Business is going to take me to Helsinki in a couple of weeks time and I've decided to tag on 2 or 3 days on one end of the trip or the other for a little bit of a Scandinavian vacation.

The first thought was either flying to CPH or OSL or ARN either prior to or immediately after my time in HEL but it looks as if this sends most of the airfares into the stratosphere (I am wedded to * Alliance for this trip). Helsinki's a perennial favourite and so I've begun to give some thought to venturing somewhere else in Finland for that short break. I thought I'd get the thoughts of people here as to what they would recommend.

At present, I'm thinking of either taking the train to Turku or Savonlinna. I enjoy the leisurely nature of train travel so the journey is part of the fun for me. Does anybody have thoughts on either of those destinations or an alternative? Ideally, I'd like a destination with a bit of history, that offers some opportunities to take some sort of boat trip and, ideally, where you can simply while away a couple of relatively quiet and relaxing days. I'd also be prepared to look into the option of renting a car and exploring a little beyond my destination.

I look forward to getting people's thoughts.

DJC