Things to Do in Helsinki: Our Top Tips & Highlights

The Top Things to Do in Helsinki

On our Scandinavian road trip from Stockholm through Åland to Tallinn, we also made our way to Finland’s capital, Helsinki.

During our city trip, we obviously didn’t see everything Helsinki has to offer. Since we were there around the Juhannus festival (Midsummer), unfortunately a lot of things were closed.

Still, we got a solid overview of the most important Helsinki attractions, and we want to share that with you now.

Helsinki Cathedral

Helsinki Cathedral is a real standout and quite unlike most churches. The exterior is completely white, and the interior is very minimalist as well. There are hardly any paintings or decorations — everything feels very bright and open.

The cathedral steps are especially lovely — a great spot to sit for a while and soak up the buzz of tourists around you.

And the best part: admission is free.

Uspenski Cathedral

The complete opposite of the Lutheran Cathedral is the Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral. With its onion domes, you’d expect to find this church in Russia rather than Helsinki.

In fact, Uspenski Cathedral was designed by a Russian architect and is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe. Admission here is also free.

Temppeliaukio Rock Church

The Temppeliaukio Church, built in 1969, is something genuinely special. Since it was carved directly into a granite rock, it’s also known as the Rock Church.

Inside, it looks more like an event hall than a church — but a visit is seriously worth it.

You can visit the church every day except Saturdays and Sundays. Admission costs 5 euros. Tickets are available on-site or online:

Tickets for the Temppeliaukio Church

Market Square and the Old Market Hall

You’ll definitely pass through Helsinki’s Market Square. It’s located right in the heart of the city at the harbor, within walking distance of most of Helsinki’s top sights.

The market features food stalls, traditional crafts, and plenty of souvenirs for the cruise ship passengers who flood Helsinki every day.

Next to the market is the Old Market Hall, which also has a great selection of tasty food stalls.

Bad Bad Boy

On the way to the ferry terminal where the Tallink Silja Line departs for Tallinn, you’ll suddenly come across this impossible-to-miss statue.

Why poor Bad Bad Boy was banished to such a remote corner of the city is anyone’s guess. We think he’s absolutely great though! You can check out his exact location on Google Maps here.

Seurasaari Island

Seurasaari is an island within the city limits of Helsinki and home to a large open-air museum. On Seurasaari you’ll find many traditional structures from Finnish culture and get a real glimpse into traditional Finnish rural life.

Every year at Midsummer, a big festival takes place on Seurasaari where enormous Juhannus bonfires are lit in the evening. We were there, of course, and share some impressions from the 2016 Juhannus festival in our video.

Information about events on Seurasaari, as well as the Juhannus festival program, can be found on the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum website.

Design District Helsinki

Scandinavia has a knack for design, and Helsinki is no exception — the city is seriously proud of design made in Finland.

The Design District stretches across several streets in downtown Helsinki. There you’ll find more than 200 shops and galleries dedicated to beautiful design: clothing, furniture, accessories, antiques — you name it, it’s here.

A stroll along the shop windows is totally worth your time. Our hotel was right in the middle of the Design District, too.

The Hipster Neighborhood Kallio

Until just a few years ago, Kallio was a classic working-class neighborhood northeast of the city center. These days, the young creative scene has firmly taken over the old industrial buildings and gray apartment blocks.

Unfortunately, we only got a rough sense of what Kallio is all about, because around Midsummer everything was closed here too.

Eating and Drinking in Helsinki

Going out to eat and having a beer in Helsinki doesn’t come cheap. We went on the hunt for good, affordable restaurants anyway — and here are our recommendations.

Quick bites

The first tip isn’t exactly a bargain, but the setting more than makes up for it. The Flying Dutch is a beach bar on the river. An old wooden boat in the water, a few lounge chairs on the shore, and excellent craft beer poured fresh — what more do you need?

The beer isn’t cheap at 7 to 10 euros, but it’s very good. You’ll find the Flying Dutch at Pitkäsilta, a bridge about 500 meters to the right past the main train station.

For a quick lunch, the market stalls at the harbor are a great option. For 5 euros you can get a delicious salmon sandwich and a cup of coffee. If you eat there, try to grab a sheltered spot — we saw several people lose their food to the seagulls.

International specialties

We ate at Suburritos twice. Not a culinary revelation, but a solid Mexican spot with tasty burritos for around 8 euros. It’s located in the Forum Shopping Center, all the way at the top in the outdoor area.

We also really enjoyed Vibami. This little food truck serves Banh Mi — delicious Vietnamese baguettes — for 6.50 euros. You’ll find the truck on Mannerheimintie, a main street in the Design District near the train station.

Another fantastic food truck is AreperaBros. They serve Venezuelan and Nepalese cuisine. It sounds like an odd combination at first, but the reason is simple: to afford the truck together, a Nepalese guy and a Venezuelan teamed up, and each one cooks the specialties from his home country.

We tried the Venezuelan food, and if you’re hungry, it really hits the spot: lots of chicken, even more cheese, avocado, all wrapped up in flatbread. That’ll keep you going for at least half a day.

They were parked in front of the train station when we visited, but they pop up at different spots around Helsinki from time to time. You can find out where they’re currently parked on their Facebook page.

Our Tips for Your Trip to Helsinki

Here are a few things to know before you visit Helsinki.

#1 Book Tickets in Advance

If you’re in Helsinki in the summer, it can get pretty crowded — that’s when the city sees the most visitors.

Especially if you don’t have much time to see the highlights, booking tickets for some attractions in advance is a smart move. That way you avoid long lines or possibly not getting in at all.

For these highlights, it’s worth buying tickets ahead of time:

#2 The Best Time to Visit Helsinki

For us, the best time for a city trip to Helsinki is clearly the summer. Winters in Finland are long, cold, and unfortunately very dark.

From June through August, on the other hand, it’s often pleasantly warm and stays light for a very long time — around Midsummer, it’s nearly light for 24 hours. That’s something special.

Midsummer is celebrated in Finland under the name Juhannus. Many Helsinki residents head to the countryside to celebrate with friends and family. The city feels completely deserted at this time, and almost all shops and restaurants are closed.

The Juhannus festival always falls on the weekend between June 20 and 26, depending on which dates the weekend lands on.

We were in Helsinki during Juhannus ourselves. If you want to visit museums or go shopping, you should avoid Midsummer. But if you want to stroll through empty streets and photograph Helsinki’s sights in complete peace and quiet, then Midsummer is actually perfect for you.

#3 How Much Time You Should Plan for Your Helsinki City Trip

Many Helsinki visitors spend only a short time in the city before heading further into rural Finland or back to their cruise ship.

In our opinion, one full day is quite enough to see the most important things to do in Helsinki and get a solid first impression.

If you want to dive a little deeper into the city and explore the surrounding area as well, two to three days is better.

#4 Getting to Helsinki

The fastest way to reach Helsinki is by plane. Finnair flies direct from many European airports to Helsinki, and there are also connections with Lufthansa and other major carriers.

Helsinki is also very well connected to other places in the north by ferry. For example, you can reach the beautiful Estonian capital Tallinn in just two hours.

You can even easily do a day trip from Helsinki to Tallinn. Get Your Guide offers a round-trip ticket for 27 euros:

Round-trip ferry ticket to Tallinn

St. Petersburg is also not far away. There are direct connections to Åland and Stockholm as well, among other destinations.

We traveled with the Tallink Silja Line from Åland to Helsinki overnight in a very comfortable cabin, and later continued with the same company to Tallinn.

Connections toward Tallinn run regularly. To Stockholm, each ferry company typically operates one ferry per day.

#5 Costs for a City Trip to Helsinki

Finland and your travel budget are not exactly best friends. Helsinki is expensive. In summer, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a room for under 100 euros.

Eating out and especially alcoholic drinks are very pricey. Even at casual restaurants, main courses start at 10 euros. A large draft beer for 8 to 9 euros is not uncommon.

In Finland, payment is made in euros. In the Finnish payment system, 1 and 2 cent coins are not used — all amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents.

ATMs are plentiful in Helsinki, so getting cash is never a problem.

#6 What to Pack for Your Helsinki City Trip

You don’t need to pack anything special for a trip to Helsinki. Just remember to bring something warm to wear, because even in midsummer it can get quite chilly in the evenings.

In our article City Trip Packing List, we show you what we pack for a city trip, share our packing tricks, and tell you which travel gadgets we can’t live without.

#7 Recommended City Tours and Excursions in Helsinki

Of course, you can also explore Helsinki perfectly well on your own. The most important points of interest are fairly close to each other, and public transportation is well developed.

That said, we still love joining a guided tour with a local. Most of the time, you dive a little deeper into a city that way and pick up tips you won’t find anywhere else.

For what to do in Helsinki with a guide, we recommend a private city tour with a knowledgeable local. They’ll take you and your companions through the city without any other participants.

Private city tour of Helsinki

Alternatively, there are also classic guided tours of Helsinki, for example in a small group or by boat with an audio guide:

2.5-hour small group tour of Helsinki

90-minute canal boat tour with audio guide

And if you’re only making a layover in Helsinki, you can book a quick 3-hour tour with airport transfer:

Sightseeing tour during your layover in Helsinki

Is the Helsinki Card Worth It?

There’s also the Helsinki Card for visitors. You can buy the card for either 24, 48, or 72 hours.

You can order it directly online here:
Get the Helsinki Card
Here’s what you get with the Helsinki Card:

• Free use of public transportation
• Free city sightseeing bus tour
• Free boat tour on the canal route
• Free admission or discounts at many museums and attractions
• Discounts at select restaurants and shops

In our opinion, the Helsinki Card is only worth it if you really plan to visit a lot of museums and attractions where you’ll save on entry fees. The 72-hour card offers the best value.

We tried the city bus tour and the boat tour ourselves and were honestly far from impressed with either. We found the boat tour extremely boring.

All commentary is delivered over loudspeakers in four languages: English, German, Finnish, and Russian. After a while, that got very annoying, and the announcements themselves were also pretty uninspired. On top of that, the coffee on board was awful.

As you can tell, the boat tour was not our thing at all. Oddly enough, we took a boat tour in Stockholm with the same company that was actually really great.

The city bus tour didn’t do much for us either. But then again, we’re just not the type for that kind of group bus tour.

Our Helsinki Travel Video

Finally, we have a few video impressions for you. In our video 22 Hours Helsinki, we share everything we experienced in the Finnish capital in a snappy four minutes.

Our Verdict on Helsinki

Helsinki has some great things to see and do, and we really enjoyed our time in the city. That said, we have to admit that the other stops on our Scandinavian trip — Stockholm, Åland, and Tallinn — appealed to us more.

You should definitely form your own opinion, though, because everyone has their own idea of what makes a great travel destination. We’d love to hear your impressions too!