Are you a basketball fan with no clue how to spend holidays? On August 31st Polish basketball representation is going to start struggling to EuroBasket 2017. This article will provide you with information how to organise a trip to the capital of Finland and what is definitely worth of seeing there.
The European Basketball Championship is about to start in Finland, Romania and Turkey on the turn of August and September. Thanks to a great attitude during the preliminaries in last year, Poland is among 24 participants of European Football Championship final tournament. The Polish team’s group meetings will start on August 31st in Helsinki and come to an end on September 6th. The team will face competitors from Slovenia, Iceland,Finland, France and Greece. From six teams, four of them will be promoted to ME phase. Will the Polish team be successful? It will be much easier with their fans support.
Think of tickets and accommodation today
The best way to get to Helsinki from Poland is by plane. However, it is also possible to consider a car journey to Tallinn and then get on a ferry.
If you choose to go by a plane and book tickets a few months earlier a round-trip with a change in Riga will cost about 750 PLN. It will take about 3,5 hour. Direct flight will cost about a 1000 PLN and it takes about 1,5 hour.
Due to EuroBasket and the constant flow of tourists it is highly recommended to take care of accommodation in advance. At the moment a bed in a multi-person room costs about 70 PLN for a night. A one-person room will cost you about 200 PLN and a one-person room in a 3-star hotel is available for about 300 PLN.
Ticketmaster.fi has just launched a sale of tickets for EuroBasket 2017. The price for one-day-ticket with a possibility to go on a three meetings starts from 63 euro. The tickets on a single match costs 27,5 euro. You may of course buy “Follow your team” package and see matches of chosen representation.
Take an opportunity, tour Helsinki
The capital of Finland is located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki, placed on the solid land and islands is believed to be the most green city in Europe. There are over 600 thousand of inhabitants. The time between matches could be used to tour the city’s attractions.
Tourists very often start a tour from the modern Temppeliaukio Church which is curved in rock and covered with copper, oval cupola. The inside of Temppeliaukio Church is illuminated with sunlight. The great acoustic is a reason for numerous concerts which are held there.
The Senate Square is the most common image on postcards from Helsinki. It is located in the heart of the city. Near to the Senate Square you may find the seat of the Prime Minister of Finland, Helsinki University and the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral.
In the nearby you can also find Kauppatori Square- it is the biggest Market Square with a lot of restaurants. Restaurants serve mostly local food (dishes usually made of fish, crayfish, elk meat, reindeer meat). You should definitely see the old bazaar, the Presidential Palace and the cathedral of Orthodox Christians.
The sport supporters will be interested in Olympic Stadium. It is the site of 1952 Olympic Games with a 72 metres high view tower, the monument of a great runner- Paavo Nurmi and the sport museum.
Korkeasaari is the biggest zoo in the country, located on a 22-hectare island and connected with solid land mainly via bridge. You can find there a lot of stores and bars.
Suomenlinna fortress is a place to put on a must-see-list. It is placed on a six islands in front of an entry to a harbour. Suomenlinna was built in 1748 and in 1991 added to the World Heritage site- UNESCO, (source: Travelmaniacy.pl).
Currency for a trip
Since 2002 official currency in Finland is euro. If you want to save some money, think of exchanging it in online exchange office. Social transaction looks promising. To benefit from this tool in Cinkciarz.pl (Conotoxia.com) you should at first transfer money to your currency wallet, choose what currency you would like to sell or buy and set the exchange rate. When the matching offer will appear transaction will be automatically executed and Cinkciarz.pl (Conotoxia.com) will not charge you with a fee or commission.- said Piotr Kiciński, Vice-Chairman of the Board in Cinkciarz.pl.
The agenda of matches in A ME group in Helsinki: (UTC+2)
August 31st
- Poland vs. Slovenia (1:45 pm)
- Iceland vs. Greece (4:30 pm)
- France vs. Finland (8:00 pm)
September 2nd
- Poland vs. Iceland (1:45 pm)
- Greece vs. France (4:30 pm)
- Finland vs. Slovenia (8:00 pm)
September 3rd
- France vs. Iceland (13:45 pm)
- Slovenia vs. Greece (4:30 pm)
- Finland vs. Poland (8:00 pm)
September 5th
- Iceland vs. Slovenia (1:45 pm)
- Poland vs. France (4:30 pm)
- Greece vs. Finland (8:00 pm)
September 6th
- Slovenia vs. France (2:45 pm)
- Poland vs. Greece (5:30 pm)
- Finland vs. Iceland (8:45 pm)