Finnish summers are short, and these parks make the most of them, opening in spring and closing for winter by late October. The list mixes ride parks, where height limits decide which coasters your kid can try, with treetop rope parks, where kids clip into a harness and cross bridges and zip lines in the pines. Here's what we checked, from Linnanmäki's carousels to the free-fall jump at Zippy.
Linnanmäki is an amusement park that opened in 1950 and is run by the Children's Day Foundation, which gives its proceeds to child welfare work. Rides range from carousels and driving tracks for small kids to big coasters like Taiga and Magia.
Four play areas include a troll-hunt playground with a hanging bridge and crystal tunnel by the water tower, a Water Labyrinth and a funhouse mirror path.
Korkee is a rope adventure park in the trees on Mustikkamaa, an island outdoor area that also has a beach and sports fields. The high courses run 3 to 15 meters up, from easy routes for families to hard black ones, with cable slides, climbing walls up to 12 meters, a base jump and a Tarzan slide.
Smaller kids get low children's tracks about 1 meter off the ground.
Korkee Paloheinä is a treetop rope park beside the Paloheinä outdoor recreation area, with high courses 3 to 15 meters up. The first courses suit beginners and families, the later ones test strength and nerve, and this park adds a helicopter jump and a 15-meter free jump.
Smaller kids get low children's tracks about a meter up, on a continuous belay. Parents can watch from seating by the tracks.
Huippu is a ropes park in the treetops, with eleven high courses on and below a cliff, set 4 to 18 meters up, plus two practice courses where instructors teach the safety system. Every course ends on a zip line, the longest 140 meters.
On the ground there are three net areas with a ball pit and a giant tube slide, adventure mini golf and outdoor escape games.
A treetop adventure park at Tali, with 18 rope courses: ten high courses graded easy to very hard, six low courses in the kids' area and two practice courses. Up high there's a Tarzan jump, a base jump, a 50 m cable bike ride and a 20 m free-fall jump. Younger kids get a net adventure with a ball pit, an airbag jump, trampolines and bouncy castles.
Tykkimäki is a summer amusement park in Kouvola, a little over an hour by train from Helsinki. Rides run from the gentle Mini Teacups and Valasveneet boats for small kids to the Star Flyer and Loop Fighter for older ones, each with its own height limit.
The Minimaatila petting zoo sits inside, along with game stands, kiosks and burger and pizza spots. Tykkimäki Aquapark is a 500-meter walk away.
Finnish summers are short, and these parks make the most of them, opening in spring and closing for winter by late October. The list mixes ride parks, where height limits decide which coasters your kid can try, with treetop rope parks, where kids clip into a harness and cross bridges and zip lines in the pines. Here's what we checked, from Linnanmäki's carousels to the free-fall jump at Zippy.
Linnanmäki is an amusement park that opened in 1950 and is run by the Children's Day Foundation, which gives its proceeds to child welfare work. Rides range from carousels and driving tracks for small kids to big coasters like Taiga and Magia.
Four play areas include a troll-hunt playground with a hanging bridge and crystal tunnel by the water tower, a Water Labyrinth and a funhouse mirror path.
Korkee is a rope adventure park in the trees on Mustikkamaa, an island outdoor area that also has a beach and sports fields. The high courses run 3 to 15 meters up, from easy routes for families to hard black ones, with cable slides, climbing walls up to 12 meters, a base jump and a Tarzan slide.
Smaller kids get low children's tracks about 1 meter off the ground.
Korkee Paloheinä is a treetop rope park beside the Paloheinä outdoor recreation area, with high courses 3 to 15 meters up. The first courses suit beginners and families, the later ones test strength and nerve, and this park adds a helicopter jump and a 15-meter free jump.
Smaller kids get low children's tracks about a meter up, on a continuous belay. Parents can watch from seating by the tracks.
Huippu is a ropes park in the treetops, with eleven high courses on and below a cliff, set 4 to 18 meters up, plus two practice courses where instructors teach the safety system. Every course ends on a zip line, the longest 140 meters.
On the ground there are three net areas with a ball pit and a giant tube slide, adventure mini golf and outdoor escape games.
A treetop adventure park at Tali, with 18 rope courses: ten high courses graded easy to very hard, six low courses in the kids' area and two practice courses. Up high there's a Tarzan jump, a base jump, a 50 m cable bike ride and a 20 m free-fall jump. Younger kids get a net adventure with a ball pit, an airbag jump, trampolines and bouncy castles.
Tykkimäki is a summer amusement park in Kouvola, a little over an hour by train from Helsinki. Rides run from the gentle Mini Teacups and Valasveneet boats for small kids to the Star Flyer and Loop Fighter for older ones, each with its own height limit.
The Minimaatila petting zoo sits inside, along with game stands, kiosks and burger and pizza spots. Tykkimäki Aquapark is a 500-meter walk away.
