An easy day trip from Helsinki, Porvoo is a tidy town whose old section, Old Porvoo, has 16th-century wooden houses. You can visit the house of noted Finnish poet J.
L. Runeberg and the old cemetery with his grave. The town also has a 15th-century cathedral (being rebuilt after teenage vandals set fire to it in May 2006), the Ruskis Bird Sanctuary, a fun doll museum and several other museums. We enjoyed the ferry ride to Porvoo, which departs from Helsinki and also stops at Haikko Manor, one of Finland's best health spas.
30 mi/50 km northeast of Helsinki.