Espoo is Finland's second largest city and one of its most unusual in structure: rather than a single urban core, it consists of five distinct district centres spread across a large area, all connected by public transport. The carefully designed garden city of Tapiola is the best known, with its thoughtful blend of modernist architecture, green space, and residential neighbourhoods.
Just 15 minutes from Helsinki by metro or train, Espoo is home to the main campus of Aalto University in Otaniemi and several technology companies. The city has a strong cultural programme — the April Jazz festival and the Espoo Ciné International Film Festival are highlights — and Nuuksio National Park is on its western edge, offering forest, lakes, and good hiking within easy reach of the capital. The EMMA museum of modern art and the medieval Espoo Cathedral round out the cultural sights, while Lake Bodom and the 18th-century Glims Farmstead give the city a quieter, more rural character outside the modern district centres.