Helsinki - Finland - page 154

You can catch buses to various parts of Espoo from the dedicated Espoo wing in Kamppi
bus station in Helsinki. Local trains from Helsinki will drop you off at several stations, in-
cluding Espoo Central.
WORTH A TRIP
HEUREKA!
Essentially, Vantaa (Swedish: Vanda) is a satellite suburb of Helsinki best known as the
location of the airport. However it's also home to Heureka ( www.heureka.fi ;adult/child exhibi-
tions only €19/13.50, with planetarium film €23.50/16.50; 10am-5pm Mon-Wed & Fri, 10am-6pm
Sat & Sun, 10am-8pm Thu), a fantastic hands-on science centre, IMAX theatre and planetari-
um, by Tikkurila train station (15 minutes from Helsinki on a commuter train). In high
summer it opens until 7pm weeknights.
Tuusulan Rantatie
Just a 30-minute drive from Helsinki, the views from the narrow stretch of tar running
along Tuusulanjärvi (Tuusula Lake) have inspired some of Finland's greatest artists.
Tuusulan Rantatie ( www.tuusulanrantatie.com ) was home to many heroes of the National
Romantic movement, including Sibelius, Nobel Prize-winning novelist FE Sillanpää and
painter Pekka Halonen. Along the 9km road between Tuusula and Järvenpää - after the
Hotelli Krapi detour down the smaller diversion labelled 'Museotie' - are several attrac-
tions connected with them.
Sights
Ainola MUSEUM
( www.ainola.fi ;adult/child €8/2; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun May-Sep)
Sibelius' home is just south of Järvenpää. The family home, designed by Lars Sonck and
built on this forested site in 1904, contains original furniture, paintings, books and a piano
on which Sibelius plotted out tunes until his death. The graves of Jean Sibelius and his
wife Aino are in the garden.