2 Best Sights in Porvoo, Side Trips from Helsinki

Near Porvoo in Haikko stands the studio of the painter Albert Edelfelt in a quaint wooden cottage tucked away in the woods. Edelfelt was born into a well-to-do Swedish-speaking family in 1854 and was one of the first Finnish painters to find international fame. He introduced the realist movement to his native country and was active in encouraging young aspiring artists to find success in Paris. In this studio he completed some 220 of his works, and it's here where he died in 1905, surrounded by the beautiful landscape that inspired so many of his works.

The home of Finland's national poet—he also wrote the words for Finland's national anthem—is an authentic museum displaying the poet and his wife's original furnishings and paintings exactly as they were when he died in 1877. The Runeberg story is told by museum staff, and there's an exhibit related to Finnish history.