and English speaking local guide, visits to the Art Factory and Old Town, lunch in Porvoo

Suomenlinna Maritime Fortress Visit the maritime fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site

Monday, 29 June at 13:30-17:30 Wednesday, 1 July at 8:30-12:30

Departure from Crowne Plaza by private coach for transfer to the Market Square & Harbour with local guide. Board ferry for a 20 minute crossing of Helsinki Bay, with fine views of the city skyline, to the archipelago fortress island of Suomenlinna. Start the walking tour around the island. In 1747, a fortress was built as the main base for the Swedish armed forces stationed in Finland. A group of islands close to Helsinki were chosen to be the site of the fortress, which was to be called Sveaborg, “the fortress of Sweden”. Soon after Finland gained independence (from Russia) in 1917 the Swedish name of the fortress was officially changed to the Finnish Suomenlinna, “castle of Finland”. In 1991, Suomenlinna was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit Suomenlinna Museum including the Suomenlinna Experience multi-visual show. The Suomenlinna Museum, which is in the main Visitor Centre, gives visitors a glimpse of the life of officers and soldiers during the periods of Swedish and Russian rule in the 18th and 19th centuries. There are also pictures of the period since Finnish independence, when there was a prison for communist detainees

HELSINKI HIGHLIGHTS SIGHTSEEING TOUR Sunday, 28 June at 9:00-12:00

Tuesday, 30 June at 18:30-21:30

Departure from Crowne Plaza Hotel with a coach and guide for a private guided Helsinki city tour with the highlights of Helsinki. An inside visit (if possible depending on services) is made to Temppeliaukio, the famous “Rock Church”. The church is built into solid rock and crowned with a solid copper dome, with the inner wall left raw and unfinished. In Sibelius Park get off the coach to view the Sibelius Monument before moving on past the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1952 Olympic Games. Next is the city’s main street Mannerheimintie, along which the modern Opera House, the Alvar Aalto designed Finlandia Hall, the National Museum, and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art are located. Helsinki Railway Station is an architectural show piece in its own right. Esplanade is an elegant boulevard with exclusive shops, with leafy parkland in the centre, a popular recreatuib area, with occasional live concerts and

on Suomenlinna, a Finnish garrison, a submarine base and a Valmet shipyard, which manufactured ships for the Soviet Union. The entrance fee also includes admission to the prize-winning Suomenlinna Experience, a half-hour widescreen show covering the construction of the maritime fortress, the sea battles for the fortification and life and sounds in the garrison town. Using the headphones provided you can choose to listen in Finnish, Swedish, English, German, French, Russian and Japanese. Return to Helsinki Harbour by ferry, and then coach transfer back to Crowne Plaza.

buskers. At the base of Esplanade is the bustling Market Square and harbour, overlooked by the imposing red brick onion-domed Uspenski Russian Orthodox cathedral. Rounding off the tour there will be time to walk around Senate Square and the green-domed Lutheran Cathedral, the symbol of the city. The tour ends at hotel Crowne Plaza.

Tour price: EUR 55/person

Tour prices: EUR 35/person, Sunday EUR 25/person, Tuesday

Price includes: bus transportation, English speaking local guide, return ferry to Suomenlinna, visit to Suomenlinna Museum with multi-visual show.

Price includes: bus transportation and English speaking local guide

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