Finland Guide
Helsinki and the south
Espoo
Lying west of Helsinki, the suburban area of Espoo (Esbo in Swedish) comprises several separate districts. The one nearest to Helsinki, directly across the bay, is the "garden city" of TAPIOLA. In the 1950s, Finnish urban planners attempted to blend new housing schemes with the surrounding forests and hills, frequently only to be left with a compromise that turned ugly as expansion occurred. Tapiola was the exception to this rule, built as a self-contained living area rather than a dormitory town, with alternating high and low buildings, abundant open areas, parks, fountains and swimming pools. Much praised on its completion by the architectural world, it's still refreshing to wander through and admire the idea and its execution. The tourist office at Tapiontori 3A (daily 9am–5pm; 
09/8164 7230, 
www.espootravel.com ) handles enquiries about the whole Espoo area.
About 3km north of Tapiola, the traffic-filled Hagalundintie brings you to the little peninsula of Otaniemi and a couple more notable architectural sites. One of these is the Alvar Aalto-designed campus of Helsinki University's technology faculty; the other – far more dramatic – is the Dipoli student union building on the same campus. Ever keen to harmonize the artificial with the natural, architects Reimi and Raili Pietilä here created a building that appears to be fused to the rocky crags above, the front of the structure daringly edging forward from the cliff face.
Though the town of Espoo itself has little to delay you, just beyond lies the hugely absorbing Hvitträsk (daily: May– Sept 11am–6pm; Oct– April 11am–5pm; €5), the studio-home built and shared by architects Eliel Saarinen, Armas Lindgren and Herman Gesellius until 1904, when their partnership dissolved amid the acrimony caused by Saarinen's independent (and winning) design for Helsinki's train station. Externally, this is an extended and romanticized version of the traditional Finnish log cabin, the leafy branches that creep around making the structure look like a mutant growth emerging from the forest. Inside are frescoes by Gallen-Kallela and changing exhibitions of Finnish art and handicrafts. Saarinen and his wife are buried in the grounds.
Frequent buses run throughout the day from Helsinki's long-distance bus station to Tapiola, but you usually need to request them to stop there. To get from central Helsinki to Hvitträsk, take the local (line L) train to Louma (37min) and follow the signs for 3km, or take bus #166 from Helsinki (55min). To get to Otaniemi from central Helsinki, take bus #102 or #103 (20min); from Tapiola, take bus #2, #4 or #195 (5min).