Helsinki

Destination: Helsinki

Time of Year: June

Length: 4 Nights

Approximate Budget: £600-£700 for two including flights, hotel and Tallinn ferry tickets.

Good for: Relaxed city break, Tallinn Day Trip.

Why Helsinki?

We fancied another Scandinavian trip after visiting Stockholm earlier in the year. Helsinki intrigued us: it’s not a city that comes up very often in travel conversations, and we wanted to find out what it was all about. This trip also gave us the chance to visit Estonia, so we could experience two countries in one break.

Accommodation and travel

We arrived in Helsinki with a slight delay at passport control, then hopped on the airport train. It took about 30 minutes to reach Helsinki Central Station.

We stayed at Home Hotel Katajanokka, a former prison. The rooms were really comfortable and didn’t feel like a prison at all. Breakfast and dinner were included, which gave us some handy meal options. The hotel itself was quirky, with small exhibits about its history and some original cells to look around.

Discovering Helsinki

The city felt surprisingly modern and contemporary. Although Helsinki is Finland’s capital, it had a relaxed pace. Everyone seemed to be going about their day, and we felt we could slip into that rhythm easily.

We made time to visit Helsinki Cathedral. Its striking white exterior standing high above the city at the top of a grand flight of steps, and you can spot it from all around. The steps were a great place to sit, relax and take in the local atmosphere. A half-marathon was taking place during our visit, so the square below was buzzing.

The waterfront was lovely to explore. The fairground, a London Eye-style Ferris wheel and the ferry terminal are all nearby. We also found the food market, which was packed with visitors. The smells from the different stalls hit you as you walked through. Even if you weren’t hungry, it was hard to resist. We gave in and bought a reindeer hot dog, which was delicious and well worth trying. We saw plenty of people enjoying the famous salmon soup, but that one wasn’t really for us.

The waterfront felt like a place where people met up and caught up with one another. One evening, we strolled past a festival in full swing, with a classic car show and a live blues band. We’d noticed quite a few blues posters around town, so it seemed to be popular in Helsinki. It made for a lovely atmosphere and lifted the mood as we wandered around.

A highlight for us was our planned trip to Suomenlinna. The ferry from the waterfront terminal takes about 20 minutes, and the crossing was relaxing. It felt great to be out on the water.

The island had a village feel and seemed like a world of its own, a little escape from the city. We’d read that it was originally a defence post, and the old structures made that history easy to see. There was plenty to explore, from an old submarine and a church that doubles as a lighthouse to parks and a museum.

Walking along the old coastal defence path gave us a real feel for the place. Small beach areas were dotted around, with people taking a dip in the water. A hilly patch of grass in the centre of the island reminded me of the Shire from LOTR. As we explored these bumpy, hobbit-like hills, we realised they were old storage or ammunition huts built into the landscape and since reclaimed by nature. The geese and other waterfowl wandering around seemed right at home.

We sat on some cliffs and enjoyed spectacular views back towards Helsinki. Before heading back, we stopped at the island shop for an ice cream while we waited for the next ferry. You could easily spend half a day or more exploring Suomenlinna. We were happy with the three hours or so we spent there and felt recharged by the time we left.

Day Trip to Tallinn

Tallinn is about two hours away by ferry, and there are plenty of crossings to choose from. Getting to the ferry terminal by tram was easy. We enjoyed the crossing, with lots to do on board and plenty of comfortable seats. We spent most of the journey outside on the top deck, as the ferry ride was part of the adventure for us. From Tallinn’s port, it was about a 15-minute walk to the old town.

Tallinn was a complete contrast to Helsinki. Its old town was elegant, with a medieval feel, winding streets and church spires. We had about six hours to explore, so we took the city as it came. Tallinn was all about the viewpoints: the higher we climbed, the better the views got. Stunning buildings and churches seemed to be around every corner.

There were a few heavy showers around midday, but we took shelter under trees and in gift shops, and they didn’t spoil the day. We also climbed onto the remaining city walls, which gave us another great vantage point over the lower parts of the old town. After all that walking, we found plenty of cafés where we could relax and watch the busy streets.

Good to know

• Meals were included at our hotel, which made it easier to keep costs down or put more of our budget towards trips and days out.

  
  

• Helsinki’s tram network is excellent. We bought a four-day pass through the HSL app covering zones A–C, which took us around most of the city. We didn’t realise it also covered the airport train, so we could have saved some money.

  
  

• The ferry to Suomenlinna is included in some travel passes, depending on the ferry operator. Check the details of your pass before you go.

  
  

So, how did Helsinki score?

Things to do — 7/10: Helsinki has enough to keep you occupied for a few days, but we felt the city itself might have started to feel a little limited over four nights.

Getting around — 9/10: Helsinki was easy to navigate. Public transport made it simple to get around the city and out to the airport and ferry terminal.

Food and drink — 8/10: There was plenty of choice, including Finnish food and lots of places to eat and drink around the city. It isn’t the cheapest destination, but there was enough variety to keep things interesting.

Value for money — 8/10: Finland isn’t cheap, but the trip offered a lot for four nights. Public transport and the Tallinn day trip made it possible to experience two countries in one break.

Overall experience — 8/10: We really enjoyed Helsinki, though the city itself felt a little limited for a four-night stay. Adding Tallinn made the trip more varied and gave us a great reason to spend the full four nights there.

What would I do differently?

We’d probably spend two or three nights in Helsinki rather than four.

Would I visit Helsinki again?

Yes, but we’re not in a rush to go back. We found some of the attractions a little underwhelming, which is why we took the opportunity to visit Tallinn. That added a lot to the trip and, of course, added another country to our travel list.

We’d like to experience Helsinki in winter and see what all that darkness is like in the colder months. It would be a nice contrast to our June visit. It was still daylight at 11 p.m. when we were there, which did strange things to our body clocks, but the hotel curtains soon sorted that out when needed.

What made me laugh

• The tweeting-bird background sounds in the airport toilets. You can use your imagination about what they were there for.

• The coffee cups at our hotel that had no handles. You had to let the coffee go cold before you could drink it.

• Seeing Finns take the ferry to Tallinn to buy beer, then bring it back on fold-out trolleys.

• Spotting the Bastard Burgers chain in Helsinki too, just as we had in Stockholm.

  
  

Favourite thing:

Relaxing on the cliffs at Suomenlinna, looking out over Helsinki and taking in the city view.

“Sometimes the unexpected parts of a trip can make it worthwhile. For us, that was Suomenlinna and crossing the Baltic to Tallinn.”