Sunday, January 14, 2024

About our event & schedule

 When writing this, we are negotiating with interesting people who we would love to see in our convention. We already have some guest speakers and other plans to entertain you. 

So here's a rough schedule so you can plan your flights and staying in Tampere.

Thursday 18th April - Early bird mingling and other fun activities. Nothing official, you won't miss anything if you arrive on Friday or later.

Friday 19th April - Bookcrossing Convention 2024. Our official program will start afternoon. We will have some fun ice breakers, the book buffet, getting ready for our guest speakers, visits to museums, other activities.

Saturday 20th April - Convention continues. Guest speakers, visits to museums, other activities. Dinner in selected restaurants.

Sunday 21st April - Ending convention with raffle, packing left over books from buffet and release walk. Closing our venue's doors at 3pm. 

If you have signed up to museum visits, sauna or other activities, those will be organized between our guest speakers, so you won't miss any of those interesting presentations. 


Saturday, January 13, 2024

Tampere, favorite city in Finland, and how to get there

 First things first: when Finns were asked which is their favorite place in Finland, they answer Tampere! And that is, in my opinion, quite right. 

Depending where you are travelling from, you are propably arriving to Finland in Helsinki, Turku or perhaps some Northern border crossing point if you are coming from North. When writing this, the border between Finland and Russia is closed. Here are some tips how to get to Tampere and how to get around while you are here. 

picture: Visit Tampere / Laura Vanzo


Fly to Tampere

Some smaller companies use Tampere-Pirkkala airport, so do check if that could be an option for you,

Tampere-Pirkkala airport is about 17 km from city centre. The city buss number 103 operates between Tampere-Pirkkala airport and city centre. There is also a taxi rank if you prefer using taxi.

To Tampere by train

If you are arriving to Helsinki or Turku or if you are staying in Finland longer and maybe travelling around, train is propably best choice for you. Train between Helsinki and Tampere takes about 1,5 - 2 h and there are several stops in smaller towns. Train from Turku takes about 1h45min. 

You can also take train from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Tampere. Then you will hop into train in Tikkurila train station.

Please note, you are not able to buy tickets from train! You can use a ticket machine in train stations or buy your tickets online. More information from VR Ltd Finnish Railways .

To Tampere by bus

There are many bus connections to Tampere. It also may be cheaper to use long distance busses than train. All bus companies operate via Tampere bus station. 

Ways to buy a ticket varies between bus companies, so do check from their website if it's possible to buy a ticket directly from bus or do you need to buy your ticket online. 

More information from Matkahuolto

More information from Onnibus

Pro tip: Onnibus and Matkahuolto co-operate some bus routes and they both sell tickets to same busses. So if you are traveling with budget, you might want to check them both when buying a ticket! Same ticket to same bus might be cheaper from other!

Getting around in Tampere

After all Tampere is quite compact and "small" city, so (depending on weather) often it's quicker and nicer to go by foot. Anyhow, there is also a very functional public transport. 

You can check local bus and tram routes, timetables and ticket prices from Nysse.

If you are getting around by car, do remember there is no free parking in Tampere centre! Always check how to pay your parking, or prepare to pay a parking fine. Parking control in Tampere is cruel and gives no mercy. Frenckel parking is closest to our venue but Hämppi is bigger and more convenient and not that far away. More information from Tampere parking areas.

Venue: Näsin sali

Our venue is "Näsin sali", or maybe Näsi Hall in English, in Näsilinnankatu 26. Näsin sali is part of Tampere Evangelical Lutheran Church. Our venue consist of main hall and other smaller rooms where we can enjoy our book buffet, chatting and other activities. 
picture: Tampereen ev. lut. seurakunta

 















It's close to tram and bus stops in Hämeenkatu, if you are using public transport. After all, Tampere is quite small city so it's also easily accessible from train and bus stations. 

 Näsin sali is in 2nd floor and there is a lift. When writing this post, they are renovating the Hall but everything will be ready before convention!

Edit. 16th January 2024

Address: Näsilinnankatu 26, 33200 Tampere.
Please be aware, there seems to be two places for that address in Tampere, so add also postal code (33200) to address when using Google Maps or other web maps. 
 


Welcome to Tampere!

 We are happy to announce Bookcrossing Convention Tampere 2024!

Finally! Covid-19 destroyed our plans for 2021, but now we can travel again and are more than excited to invite you to Tampere, Finland. We are looking forward to meeting you, having great conversations, learning something new, visiting new places and maybe most of it all, having great time bookcrossing and reading! 

In this blog we are giving you some basic information about Tampere, how to actually get here, some tips for sightseeing and places to see and experience and of course what we have planned for the convention. We hope you find it useful! 

See you in Tampere!

Photo: Visit Tampere, Laura Vanzo

Thank you

 D ear Bookcrossers, A very special weekend is behind us, one that we all waited for so long, but which flew by so fast. We are thankful for...