Practical Information

Hotels and Accommodation
How to Get There?
Medical services
Currency
Shopping Hours
Time Zone
Weather
More practical info

Hotels and Accommodation

Accommodation can be reserved with registration from www.lahtitravel.fi/mass. We recommend this choice and reserving your accommodation before 31.8.2008 to ensure lower conference accommodation prices.

Sokos Hotel Lahden Seurahuone
A traditional, pleasant hotel along the city's main street. Superior rooms are an alternative for more demanding customers!

Best Western NEXT Hotel Salpaus
Salpaus offers a refreshing alternative along excellent transportation connections close to the railway station.

How to Get There?

By plane
Most of airlines fly direct flights to Helsinki Vantaa Airport. Helsinki - Vantaa Airport: http://www.helsinki-vantaa.fi/

By car
You can get to Lahti via the Helsinki - Lahti highway in about one hour (100 km). Map Helsinki-Lahti 


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By train
The Central Railway Station of Helsinki is located to Helsinki city centre (Asema-aukio, 00100 Helsinki).
Lahti railway station is located at Mannerheiminkatu 15, Lahti. Lahti ticket Sales, tel. 0307 20900, international and special tickets tel. 0307 29246, railway station services and services for the disabled tel. 0307 29217.
Trains from Helsinki to Lahti and back run daily from around 5 am to around 22 pm, once or twice in an hour. Several connections between Helsinki and Lahti daily. See detailed timetables, information and prices from http://www.vr.fi/heo/eng/index.html . Also purchasing the ticket with credit card from internet is possible.

By bus
From Helsinki Vantaa airport international terminal you can reach Lahti bus station with express bus Helsinki - Lahti daily from 00 am to 11 pm daily with several connections. From Lahti bus station you can reach Helsinki Vantaa airport international terminal with express bus Lahti - Helsinki daily from 2.45 am to 11 pm daily with several connections.
Timetables and additional information: http://www.matkahuolto.fi/en / (search Helsinki-Vantaa Airport International terminal to Lahti bus station or visa versa). Schedule information, tel. 0200 4000 (€ 1.15 / call + local call charge, available in Finland only).

Medical services

Medicines are sold at pharmacies (Apteekki). Some pharmacies have late opening hours. In Lahti, the pharmacy Yliopiston Apteekki
at Aleksanterink. 13, is open daily 7-23, phone (fi) 020 320 200 (ask your hotel if needed). All hospitals have doctors on duty round the clock. In emergencies patients should be directed to a health centre or hospital emergency unit.

Currency

Currency in Finland is Euro.
Foreign Exchange: All banks are open from Monday to Friday 09.00 - 16.30 (office hours may vary regionally), closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Shopping Hours

Shops
Weekdays from 07.00 - 09.00 to 20.00 - 21.00
Saturdays from 09.00 to 15.00 - 18.00
Sundays mostly closed

Time Zone

Time in Finland is 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The time difference between Eastern U.S. Standard Time and Finnish Standard Time is 7 hours.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is in effect during the winter as in the rest of the European Union. Finland is always one hour ahead of Central European Time (CET) and two hours ahead of time in the UK and Ireland.

More practical info for travelling in Finland, http://www.visitfinland.com/W5/index.nsf/(Pages)/Practical_Information