Inside Finland’s Tampere – the happiest city in the world’s happiest country

Finland has just been declared the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report – for the sixth year in a row. You might think the recent bitterly contested election and having a 1,340km- (830-mile) long border with Russia, would have taken the edge off the Finns’ buoyant spirits, but not a bit of it.

Why are they so happy? According to Heli Jimenez of Business Finland: ‘Finnish happiness stems from a close relationship with nature and our down-to-earth lifestyle.’

Which explains why Tampere, a city where nature comes right into the centre of town, is regularly voted by other Finns as the place they would most like to live. Around 180km (111 miles) north of Helsinki and sitting on a land bridge between lakes Nasijarvi and Pyhajarvi, this is good-mood central – the happiest place in the world’s happiest country.

There’s lots to be happy about. In summer, Tampere-ites hit pristine beaches that are just a few minutes away from the office, in winter they ski through the fairy-tale woods that surround them. You can enjoy both at Pyynikki, the lakeside forest with shoreline walks and swimming spots that’s a short ride on the number 10 tram. After a swim, climb up through the trees to the Pyynikki observation tower. The views over the lakes and city from this 1920s landmark are breath-taking but, just as importantly, the cafe tower is famous across Finland for its freshly made doughnuts.

There are more doughnuts at the Market Hall on Hameenkatu. Opened in 1901, this is the largest covered market in the Nordic countries and its stalls and cafes are filled with high-quality local produce like the berries that abound in the region in late summer – a great place to grab lunch or coffee.

Finland has just been declared the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report. And Tampere, above, is regularly voted by other Finns as the place they would most like to live. So it’s the happiest place in the world’s happiest country, writes Michael Hodges

Tampere is around 180km (111 miles) north of Helsinki and sits on a land bridge between lakes Nasijarvi and Pyhajarvi

The lakeside Kaukajarven municipal sauna (above) is just outside Tampere ‘and features hot stones, buckets of water and happy Finns with ladles’

The temperature in Tampere can be freezing or below until the end of April, Michael notes

Nearby the rapids that link lakes Nasijarvi to Pyhajarvi surge through town via the Tammerkoski Falls. Watch the fearsome spectacle from the safety of the Tammerkoski footbridge in a Lowry-like cityscape of 19th-century red-brick mills that have been preserved and repurposed.

The Vaprikki Center, meanwhile, is an ex-factory complex that now houses 10 small museums ranging through natural history to computer games. And the once mighty Finlayson Works and the Tampella factory house great bars and restaurants.

You’ll get steamy waterside views from the window of the sauna at the new Sauna Restaurant Kuuma on the Tammerkoski quayside – one of 34 in a city declared the World Sauna Capital in 2018. Eat afterwards in a heated glasshouse overlooking the Tammerkoski quayside.

Prefer your steam room traditional? The lakeside Kaukajarven municipal sauna is just outside town on yet another lake and features hot stones, buckets of water and happy Finns with ladles. In winter the lake freezes over and a hole is made in the ice for sauna users. Force yourself to do it for a massive natural high (and goose bumps).

‘This is good-mood central,’ Michael says of Tampere. According to Heli Jimenez of Business Finland: ‘Finnish happiness stems from a close relationship with nature and our down-to-earth lifestyle’

The rapids that link lakes Nasijarvi to Pyhajarvi surge through town via the Tammerkoski Falls

Tampere Hall arts centre is home to the symphony orchestra but – more importantly perhaps – the world’s one and only Moomin Museum

The Moomin Museum features two floors of original artwork by Moomins creator Tove Jansson, including a remarkable six-foot-high Moomin House (above)

Michael writes: ‘In summer, Tampere-ites hit pristine beaches that are just a few minutes away from the office, in winter they ski through the fairy-tale woods that surround them’

Visit for a great ice-scape: The waters around Tampere can be a bit nippy

The temperature in Tampere can be freezing or below until the end of April but they have great things to do inside. The Nokia Live Arena, designed by celebrity architect Daniel Libeskind, and costing 124million euros (£109million), is home to two top-flight ice hockey teams Ilves and Tamapara. Tampara have just won the national championship and derby games are raucous and very exciting events; beer is drunk and sausages eaten.

The stadium incorporates the five-star Lapland Hotel, which has balcony suites that look down on the arena which, as well as sport, hosts major cultural events, most recently a gobsmacking new interpretation of the Snow Queen. The spectacular ice dance with scores of dancers, skaters and innovate design, re-imagines Hans Christian Anderson’s folk talk with dark urgency and will be touring Europe in 2024.

More live music? Tampere Hall arts centre is home to the symphony orchestra but – more importantly perhaps – the world’s one and only Moomin Museum. This features two floors of original artwork by Moomins creator Tove Jansson, including a remarkable six-foot-high Moomin House that Jansson made with her partner Tuulikki Pietila. And if that doesn’t make you happy – nothing will.