While my computer and mobile situations are slowly returning back to normal (damn hackers and thieves), it’s taken a little longer than expected to pull this post together about Helsinki for you — I hope it’s worth the wait! Basically, the long and short of it is this: I loved Helsinki. I mean, look at this view…
First impressions
As expected, I immediately fell for Helsinki’s architecture. Everywhere I looked were buildings of different styles I’d never seen mixed together before — I was never quite sure if I was in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, or Russia. The contrasts were sometimes stark, but quite beautiful. I’m kicking myself for not pulling out my camera more often to capture these buildings.
But before I get too ahead of myself, maybe it makes the most sense to take our visit day by day. Here’s what we did during our three days in Helsinki…
Saturday
It didn’t take long to discover how compact and accessible Helsinki is as a city. Over the course of one Saturday, using our AirBnb apartment in the central neighborhood of Kamppi as our base, we made our way to nearly all of the major sites we were interested in.
We first hit up the open air Market Square at the harbor and were tempted by lots of berries and vegetables and salmon for lunch.
Not far from the Market Square is the Helsinki Cathedral, which is often thought of as the city’s symbol. We weren’t able to actually go in the cathedral because of all the weddings taking place that afternoon, but it’s a lovely view from the top of the steps leading up to it.
From there we wandered up to the Temppeliaukio Church, which is carved directly into the bedrock. Apparently it is one of the most visited attractions in Helsinki — but when we arrived late in the afternoon, there were only a handful of other visitors, so we had a nice look around.
Our next stop was the Sibelius Monument — dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius — which I had been looking forward to photographing since the moment I discovered its existence. Unveiled in 1967, the monument was actually quite controversial at the time, with its detractors finding it to be a bit too abstract. But I think it’s perfect!
And finally, we walked to Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium. Originally built for the 1940 Olympics, the city had to wait another 12 years to actually host the Olympics thanks to the outbreak of World War II. With a 70-meter high tower, the stadium is one of Helsinki’s recognizable landmarks. It’s open to the public and offers a lovely view over the city.
After a delicious dinner at Sumo Sushi, not too far from our apartment, we got cleaned up for a night out. We bar hopped along the Vaasankatu in the hip Kallio neighborhood a bit north of downtown. One place we went had karaoke in the basement, which apparently is a thing. Everyone from punks to hipsters to middle-aged office workers were singing Finnish Schlager songs together without even a hint of irony. Anyone who thinks the Finns are ultra-reserved should see them after a few drinks singing karaoke! It was truly a sight.
Normally alcohol is quite expensive in Finland, especially compared to Germany, but we stuck with the local beer, Karhu, which averaged about 3 Euros a glass. We were surprised to learn that along the Vaasankatu, last call is at 2am (although downtown, where the tourists congregate, it’s actually 3:30am). Such a contrast to Deutschland, where I don’t think such a thing even exists!
Sunday
After having done so much sightseeing the day before, the plan for Sunday was to go for an easy 10K run along Töölö Bay. But I won’t go into too much detail here — stay tuned for a Running Around the World post featuring Helsinki!
Later than afternoon, we had a late lunch (again at the Market Square) before taking a boat to Suomenlinna Fortress, located on a series of islands about 20 minutes from Helsinki’s harbor.
I was expecting primarily a fortress with some nice views and places to relax, but apparently the islands have 900 residents, in addition to several different kinds of museums and cafes. We arrived a little on the late side, after all the museums had already closed, and found ourselves wandering around the residential part of the islands, rather than the actual fortress part. It was quite lovely, even if we got totally lost and were constantly turning in circles! Next time I think I would bring a picnic lunch with me on a sunny afternoon and relax near the water.
After arriving back at the harbor in Helsinki, we walked along Esplanadi Park, with the early evening sun low in the sky. Since D aimed to run 30K on Monday morning (preparing for the upcoming Berlin Marathon), we stocked up on groceries for a big pasta dinner at the apartment, and settled in to live stream the debate between the two major candidates for the upcoming German elections.
Monday
While D spent nearly three hours running, I packed up our things and started editing my photos from the trip (you can see them all here). After a late lunch in the apartment, we went to Hotel Torni for coffee. The hotel is one of the tallest buildings in Helsinki, and the Ateljee Bar at the top offers a gorgeous view of the city that took my breath away. We arrived around 5pm and were able to snag a table without a problem, but the Ateljee filled up fast with happy hour guests, so get there early for a seat with a view!
From the Hotel Torni, we went straight to the airport with one of the Finnair buses leaving from the main train station.
Lasting impressions
I really loved Helsinki. The city is beautiful, with lots to see and discover, but small enough to navigate around easily and feel like you’ve gotten to know her. We were able to see quite a bit of the city even in a few short days, and still had plenty of time to fit in our non-tourist activities too. Although we primarily walked everywhere, if you’re staying somewhere less central, the public transportation system seems relatively straightforward and easy to use. I would gladly spend more time in Helsinki, and Finland too, and I hope it won’t be my last visit!
Have you been to Helsinki? What was your favorite part of the city? Or if not, is Helsinki on your list of travel destinations?
For more No Apathy Allowed posts on Finland, check these out:
I loved Helsinki too. Über cool! I remember the market with the stalls on the back of boats and I remember the design stores, the sauna in the hotel room, the black liqueur they were all drinking and I loved the trip I took to Porvoo.
Looking forward to the running post. I remember thinking all the lakes and the waterfront looked like good places to go running. My next running around the world will be in Utrecht. I hope I don’t fall in a canal!
Yes, the design stores! I didn’t spend nearly as much time exploring them as I would have liked to, simply because the weather was so nice that we wanted to spend it all outside. My run there was fantastic, and it hard to choose just one route. :) Have fun in Utrecht and enjoy your run!
fantastic post! i have always been quite curious about helsinki as i know so little about it compared to other nordic cities, but it sure looks like there is a lot to love.
i was just speaking with a student last week about his layover in helsinki in which he went into the city for a few hours and this was his summation: “helsinki was not so great. it was this little city in the middle of a forest.” and there’s ocean there too, isn’t there? “yes.” ????
(he and i obviously have much different views of what makes a city great.)
Thanks for your comment! I was really pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Helsinki. I loved that it’s surrounded by water, so interesting to wander around, and the Finns are fantastically helpful people too. I can’t speak for the winter time, but summer there is great!
Nice post. Helsinki has many tourist attractions. Would like to explore it more.
For a brief time last year I was seriously entertaining the idea of going to Helsinki and Tallinn and then life got in the way. But looking at your pictures is making me bump that trip back up the list. It won’t happen this year but hopefully soon! Temppeliaukio Church looks amazing!!
Life always gets in the way, but once you’ve made it to Helsinki, it’s pretty easy to find your way around and have fun!
Glad to see you enjoyed a city that may seem boring and expensive for those that don’t dig deeper. For those that have yet to visit Helsinki, here’s a great site that shows the spots locals have learned to love and appreciate. http://www.likealocalguide.com/helsinki