Finland Guide
Helsinki and the south
Olympic Stadium
The decisive outline of the Olympic Stadium is visible from far away. Originally intended for the 1940 Olympic Games, the stadium eventually staged the second postwar games in 1952. From the Stadium Tower (Mon– Fri 9am–8pm, Sat & Sun 9am–6pm; €2) there's an unsurpassed view over the city and a chunk of the southern coast. If you're a stopwatch-and-spikes freak, ask at the tower's ticket office for directions to the Sports Museum (Mon– Fri 11am–5pm, Sat & Sun noon–4pm; €3.50; www.urheilumuseo.org), whose mind-numbing collection of track officials' shoes and swimming caps overshadows a worthy attempt to present sport as an integral part of Finnish culture. The nation's heroes, among them Keke Rosberg and Lasse Virén, are lauded to the skies. Outside, Wäinö Aaltonen's sculpture of Paavo Nurmi captures the champion runner of the 1920s in full stride, and fully naked – this atypically Finnish expression of public nudity caused quite a stir when the sculpture was unveiled in 1952.