Helsinki

Rich, smart, and connected: Finland’s capital has everything

The Helsinki that greets today's visitor is one of the most vibrant and prosperous cities in the world, with one of the highest standards of living and the world's highest literacy rate. Locals still refer to Helsinki as "a big village," but it is hardly the country town it was merely decades ago. With all its bays, inlets, and offshore islands, Helsinki is almost surrounded by water -- or at least you may think so. Water does envelop Helsinki on three sides, and it grew up around a natural harbor overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

The half million people you see walking about -- at least in summer -- are the best educated, the best clothed, the best fed, and the best housed on earth. A city of wide streets, squares, and parks, adorned with sculpture, Helsinki was one of the world's first planned municipalities and is noted for its 19th-century neoclassical architecture. Because the city is relatively compact, most travel through its streets should be done by foot.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.