Nokia MIT day - Practicalities

Please email me (Harri dot Hansen at you-know-what) if something is missing.

Traveling to and from Tampere

Tampere Airport - Scandic City hotel: Take a taxi

A group reservation is made at Scandic City hotel in down town Tampere, pls see http://www.scandic-hotels.com/tampere. Standard room, Nokia price.

Tampere Train Station - Scandic City hotel: Walk

The hotel is across the train station in Tampere.

Scandic City hotel - Hermia : Take a taxi

There are many of us. Let's share taxis. The event will be in Hermia 5 , Auditorium. The part of the city is called "Hervanta".

If you just say "Nokia" in the taxi, you might end up in some other Nokia site or in the city of Nokia (birthplace of Nokia corp, 10 miles from Tampere).

Helsinki Airport - Tampere by Train

Take a taxi to Tikkurila train station (all trains stop there). There is also a bus connection leaving in front of the arrivals.

Helsinki - Tampere - Helsinki: Use the train

Pendolino train is the fastest (ca. 80 min), Intercity train is fast, Express train is o.k., and Commuter train is the slowest (ca. 140 min). You can check the track inside the station building.

Sunday cruise and dinner

Welcome to a cruise on Lake Pyhäjärvi with m/s Tammerkoski and a dinner at Nokia Manor. The boat will leave from Laukontori port at 19:00 sharp.

You can walk from Scandic Tampere City hotel to Ratinansuvanto. Erja Karjanmaa will also meet you at your hotel lobby at 18:40 to escort you.

Bus transportation back from Nokia Manor to Scandic Tampere City will leave at 23:00.

Monday Dinner

Museum Centre Vapriikki on June 4 at 18:45 - 23:00. The event will start with 'Pirkanmaa exhibition - A journey into the history of the province'. http://www.tampere.fi/english/vapriikki/index.html

There will be a bus transportation leaving at 18:15 from Hermia 5 building to Vapriikki and back as shuttle starting at 22:30 from Vapriikki to Scandic City Hotel.

Buying Train tickets

You can buy the tickets at the train station or in the train from the conductor (additional fee) when he walks through your wagon checking tickets. You get the ticket in Finnish, so "vaunu" = "wagon", "paikka" = "seat", "2. luokka" = "second class", "ikkuna" = "window", "käytävä" = "aisle"

If you already know the trains you will take, buy the tickets online with a credit card: (link: To Online Shop) http://www.vr.fi/heo/eng/hinnat/flippuostopaikat.htm

If you take the E-ticket as a mobile text message, remember to print a receipt for your travel invoice. That will also be useful if you run out of phone battery in the train.

Below is my e-ticket as an example (edited, so you have to buy your own). When you buy online, you automatically buy the seating ticket too (which is a good idea). Commuter trains do not have reserved seating.

Train ticket, Adult (AI): Harri Hansen Price: 30,90 euro Ticket code: -EDIT- Monday 4.6.2007 06:33 Helsinki 07:56 Tampere Pendolino train 81 2nd cl Wagon 2, Window seat 5

Train ticket, Adult (AI): Harri Hansen Price: 30,90 euro Ticket code: -EDIT- Monday 4.6.2007 23:02 Tampere 00:36 Helsinki Pendolino train 94 2nd cl Wagon 2, Window seat 27

Total price: 61,80

8% VAT: 4,58

Order number: EDIT

Traveling to St. Petersburg

Traveling to St. Petersburg (Pietari in Finnish) before or after the meeting is a bit laborious, but the city is worth of it.

Don't forget to get a visa!

The practical routes are direct train, bus, or plane between Helsinki and St. Petersburg.

Flying with Finnair is available ca. 3 times per day, and would be minimum of 233 EUR.

The train and bus both take you from city centre to city centre. Train takes some 5-6 hours and bus some 9 hours. Train is more conftable than a bus.

Busses: from downtown Helsinki to St Petersburg (Pietari in Finnish), every day at 09:00, 12:00 and 23:00.

I do not recommend renting a car to travel to St. Petersburg.

Another option. Tallinn in Estonia has a medieval Hanseatic league down town. It cannot of course compete with the art treasures of St. Petersburg, but is very popular cruising destination from Helsinki

http://www.tallinksilja.com/en/tab3/routes/helTal/

Misc.

Credit card is accepted almost everywhere. You will need very little cash (Euros). You can manage without any cash if you really want.

When calling US with your mobile phone, the country code is +1

Most Finns speak good English.

After our dinner at Tampere the sun will set at 10.54 pm and rise at 3:52 am. The dusk is 2:23 hours long, i.e., at 1:17 am and 1:29 am the sun is 6 degrees below horizon. So there is 12 minutes of "dark night".