Many museums are free of charge... at least once year!

The national museum in Helsinki

Finland doesn't have very famous museums like Le Louvre in Paris or the Hermittage in Saint-Petersburg. It will change if the Guggenheim museum is built. Nevertheless the country counts a lot of interesting museums. It is always interesting to visit exhibitions and learn more about the past or discover new artists. There are exhibitions for all tastes! Nowadays, most of the museums are interactive and make the visit even more captivating.

Despite the fact that most museums have an entry fee (between 2 and 12€), it is possible to visit most of them for free, at least sometimes. On May 18th, almost all the museums are free of charge for the international museum day. For children, the admission is almost always free. Students, unemployed, those in military service and pensionners have special discounts.

Kiasma, contemporarymuseum in Helsinki

The most visited site in Finland is the fortress of Suomenlinna in the Helsinki's archipelago which is also considered as a museum. It is free to go there (you just pay the boat). You only pay for guided tours or for visiting indoor museums. The same principle applies to the openair museum of Seurasaari, also located in Helsinki.

My top list of museums:

• Kiasma, contempory art museum in Helsinki. Expect the unexpected!
• Siida, the Sami culture museum in Inari. Discover how the Sami people adapted to the arctic climate and their customs.
• Arktikum, the provincial museum of Lapland in Rovaniemi. A "must be visited".
• The spy museum in Tampere. Unique in Europe! Small but extremely interesting. Especially for all the conspiracy freaks!
• The city museum in Helsinki. Think you know everything about Finland's capital? You will know a lot more after your visit.
• Ski museum in Lahti. From the oldest pair of skis to the latest successes of the Finnish elite. You can try ski jumping, cross-country skiing and biathlon shooting!

Let's don't forget the castles. Personally, I've loved to visit the amazingly beautiful medieval castle Olavinlinna in Savonlinna. And cherry on the cake: the guided tour is free of charge! Turunlinna in Turku also worth a visit.

List of free museums

Helsinki

Always free: the museums owned by the city

• City museum
• Sederholm
• Hakaslmi
• Worker Housing museum
• Tram museum

Only the last Tuesday of the month:

• Design musem

Only the first Wednesday of the month:

• Ateneum art museum (after 5pm)
• Synebrychoff art museum (after 5pm)

Only the first Thursday of the month:

• Natural history museum (after 4pm)
• Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden (after 4pm)

Only the first Friday of the month:

• Kiasma (after 5pm)
• Tennis palace art museum
• Museum of Finnish architecture
• The national museum (after 4pm every Friday)

Espoo

• Emma, Espoo museum of modern art (Wednesdays after 6pm - includes 5 museums)
• Glims Farmstead Museum (Wednesdays)

Jyväskylä

• Alvar Aalto museum (Fridays from October 1st to December 31th)

Lappeenranta

• South Carelia museum (first Friday of the month from September to May)
• South Carelia Art museum (first Friday of the month from September to May)

Tampere

• Finnish boxing museum (volunteer admission fee)
• The police museum
• Media museum Rupriikki (Fridays)
• Malkki museum, contemporary art 
• Finnish labour museum

Turku

• Art museum (Fridays after 4pm)

This list is of course uncomplete. The article will be updated everytime I make another interesting discovery. Feel free to contact me and share your tips with others!