Visiting Finland has been likened to stepping into a refreshing shower on a hot day. Even in the cultured capital, Helsinki, the air is clean, and the countryside has a cool beauty. The western coast is fringed with countless islands, while the southern Saimaa district is drenched by myriad sapphire lakes. Here you can sail, fish, or take a relaxing sauna – followed, of course, by a dip in the lake. In Kuusamo, there are ancient forests where bears and wolves roam, and where lichens glisten on the trees lining the waymarked walking trails. In Lapland, far to the north, the indigenous Sami people still tend their reindeer herds. Finland is one of the most technologically switched-on countries in the world. It is also renowned for its design and architecture, in particular those of Alvar Aalto, whose humanist approach to modernism extended into fields such as glassware, furniture and major buildings. Finland’s rich and sometimes turbulent history is also revealed in its buildings: onion-domed Orthodox churches speak of the days when it was part of Russia, while fortresses like Suomenlinna Castle recall centuries of Swedish rule.