Helsinki In 48 Hours

Uspenski Cathedral Helsinki

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If you’ve been following my recent posts you’ll know that I recently took an “interesting” routing from London to Los Angeles in order to save some cash (and travel in comfort) -the routing took me via Helsinki.

Previous posts in this series:

Review: British Airways Club Europe A320 (LHR-HEL)
Review: Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki

The timings of the flights on this trip left me with a little over 48 hours to see what I could of Helsinki so I had a lot to cram in. I’m not going to claim that I saw it all, not by any means, but I probably managed to cover a lot of the main sights and I think I have a few useful suggestions and tips for anyone thinking of visiting Finland’s Capital.

Helsinki

Arriving

Assuming you fly into Helsinki airport you have 3 ways to get into town; Taxi, Bus or Train.

The train link is new, very new. So new that I could still smell the fresh concrete as I waited for the train on the underground platform. The rail link only opened at the beginning of July and all the pieces of the puzzle aren’t quite in place yet. The main bit that’s missing is a station at the airport – right now a free shuttle bus ferries passengers from outside the airport terminals to the nearest station – a 5 minute ride away:

Helsinki Airport Shuttle

Helsinki Train

Helsinki Train

The bus that goes from the airport to the center of Helsinki costs 6 Euros/person. A Taxi will cost somewhere between 50 to 60 Euros while the train, which is the only mode of transport that doesn’t get held up by traffic, costs 5 Euros.

If your hotel is anywhere near the Central Station (which is where both the bus and train will drop you off) or if you have very little baggage, then the train is easily the best solution. If you have heavy bags or if you’re staying out of the center (and not near a train station) then a taxi may be your best option.

For my trip I took the train and it was perfect for my needs. It ran almost exactly on schedule, it was clean, spacious and no stress at all.

Things to See & Do

Market stalls/Market Hall

Down by Helsinki’s South Harbour there are two great markets that should be on everyone’s list of things to see in Helsinki. The open-air market has a variety of stalls selling anything from local souvenirs…..

Helsinki Souvenirs

(These may seem like a good idea at the time but just how is that set of antlers going to fit into your decor at home?!)

Other stalls have fruit, veg, fish and meat…..

Helsinki Market Fruit

And there’s a variety of food, cooked to order, (with a heavy bias on fish) to eat in the areas provided…..

Helsinki Market Food

Next door to the outdoor market is the Old Market Hall which is a bigger, indoor version of the outdoor market (with a bigger bias on food):

Helsinki Old Market Hall

Helsinki Old Market Hall

Some of the food in here has to be tasted to be believed, fresh and amazingly tasty.

Island Boat Tour

Helsinki sits on an inlet of the Baltic Sea and has its own archipelago of over 300 islands. A large number of these islands are used as summer vacation destinations for the locals and one island even houses Helsinki zoo.

You can do a quick 1.5 hour tour of some of the islands using one of the many tour operators departing the South Harbour. At a cost of around 24 Euros ($27) it’s not a bad way to spend some time and you can pick up some interesting bits of history on Helsinki.

Helsinki Island Tour

Helsinki Island Tour

Tip: Don’t book in advance. There’s always a lot of space on the boats so wait until you’re sure you’re going to have nice weather before booking – a lesson I learned the hard way! (as you may be able to tell from the grey photos!)

Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral

The introduction to the Cathedral says it best:

“Completed in 1868 in the Katajanokka district of Helsinki, the Uspenski Cathedral is the largest orthodox church in Western Europe. With its golden cupolas and redbrick facade, the church is one of the clearest symbols of the Russian impact on Finnish history.”

Uspenski Cathedral Helsinki

The interior of this cathedral is an interesting contrast to the interior of the Lutheran Cathedral just a mile or so away. While the Lutheran cathedral is beautifully decorative on the outside, the interior is plain and almost drab. The same cannot be said of the Orthodox Cathedral….

Uspenski Cathedral Helsinki

Museum of Finland

I’m a big fan of learning about places I visit so the National Museum of Finland was always going to make this list.

As a country Finland is exceptionally young; it was part of Sweden up until 1809 at which point it was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous “Grand Duchy of Finland”. It was only following the Russian revolution, in 1917, that Finland declared independence and became the state we know today.

Nevertheless, the region that Finland occupies and the people that inhabit it have a rich history dating back to prehistoric times and the museum does a great job of capturing all that history and delivering it in easy-to-follow and interesting exhibits.

Museum of Finland

Salmon

I’ve left the best for last. If there is only one thing that you do when you visit Helsinki make sure you try the local salmon – it’s mind-blowingly good. The Scandinavian countries are big on their fish and the Finns serve up salmon from Norway (the larger fish) or domestic, Finnish salmon (the smaller of the two) – both are delicious.

Forget everything you think you know about salmon because I guarantee you that this is better than anything you’ve had at home. They serve salmon in a variety of ways (smoked, cured, grilled, baked etc…) and somehow they manage to make them all taste amazingly good.

Helsinki Salmon

Helsinki Salmon

The Finns serve salmon in just about any way you can imagine; in salads, with pasta, on rye bread, on toast, on bagels and with a few hundred more accompaniments. Whichever one you pick, you’ll keep going back for more – it’s like the fish is laced with a drug!

Helsinki Salmon

Helsinki Salmon

At the risk of sounding evangelical about a fish, you simply have to try it. Even if you don’t like fish. This may be the fish to change your mind 🙂

Helsinki is an interesting if small city. It’s worth remembering that the entire county only has  about 5.5 million people (about two thirds of the population of New York City) so it’s never going to be particularly busy. Prices are high (although not as high as in Sweden) so don’t expect to be doing any bargain hunting. Come prepared for all weather regardless of season and you’ll have a great time (I was there in summer and I was glad I brought a coat!).

If you can then explore the city by foot – you’ll see a lot more. The bus tours are generally considered to be a waste of time so get yourself a good guide book and a good map and you’ll be set. If anyone has visited Helsinki recently I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and if you have any questions, ask them below and I’ll see if I can answer them.

 

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