Planning to visit the Nordics? If you love the Moomins, Finland is the ultimate destination for you! From Moominworld theme park and the world’s first Moomin airport café to the Finnish archipelago that inspired the creation of Moominvalley, this Moomin fan's guide to Finland explores all the best places to visit.
Welcome to Finland, the land of a thousand lakes (180,000+ actually!) – and the birthplace of the Moomins’ creator, Tove Jansson.
Moomin spots at Helsinki Airport
Moomin Coffee
📍 Helsinki Airport, non-Schengen, next to Gate 40, Helsinki, Finland
If you’re arriving or taking off in the non-Schengen area, enjoy a relaxing break at the world’s first Moomin branded airport café, Moomin Coffee, right next to Gate 40.
👀 The café has been beautifully designed with Moominvalley in mind. Can you spot the Moominhouse?
Moomin Shop Schengen (all flights)
📍 Helsinki Airport, Terminal 2, Schengen area, near gates 20-21, Finland
The new airport flagship store has been designed based on the final Moomin story. You’ll find it on the way to baggage claim (coming from a Schengen country), and on departure, this is after the security check on the way to any flight (before passport control for non-Schengen countries).
Moomin Shop Non-Schengen Square (Non-Schengen flights only)
📍 Helsinki Airport, Terminal 2, Non-Schengen square, near gate 40, Finland
On arrival, this shop is on the way to passport control (coming from a non-Schengen country), and on departure, this is after passport control for non-Schengen countries.
Moomin attractions in Finland
Moominworld in Naantali
📍 Kaivokatu 5, 21101 Naantali, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
Step into the world of the Moomins and spend a summer day in Moominworld, Naantali. The city was officially named “hometown of the Moominworld” in 2021! You’ll get to visit the Moominhouse, garden with Hemulen, peek inside to the Hattifattener’s Cave (if you dare!), and much more.
The park is located on an island, with a sandy beach, so don’t forget to pack your swimsuit and enjoy the Finnish nature!
View this post on Instagram
👀 New in 2023! This year’s new attraction, Snorkmaiden’s Beauty Salon, gives you the chance to transform into Snorkmaiden or get other character face paintings.
✨ Moominworld opens for another summer season on 10 June 2023.
Moomin Ice Cave
📍 Vokkolantie 1, 79100 Leppävirta, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
At the Moomin Ice Cave, you enter a magical world of icy Moomins and their friends, sculpted by global specialists. Created 30 metres underground in the ski tunnel of Vesileppis, in a small town in Lakeland, you can get to know your favourite Moomin characters in a whole new way! To add in even more fun, there is a winter activity area by the exhibition, where you can jump on an icy slide or ride a pole sled.
View this post on Instagram
👀 The current exhibition is largely based on Tove Jansson’s comic Moominvalley Turns Jungle from 1956.
✨ The Moomin Ice Cave is now open all year round!
Moomin Museum
📍 Yliopistonkatu 55, 33100 Tampere, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
Relive the adventures of the Moomin family and find out more about the real-life innuendos of the stories in the world’s only Moomin Museum. From experiential exhibitions and Tove Jansson’s original illustrations to explorations of her personal life, the Moomin Museum isn’t only a wonderful visit for Moomin fans, but for all kinds of art lovers!
👀 The pride of the museum is a replica of the 5-floor Moominhouse, with all its secret passageways! To find out everything there is about the Moomin stories, you can book a guided tour.
✨ In 2023, Tripadvisor awarded Moomin Museum as the Traveller’s Choice winner in the Specialty Museums category, based on reviews and ratings from the past year!
Moomin-themed playgrounds
📍 Naantali, Kotka, Porvoo, and other cities, Finland
If you’re travelling with kids, you might be able to find a Moomin-themed playground; they have popped up around Finnish cities in recent years. Have fun in a multi-floor Moominhouse with slides and climbing walls, or climb over a tent at a Snufkin-themed playground. The biggest department store in Finland, Tuurin kyläkauppa, also has a big Moomin playground.
Moomin Shops in Finland
City centre shops
📍 New flagship store: Moomin Shop Esplanadi, Pohjoisesplanadi 2, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
📍 Moomin Shop Lasipalatsi, Mannerheimintie 22-24, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
You can’t visit Finland and not go home with some Moomin products! The first official Moomin Shop was opened in Finland in 1999. Now, in addition to two shops at the airport, you can visit two Moomin Shops in central Helsinki.
👀 The new Moomin flagship store in Esplanadi was opened in November 2023! It’s designed based on the book Moominsummer Madness (1954) and is home to the world’s largest assortment of Moomin products, as well as Moomin story inspired window displays, special offers and events.
Nordic cruises
📍 Tallink MyStar cruise, Helsinki to Tallin
📍 Tallink-Silja cruise, Helsinki to Stockholm
Visiting Helsinki gives you a great opportunity to also travel to other Nordic cities nearby. You can take the Tallink MyStar cruise to Tallin, Estonia, with a new Moomin Shop-in-Shop at the Superstore.
You can also travel by sea to Stockholm, Sweden, whilst visiting Finland, and book a Tallink-Silja Moomin-themed family cabin for your overnight cruise.
The Moomin stories and the Finnish archipelago
Tove Jansson found her inspiration for the Moomin stories from much of her own life and loved ones, but especially from the Finnish nature. If you get the chance to experience the scenic archipelago somewhere in Finland, you’ll understand how the sea and island life ended up being such a big part of the Moomin stories, and how the secluded lifestyle inspired the creation of Moominvalley!
Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson’s niece, once described the connection between the Moomins and nature by explaining that “the Moomins have a great love and respect for nature, which is a particularly Finnish trait. They go for excursions in the forest or to the seaside, as many families here do.”
“Then he thought about how much he loved everything; the forest and the sea, the rain and the wind, the sunshine, the grass and the moss, and how impossible it would be to live without them all.”
Moomintroll in Comet in Moominland
Klovharun and Pellinge archipelago
📍 Pellinge, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
Tove’s old summer residence, the island of Klovharun, is open to the public only during one open house week each year.
👀 During the Klovharun open house week, you can explore the island with your own boat or take part in a guided tour (available daily in Swedish, Finnish or English).
✨ The 2023 open house week is 22.-28.7.2023. There is a fee of 5€/person to visit Tove’s and her partner Tuulikki Pietilä’s cottage, and the funds are used for the maintenance of Klovharun.
Island Riddles walk
📍Gamla Söderbyvägen 44, 07390 Storpellinge, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
The entrepreneurs of Pellinge created Island Riddles, an adventure walk, following the route Tove and her family used to take between the beach and the village. It’s believed that the first lines in the picture book The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My were inspired by this route.
✨ The walk starts from Söderby-Boden, the grocery store Tove Jansson used to go to as a little girl.
Söderskär lighthouse
📍 Porvoo archipelago, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
Tove Jansson’s love and passion for the sea, islands and storms shows throughout her books. She wanted to own an island as well as be the keeper of her own lighthouse. The lighthouse of Söderskär on one of the islands in Pellinge is said to have inspired Tove Jansson’s novel Moominpappa at sea.
👀 The coordinates of Söderskär don’t exactly match the ones in Moominpappa at sea. The book’s coordinates actually point to the middle of the sea, nearby Tove’s own island, Klovharun.
Midsummer in Finland
Midsummer is one of Finland’s biggest celebrations, taking place on the summer equinox, the longest day of the year. Finns celebrate Midsummer in various ways but traditionally it is a time for bonfires and flower wreaths, and most people travel to their summer cottages somewhere in the countryside, usually by a lake or the sea.
The Moomin family, in their own ways, also celebrates the longest day of the year.
So, perhaps you can secure one of the many rental cottages around Finland for your visit, and immerse yourself in the lifestyle that inspired the Moomin stories. Even if you’re planning to stay in a city, there are forests and fields, lakes or the sea, always nearby!
The sun had set, but now in June there was of course no darkness at night to speak of. The night was pale and dreamy and full of magic.
Moominsummer Madness
Read here about the many ways in which Finland influenced the Moomin stories.
Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson didn’t just gift the world with the Moomins – she was a respected painter, author and illustrator, long before and after the original Moomin books and comics.
What better way to appreciate and get to know the Moomins than diving deeper into the life of their talented creator?
Tove Jansson’s life in Helsinki
📍 Tove Jansson’s childhood home, Luotsikatu 4, Helsinki, Finland
Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki, and her life is visible around the city’s streets and parks. You can use this Google map to discover the places that meant the most to her and her art, as well as the sculptures made by her father, Viktor Jansson, around the city.
Tove Jansson’s frescoes
📍 Helsinki Art Museum (HAM), Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8, 00100 Helsinki, Finland – Here’s how to get there!
In October 2024, a new major exhibition featuring Tove Jansson’s monumental murals will open at HAM, the Helsinki Art Museum. The exhibition, called Tove Jansson – Paradise, will dive into the artist’s large-scale works and her creative process, including charcoal drawings and other sketches that have never been displayed publicly before. The frescoes, Party in the City and Party in the Countryside, are already permanently presented at the HAM.
Go to Visit Finland’s website to explore more things to do in the happiest country in the world, and check out the Google map for all Moomin locations around the world by clicking below!
Moomin content and activities for travelling
Can’t get enough of the Moomins? Here are some ways to add even more Moominousity to your trip to Finland – or, if you can’t make it in person, entertaining ways to learn more about the Moomin stories and Tove Jansson!
💙 The Moomin Phenomenon Podcast
The Moomin Phenomenon takes you around the world on an entertaining audio adventure through all things Moomin. It’s hosted by Lily Collins and Jennifer Saunders, and available wherever you get your podcasts:
Spotify Apple Music Google Podcasts Amazon Pocket Casts TuneIn
💙 Moomin books
Have you read all of the nine original Moomin novels? How about other novels by Tove Jansson? Visit the Moomin Shop for a selection of books in English, Swedish and Finnish!
💙 Moominvalley TV series
The award-winning animated series Moominvalley was released in 2019 and has now been acquired in 25+ countries. Find your streaming service and enjoy the new adaptation of the original Moomin stories!
💙 Tove film
The first fictional feature film about Tove Jansson won a whopping seven awards at Finland’s national film awards in 2021. The film has been sold to 50+ countries, so find your local streaming service and enjoy!
💙 The Summer Book
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson is a life-affirming story about an elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter’s summer together. It’s a classic full of brusque humour and wisdom.
✨ Psst! The novel is currently being made into a new film, starring Glenn Close!
Travel items from the Moomin Shop
Whether you want fun Moomin games to entertain the kids on the road, practical accessories or a travel outfit that stands out, the Moomin stories and characters can bring a dash of fun to your trip! Check out the Moomin Shop before packing your bags, and complete your trip with some Moomin-themed travel items.
