Tampere, Finland: Where to stay and what to do

While Tampere may be landlocked, at no point does it give that impression. After all, the city is surrounded on all sides by lakes and forest, giving it a coastal feel despite its location. The former are a major reason for Tampere's reputation in Finland as the sauna capital not of the country, but of the world. Indeed, whether you like it or not, there is absolutely no avoiding saunas here. To the uninformed, a schvitz is a schvitz – the where and how are largely irrelevant, and if you've seen one sauna, you've seen 'em all. Tampere proves the opposite: Any visitor who mixes with the locals will certainly experience Finnish sauna culture in many different ways.