“They make me happy,” my 11-year-old daughter May chimes in.
Now, the water is around 3°C. I close my eyes and take a sharp intake of breath as my shoulders dip below the surface. Zac squeals, and we both run back inside to the cosseting heat.
Tampere in Finland has been compared with Manchester (Photo: Getty)Like Manchester, it has an industrial heritage with telltale red brick factory buildings in its centre – many are now museums, shops and restaurants. And while Manchester has United and City, Tampere has rival ice hockey teams Ilves and Tappara.
But I assumed my children would dip into these, get bored and want to move on. Instead, they became hooked, loving the drama of how they felt after extremes of temperature.
In 2024, 87.5 per cent of the city’s overnight stays were made by domestic visitors. In comparison, just 0.6 per cent of overnight stays were booked by arrivals from the UK.
There are more than 70 saunas in and around Tampere (Photo: Visit Finland)And, despite Finland being an expensive country, Tampere was affordable. Our impromptu sauna trip cost €11 (£9.30) per adult and €5 (£4.23) per child, with under sevens going free. The most expensive sauna that we went to on our trip was the slick Flou sauna, on Lake Pyhäjärvi. This was €13.50 (£11.46) per person (no child discount), but it was the kids’ favourite.
Where to eat on a budget
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The children enjoyed an evening meal in Bonker Moodcourt, an underground food court next to Tampere railway station. Here, we picked various dishes to share from its three food outlets – vegan junk food from Hoax (starters from €4 (£3.39), tacos from TNT (€13.50 (£11.45) for three) and pizza from Slicemonger (from €4.50 (£3.82) a slice) – then played shuffleboard and retro arcade games in Noob.
The kids’ minds were set racing as our guide told them that the best spies dressed just like them to blend in (€10 (£8.48) for adults, €6 (£5.09) for children aged 6–17, plus €5 (£4.24) to take the agent test).
The Moomin museum is a one-of-a-kind (Photo: Visit Finland)Escape to nature
The Moomin books highlight the greatness of nature, and we appreciated this at Tampere’s Pyynikki Ridge where we climbed the 26-metre Pyynikki observation tower (€2 (£1.70) adults, €1 (85p) children) and gazed out over the city’s pine trees, sparkling lakes and chimneys. Zac conquered his fears and abseiled (€35) down the structure before we all tucked into its café’s “munkki” doughnuts which, with a kick from cardamom and smothered in sugar, are considered Finland’s best, but are €3 a piece.
Burning off the sugar high in the surrounding forest afterwards, we all stood still to listen to a woodpecker. I recalled a Moominpappa quote that we’d read the day before: “The world is full of great and wonderful things for those who are ready for them.”
Getting there
Cathy Toogood was a guest of Visit Finland and Visit Tampere
Cathy flew with Finnair, which offers direct flights from Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh to Helsinki year-round, with its Heathrow service operating up to six per day.
Several airlines offer direct flights from the UK to Helsinki.
Trains from Helsinki to Tampere take around 90 minutes.
Staying there
Courtyard by Marriott Tampere City has rooms from €79 (for Marriott members) or €83 for non-members. One-bed suites sleep up to three, with a rollaway bed added to the room.
More information
visitfinland.com
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Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I’ve been on more than 20 family city breaks, this is our affordable favourite )
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