Haltia, unika naturcentret i Esbo

Outside Espoo, not far from Helsinki, you'll find the Haltia Nature Centre. To come here is to really experience Finland's nature, without having to travel very far from the capital. This is our final post from our trip to Finland in January 2016 - join us in the bitter cold, ancient Finnish mythology and... rippling summer streams.

Haltia - A relaxing nature centre

Nature Centre Haltia was designed by architect Rainer Mahlamäki, inspired by the Finnish national epic Kalevala, and by nature. In the Kalevala, the creation of the earth is explained by a duck laying several eggs (of gold and iron) in the lap of the maiden of the air, Ilmatar.

When Ilmatar moved his knee, the eggs rolled into the water, creating the earth, sky, sun, moon, stars and clouds. Haltia is designed to resemble this duck - with the building's tower being the bird's neck and the solar panels the bird's feathers.

Haltia is categorised as a museum, but there are no classic exhibitions here. Instead, it's a kind of holistic experience where large screens along with sounds take you to experience Finnish nature, in all different seasons. In the middle of winter, you can sit here and experience rippling summer streams!

What we did? After a week of an intense conference programme, we fell asleep to the sweet sound of birds chirping... which of course we shouldn't have done. We were surrounded by bloggers from all over the world with at least two cameras each! I think we ended up sleeping on Snapchat and all sorts of other weird social media around the world...

I det här rummet kunde man se årstidernas skiftningar och lyssna till naturens alla ljud — In this room you could see the changing of the seasons and listen to all the sounds of nature.

När vi tittade ut genom fönstren såg vi hur solen sjönk över träden — Looking out the windows, we saw the sun sinking over the trees.

Snowshoeing or outdoor yoga?

The Haltia Nature Centre is a gateway to Nuuksio National Park and other destinations in Finland. There are various trails and guided tours are organised for groups. There is also a nature school where school groups are offered nature school days, nature trail excursions and exhibition guided tours.

While we were here, we had the opportunity to participate in various outdoor activities, such as skiing, snowshoeing or "outdoor yoga". And then we were treated to mulled wine and grilled sausages, which wasn't bad at 25 degrees below zero! If you want something more to eat a sausage, there is an excellent restaurant in Haltia as well, which we written about earlier.

Promenad i snöskor, någon? — Walking in snowshoes, anyone?

Grillad korv sitter fint när det är 25 minusgrader ute — Grilled sausages are great when it's 25 degrees below zero outside.

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

There are of course plenty of things to what to see and do in Helsinki. It is also nice to discover the nice the city of Turku. Among other things, we have written about Turku archipelago in winter splendour and if Art in the Turku archipelago. Even more tips for Finland can be found below.

14 Comments

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Åsa says:

It would have been great to see a picture of you sitting and sleeping, maybe drooling a little? Haha! PS. What a far-fetched creation myth! Didn't they come up with anything better?

04 February 2016 - 10:24

Ama de casa says:

Haha! It takes the strength to experience so much in such a short time 🙂 .

We have visited planetariums in several places, Anders is very interested in space. And it NEVER fails. When they turn down the lights and play quiet music, we fall asleep in the reclining chairs.

Last time Anders said never again! Feels unnecessary to pay money to sleep away for a while like that... 😉.

(Although he has said "never again" several times before as well... Soon we'll be sleeping in a planetarium again 😀 )

04 February 2016 - 10:44

Lennart says:

BURR how cold it looks!

04 February 2016 - 10:45

Goatfish says:

Burr, it looked really cold, not my thing!
And that myth, interesting to hear about, but to believe in, no! But that's part of having a myth.
I find it very easy to doze off if the music is pleasant, not so good all the time, haha.
Planetarium is interesting!

04 February 2016 - 11:01

Anja says:

Zzzzzzzzzz.... Wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it 🙂 !!!

04 February 2016 - 11:24

Mr Steve says:

Wonderful! So much Finland. In my "previous life" I would have travelled there on a whim.
So now you can be found sleeping on blogs around the world.

04 February 2016 - 11:10

Ditte says:

Thanks for the good tips on if and when the journey back to Helsinki. Usually it is quite short time we usually have at our disposal in Helsinki so some longer trips outside the city have not become. But who knows.
Beautiful pictures, but it looks cold.
The image of you sleeping may come....
May look further on Instagram.

04 February 2016 - 12:24

Hanne Hellvik says:

Stayed in Espoo four weeks ago but did not know about this nature centre. Looks interesting. Next time I'll have to stop by 🙂 .

04 February 2016 - 13:22

BP says:

That story with the duck eggs was really funny. No Adam and Eve and a forbidden apple there, but at least the maiden is there;-)

What better sleeping pill than a slideshow of rippling water. I don't think so. I would have passed out immediately too. Besides, you are now already world famous before your blog wins the Travelmarket award. Hahaha:-)

04 February 2016 - 15:08

Comment by post author

admin says:

Åsa, haha, my favourite creation myth is the one where a God bakes people like cookies in an oven. The first plate gets burnt and they end up in Africa. The second plate doesn't get done, and he dumps them in northern Europe. The third plate, where the cakes are perfectly golden brown, they end up... wherever the creation myth comes from 😉.

Ama de casa, haha, planetarium sounds super comfortable! I'm quite sure I could fall asleep there anytime 😉.

Lennart, it was cold, but we had warm clothes, and so you could go inside 😉.

Geddfish, I guess that's the way it is with myths. But maybe people believed them a long time ago, when there was no science? What else would you believe then...?

Steve, yes, maybe we are here and there. But on the new social media site Snapchat (the young people's thing) everything disappears after 24 hours...

Anja, it was wonderful to sleep too 😉.

Ditte, we haven't seen where those pictures ended up. But several people took pictures of us and showed them on their cameras... Maybe we are on the Chinese Weibo... who knows? 😉

Hanne Hellvik, it is a bit outside of Espoo but it is worth a visit, at least if you like nature!

BP, wow, it's great that you believe in us in the blog competition, but there are many great travel blogs that have made it to the final....

04 February 2016 - 17:27

Comsi Comsa says:

What an eventful trip, cosy in every way. 😉
Oh also on snapchat you ended up, not bad... 🙂 🙂

04 February 2016 - 21:42

Comment by post author

admin says:

Comsi comsa, snapchat seems popular especially among younger people, but you only stay there for 24 hours (luckily?).

05 February 2016 - 8:08

Emelie says:

This was something I didn't know existed actually, will see if we get a visit there sometime, looked interesting!

Otherwise, with creation myths and such, I don't know if the Swedish one is so much better than the Finnish one (small boots for those who complained 😉 ) according to Viking mythology, the earth was created by a dead giant who was broken into small pieces - the skull became the sky, the bones stone, the flesh soil and the blood sea, the skull in turn is held up by 4 dwarfs sitting in each corner of the world. 😉

05 February 2016 - 10:23

Comment by post author

admin says:

Emelie, haha, the Norse creation myth is probably not much better! 😉

06 February 2016 - 9:14

Haltia Nature Centre in Espoo, Finland

Haltia - A relaxing nature centre

Snowshoeing or outdoor yoga?

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

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14 Comments

Åsa says:

Ama de casa says:

Lennart says:

Goatfish says:

Anja says:

Mr Steve says:

Ditte says:

Hanne Hellvik says:

BP says:

admin says:

Comsi Comsa says:

admin says:

Emelie says:

admin says:

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