I went to Taidehalli (art gallery) for the first time recently. Yes, I had heard their cafe was housed in my favourite restaurant Farang, but I am interested in other things too, like you know, art.

I had a nice time looking around but was a bit rushed to ensure I had enough time left to visit the gift shop before I had to pick up Miko.

I was a bit puffed as I left, but happy that I’d managed some shop time as well as seeing everything on exhibition, leaving me feeling I had achieved value for money from the price of the entry fee.

Many of Helsinki’s museums have a day a month where entry is free. It’s such a good offer and yet when I took Miko along yesterday with his grandparents to the Natural History Museum, it turns out lots of other people think so too. It was super busy.

Which is why the new Museum Card ( museokortti ) launched by the Finnish Museums Association is such a great idea. For €54 you get entry into nearly 200 museums in Finland for an entire year, meaning you can pop into your favourites again and again without feeling you should stay all day.

I’m not sure I’ll get to all 200 this year but there are loads I’d like to visit and I’m grateful to have been given a Museum Card to see as many as I can. Which ironically will allow me to turn my free time into more time by spending less time on each visit – while still having time to visit each museum’s gift shop and cafe.

Special thanks to The Finnish Museums Association for my museokortti and also to regular reader Urmas who leaves great comments and brought the Museum Card to my attention in the first place. 

Museum Card (Finnish) – You can buy your museokortti here or at participating museums. Use the details on your temporary card to register online and a plastic card with your name on it will be sent to your address. Registration of your card happens from your first visit, not just when you buy online, and is valid for 12 months. It would make a great gift for someone, including those who visit Finland regularly.

Taidehalli