We’ve been busily eating and drinking our way through Helsinki; the fall weather is lovely and we’re really enjoying our time here. We’ve done a ton of stuff, but here are our nine favourites!
- Walk along the Esplanade, wandering around in flagship stores and stopping for a drink at Kappeli or Robert’s Cafe, or eating in one of the dozens of restaurants.
- Explore the Helsinki waterfront and/or take a ferry to an island. The walk to Kavopuisto park along the harbour is spectacular. Speaking of spectacular, the fortress on Suomenlinna is a Unesco World Heritage Site, well worth poking around for an afternoon. We went there for the brewery, but stayed for the tunnels!
- Take the drunk boat from Helsinki to Tallinn. Drinking is not, strictly speaking, required on this two-and-a-half hour boat ride – but everybody but us was at it early and often. The short distance means this can be a day trip, and it is for lots of Scandinavians. Tallin is worth it even without a drink, though; it’s a lovely medieval city with gorgeous architecture.
- Go to one of the museums: we recommend the Design Museum (Atheneum and Kiasma were closed when we were in town). Also several history museums and museums of Finnish culture. There are tons of others, big and small, for a wide variety of interests.
- Wander around and look at the architecture of Helsinki. Finlandia Hall, Oodi, and the train station were our favourites, but there are also several churches and museums worth a peep
- Eat at one of the dozens of food stalls (reindeer hot dogs a must). Or at the Vanha Kaupahalli – we love the fish soup at Soup and More. (The ‘more’ is bread but it is really good!). Or both. The former is also a good place for handmade souvenirs.
- Visit our favourite bar, the Badger & Co (dogs welcome, people tolerated). Or just stay home and drink: Finland is the proud home of kalsarikännit, translated into English as päntsdrunk in the 2018 book of the same name.
- Try out a sauna. Most are sex-segregated, but Löyly, featuring cold dips in the Baltic, is not. Finns take sauna-time seriously, so read up or ask a local how it’s done. The whole thing will take you a couple of hours, and you will feel like a wet noodle at the end if you do it right. In a good way.
- Go to Stockmann’s Food Hall, even if you aren’t in the market for groceries.
There’s a ton of stuff to do in Helsinki – but this list will keep you busy for a few days. Let us know if you have additions!
