Helsinki
Discover Helsinki
Helsinki (Swedish: Helsingfors) is Finland's capital and largest city. Helsinki combines modern and historic architectural styles with beautiful open spaces. The city is surrounded by hundreds of tiny islands, and is a cultural bridge between the East and West. The "Pearl of the Baltic Sea" is easy to explore on foot or on bike, and it has a laid-back vibe. The city of Helsinki forms the core of Finland's largest urban area, known in Finnish as the "capital area" (pääkaupunkiseutu). Helsinki is bordered by the Gulf of Finland to the south, while the posh suburban city of Espoo, with the embedded tiny enclave city of Kauniainen, is to the west. The more industrialized city of Vantaa (where the airport is) is to the north and east. The Capital Region has a population of about 1.2 million, 650,000 of them living in Helsinki proper. Beyond these, the suburbs rapidly give way to small towns, farms and forests, most notably Nuuksio National Park at the intersection of Espoo, Vihti and Kirkkonummi. On the eastern side, at the tri-point of Helsinki, Vantaa and Sipoo you can find the Sipoonkorpi National Park.
What to Experience in Helsinki
Taste of Helsinki...
Helsinki has by far the most cosmopolitan eating options in Finland, with eight Michelin-starred restaurants (Palace on Eteläranta got a second one in 2022), and is a good place to enjoy a good meal – if you can foot the bill, that is. As usual in Finland the best time to eat out if you are on a budget is lunch, when most restaurants offer lunch sets for €8–21. Lunch sets are typically served 10:30–14:00 or 11:00–15:00, but the times vary between venues. In the evening, only budget places are less than €10, while splurges cost well over €30 per head. Almost every place will have at least one vegetarian option. A surprisingly large number of restaurants close down for a month or more in summer (July–August) to give their employees vacation, so call ahead to avoid disappointment. Budget choices other than the lunch offers are largely limited to fast food, although there are a couple of workaday Finnish eateries in the mix. In addition to McDonald's and its Finnish imitators Hesburger/Carrols, Helsinki is also full of pizza and kebab places, where a meal typically costs around €7–8 (sometimes as low as €4, especially in Kallio). For lunch, a good budget option is Unicafe, a chain of restaurants owned by the Helsinki University student union, which has around 10 outlets in central Helsinki and offers full meals from €5.70, including vegetarian options (some with longer hours).
A Rich Past
Explore the historical roots that shaped Helsinki into what it is today.
Helsinki was founded in AD 1550 by King Gustav Vasa of Sweden, of which Finland was the eastern part, as a trading post to compete with Tallinn to the south in Estonia, which was Danish at that time. Helsinki was established about 5 km north-east of the current centre in the area today known as Vanhakaupunki ("the Old Town"), at the rapids where Vantaa river (at that time known as Helsinge river) flows into the Baltic Sea, which in turn gave the city its Swedish name Helsingfors ("Helsinge rapids"). Never becoming the trading post Gustav Vasa envisioned and largely bypassed by the King's Road — the major road along the coast — the village faced some hard times during its first centuries with fires and diseases; today there is but a few stones left of the original Helsinki. Eventually the city was moved further south to its current location, and in the middle of the 18th century, the maritime fortress Sveaborg (nowadays Suomenlinna in Finnish) was established on a handful of islands just in front of Helsinki, the fortress and the city together being nearly as populous as the regional capital Turku. The now world heritage-listed fortress archipelago features some of the oldest standing buildings in the city. In 1809, through the Finnish War (a part of the Napoleonic Wars), Finland was annexed by Russia and the capital of Finland moved from Turku to Helsinki in 1812, away from Sweden....
Festivals & Events
Experience the vibrant festivals and cultural celebrations of Helsinki.
Helsinki's celebrations are among the most exciting in the country. Most of Finland's exchange students end up in Helsinki's universities. As the Alexander University, now the University of Helsinki, was a legal deposit repository also during the Russian time, Helsinki has the largest collection of Russian printed material from the 19th century outside Russia. For many people, studying it here is far easier than the alternative. The University of Helsinki offers a highly popular Finnish for Foreigners program at six different skill levels, ranging from absolute beginner to advanced courses ending with language certification. Spring and Fall classes are offered in standard 1 unit (3 hr/wk, €135) and intensive 2 unit (8 hr/wk, €310) versions. Summer courses on Finnish language and culture are available at the major universities including Helsinki Summer University. Shopping in Helsinki is not cheap, but fans of Finnish and Nordic design will find plenty of things of interest.
Climate
Helsinki is among the world's northernmost capitals and the lengthy winter is dark and chilly. Winter temperatures average −5 °C (23 °F), but the wind chill and humidity makes it feel even colder and the mercury can plunge below −20 °C (−4 °F) on a particularly cold day. Days are short. In general snow falls only intermittently and often melts into grey slush. However lake-effect snowfalls dropping copious amounts of snow during a few hours (and messing up the traffic) is not unheard of in the early winter. Since the Helsinki peninsula juts into the sea, there is often a cold sea wind, and the climate is more maritime than inland, with snow and −5 °C (23 °F) replaced by slush, sleet and 0 °C (32 °F). This is especially apparent in November and December, but the first months of the year almost always have colder temperatures and clear skies.
Essential Information
Best Time to Visit
Year Roundbest time to eat out if you are on a budget is lunch, when most restaurants offer lunch sets for €8–21....
Getting There
Multiple OptionsAll international and domestic flights land at the compact, modern and airy 60.31722224.9633331 Helsinki Airport (HEL). , which is in Vantaa, 20 km to the north of central Helsinki. The airport is well served from across Europe, from East Asia and was also well served from neighbouring Russia before Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022. There are also flights from some airports elsewhere in Asia and a few airports in the USA. Finnair used to use Helsinki's position to the north-east of Europe to offer competitive travel times to East Asia. However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian airspace cannot be used, which has nullified the advantage. Coming from across the Baltic Sea, you may also consider flying to some regional airport with budget flights, such as Turku or Tallinn, if their connections happen to suit....
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
The Junatie metro bridge between Kalasatama and Sörnäinen will be replaced between 2026 and 2028. It is estimated that this will require metro services between Kulosaari/Herttoniemi and Hakaniemi stations to be suspended for more than half a year in 2027. All public transport within the Capital Region is coordinated by HSL. This means that all public transport, such as trains, trams, buses, ferries and the metro all use the same ticketing scheme. You only need to know which zones you will travel through (see below). The Helsinki metropolitan area is divided into 4 HSL zones from A to D. Your ticket price will differ based on what zones you travel through. Tickets are not sold for single regions A, B, or C, meaning you need to get an AB ticket even if you only travel inside the city centre in zone A. Tickets can be purchased from several different places. The easiest way to buy tickets is to use contactless NFC payments that have been rolled out network-wide in February 2025.
Where to Stay
Accommodation is generally quite expensive, but of a high standard. Hotels are usually cheaper on weekends, when business travellers are away. There are quite a few budget hotels in Helsinki, the cheapest being youth hostels. Many student dormitories turn into youth hostels during the July–August school break, which happily coincides with peak season for tourists. The Finnish Youth Hostel Association can provide further information. In a real pinch, the (by far) cheapest option can actually be to book a "last-minute" or "red-ticket" return cabin (from around €20) on an overnight cruise to Tallinn, and spend the night (and part of the next day) on the boat, rather than sleep in the city. Hotels of national and international chains usually fall in this segment. Prices are usually above €100 per night. In addition, many apartments are rented for about €90–100 per night. The upscale hotels are in the city centre and in the western parts of the city.
Money & Budget
Shopping in Helsinki is not cheap, but fans of Finnish and Nordic design will find plenty of things of interest. The frugal shopper can find some good bargains, particularly during the sale seasons in January and July. If you live outside the EU and spend more than €40 on a single receipt at any participating store, you can save a pretty penny by getting a refund for the hefty 24% VAT (ALV). Since 2016, opening hours have been fully liberalized, but most large shops and department stores still have the normal hours: M–F 09:00–21:00, Sa 09:00–18:00, Su 12:00–18:00. A notable exception is the Asematunneli complex, underground adjacent to the Central Railway Station, most shops here are open daily until 22:00, except on a few holidays. All S-markets are open until 22:00 daily.
Language & Talk
The city is officially bilingual, with an 86% Finnish-speaking majority and a visible 6% Swedish-speaking minority. Many in the Finnish-speaking majority only know the basics of Swedish, which they learned in school, while some speak it fluently. Most people, especially in the younger generations, speak very good English. Although locals will appreciate an effort to say a few words in Finnish, they know very well how difficult Finnish is and will readily switch to English – many people also like the chance to practise their language skills. Street signs and most other signs are usually in both Finnish and Swedish. In tourist-oriented areas, English signage is also prevalent.
Safety Information
Safety Overview
Helsinki has problems with drug trafficking and use, although this seldom affects visitors. Violent crime targeting strangers seems to be on a rise, but severe incidents are few enough to often reach the headlines. On weekend nights, intoxicated people wandering around city streets may be an annoyance, especially during summer festivals and on New Year's Eve and April 30, the eve of May Day, which is the most important beer-drinking festival in the Finnish calendar. Warm summer nights always gather a drunken crowd in the centre. Intoxicated Finns tend to be rather noisy (in stark contrast to sober Finns) and admittedly sometimes picking a fight with just about anyone. Just use your common sense, and steer clear of overly loud groups of young men. There are rare health hazards, although the winter weather should be borne in mind by visitors, especially those planning outdoor activities (or being out late).
Glimpses of Helsinki
Helsinki Cathedral in Autumn Sunset
green and yellow city tram
white and blue mosque among buildings
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki Cathedral at Nightfall
Autumn colours arrive to Helsinki center.
white and blue concrete building under blue sky during daytime
Sunset over Suomenlinna Sea Fortress in Helsinki. Suomenlinna fortress is an UNESCO world heritage site and the biggest tourist attraction in Helsinki
Tram passing by the Helsinki Cathedral
Helsinki Cathedral in Autumn Sunset
green and yellow city tram
white and blue mosque among buildings