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Travel Guide This page describes how to survive in at Rovaniemi during the AES 16th International Conference on Spatial Sound Reproduction. We attempt to provide participants with important information to help you enjoy your stay in winter wonderland. It has been considered that participants will arrive by plane, but some basic information regarding other forms of transport are also included. This page will be updated periodically, to ensure accuracy. Note! Travel Guide contains many images so it might take some time to load. If you have problems with this, try turning off images from your browser's preferences. Also note that the Travel Guide contains an extensive amount of links to further information! Table of Contents REGISTERING FLIGHTS ARRIVAL AT THE AIRPORT LANGUAGE ISSUES MONEY MATTERS DRESS CODE ENJOY THE CITY OF ROVANIEMI TELL YOUR MOTHER THAT YOU HAVE ARRIVED OK WELCOME TO THE AES16 VENUE GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT FINLAND TRANSPORT DURING THE CONFERENCE WEATHER CONDITIONS THINGS YOU DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO MISS AES16 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) REGISTERING First of all, register to the conference! We offer you three hotel choices: Sky Hotel, Pohjanhovi and Hotel Vaakuna. FLIGHTS The next step is to book your flight. Check here for the details on Finnair flights and availability. ARRIVAL AT THE AIRPORT Once you have arrived at Rovaniemi Airport you must travel to your hotel using one of the following modes of transport: The Airport taxi meets all incoming flights and will drive the you to your hotel. The single person fare is 40 FIM. If required the airport taxi has its own direct telephone line at the airport terminal, near the front door. Conventional Taxi's are available at the airport and can take you anywhere in the city. The average fare into town is 70 FIM.  Inquiries tel. +358 16 106 410 (local 106 410). the Airport Express bus service meets all Finnair flights and can take you to the city hotels (Hotel Vaakuna or Hotel Pohjanhovi). Airport Express is also available for transport elsewhere, on request. The journey takes 15 min.and costs 20 FIM.  Inquiries tel. +358 16 362 222 (local 362 222). Car hire is available from the airport from the following companies: Avis, Budget, Hertz, Europcar LANGUAGE ISSUES Whilst Finn's are very proficient in their own language, the majority of the population speak fluent English and often also Swedish and German. And of course Santa Claus is pretty multilingual too ! For those of you who are interested in learning some Finnish, you can try an interactive on-line translator! DRESS CODE As the conference is being held in a rather exotic winter resort location on the border of the arctic circle, some advice is provided here regarding practical aspects of the Dress Code. During the whole duration of the conference we advise an informal dress code! It is advised to bring good outdoor clothing including good winter gloves and suitable winter hat , thick woolly socks and a thick coat. Temperature in Finnish buildings is typically in the order of 23°C (~73°F), so you will not get cold indoors. For the Banquette we also advise informal dress code as the special event will be held at a very interesting venue. Be prepared for a fun evening! MONEY MATTERS The shops, restaurants and hotels will most likely accept all major credit cards such as: Visa, MasterCard, Diner's Club, American Express etc. There are also plenty of ATM machines that you can use for withdrawing cash with your credit card. However, not all of the ATM machines are meant for cash withdrawals. The ones that are suitable for credit card withdrawals are marked with this sign: Otto. You can also change Finnish marks at any bank and in the conference hotels. Check out the latest currency rates here. To give you an idea of the price range, here are some examples (these are only approximate average prices): BigMac hamburger: 20 FIM/4 USD A cup of coffee: 7 FIM/1,4 USD Lunch: 50 FIM/10 USD Dinner: 100 FIM/20 USD 1/2 l bottle of Coca-Cola (shop): 5 FIM/1 USD 1/3 l bottle of beer (shop): 7 FIM/1,4 USD 1/2 l pint of beer (restaurant): 20 FIM/4 USD 1/2 l bottle of Koskenkorva (vodka, Note! strong alcoholic beverages are available only at Alko): 100 FIM/20 USD Pack of cigarrettes (20-pack): 22 FIM/4,5 USD Taxi drive in Rovaniemi center area: 40 FIM/8 USD A music cd: 120 FIM/24 USD (for latest releases) In Finland, VAT (22%) is always included in the prices! ENJOY THE CITY OF ROVANIEMI Please check out the Rovaniemi tourist information to find out some fun things to do in the area. Examples: Santa Claus' Office Santa Park The Arktikum museum Special winter safari's Sampo - The Arctic Ice Breaker Adventure (in Kemi, about one hour drive from Rovaniemi) Here you can find a map of Rovaniemi region and Rovaniemi City Centre (Sorry, only in Finnish at the moment). TELL YOUR MOTHER THAT YOU HAVE ARRIVED OK To dial home from you hotel or any phone, the international code is: 990 + country code + telephone number Your GSM or NMT mobile phone will function in Rovaniemi. But you are asked to please ensure that you phone is swtiched off during the papers sessions. Thank you. If your mother uses Email, drop her a line using the FREE Internet connection (ISDN) provided at the conference center. WELCOME TO THE AES16 VENUE When you arrive to the city hall, you will find the registration/information desk facing the main entrance. Please visit the desk during the Saturday morning or early afternoon, unless you have already collected your conference kit on Friday evening before the welcoming dinner. Take a look at the Venue Map to locate the Conference Hall, demo rooms, Internet lounge etc. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT FINLAND You can find more information about Finland, its people and culture from example Travel Finland Virtual Finland TRANSPORT DURING THE CONFERENCE During the conference a shuttle bus will be available to transport you to and from the hotels. The conference center is located in the center of the town about 10 minutes walk from the city hotels (Hotel Vaakuna or Hotel Pohjanhovi) and several minutes from the town  If you wish to travel around beyond walking distance, taxi's are relatively cheap (compared to London or Paris). A short hop in town might cost 35-60 FIM. Taxi's can be called using the following (local) number: 106 410. WEATHER CONDITIONS The weather in Rovaniemi during April can often be rather nice. It is in fact the peak of the winter holiday season, with  long sunny days and often fair weather. Here are some details: Sunrise: 05:30 Sunset: 21:00 Average temperature: -7..+2 °C Average snow cover: 50-70 cm The Northern lights may still be visible in the Lappish sky during April once the sun has set. Check out Northern Lights Forecast Click here to get information on the current weather conditions in Rovaniemi or a forecast in Finland for today and tomorrow THINGS YOU DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO MISS When visiting Finland you would definitely try out: Sauna Koskenkorva (information currently only in Finnish) AES16 Frequently Asked Questions Will it rain in Rovaniemi during AES16? Most probably NOT, but it might well snow. Check the daily weather in Rovaniemi from here or a weather forecast in Finland for today and tomorrow What about passports, visas, vaccinations?< Finland is a member of Nordic council and the EU. Travelers residing in these countries visiting Finland do not require a visa. Visas are not required by citizens of e.g. San Marino and Switzerland Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and USA. There are no vaccination requirements for any international travelers. What is the time in Finland? Finland time is GMT +2 hours The time difference between Eastern U.S. Standard Time and Finnish Standard Time is 7 hours. Check out the current time in Finland for example at The World Wide Clock from AWC. Do I have to buy food during the conference? No. The conference will provide all food and some refreshment during the conference. This will include breakfast, lunch and dinner with some intermediate snacks. Can I drink tap water? Yes. It is safe to drink tap water anywhere in Finland. You don't have to buy bottled water unless you want to. Can I read my email at the conference Yes. We will provide ISDN internet services at the conference venue that will allow email, WWW, SSH and telnet access to AES participants PCs and it will be for free! What is the main voltage in Finland? Its 230 VAC and 50 Hz. The sockets look like this: How can I make my question become a "Frequently Asked Question"? Just ask us the question.

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Last modified:11.04.1999 aes16@acoustics.hut.fi