Caterina.net: Things to do in Helsinki & Finland

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{ Wednesday, June 11, 2003 }

Things to do in Helsinki & Finland

Thanks for everyone's suggestions! I've put together a compilation of all of the "what to do in Helsinki" suggestions from Caterina.net readers, so that future travelers can also benefit from everyone's input:

If you have a car, drive to the Moomin and Lenin Museums in Tampere. There is also a train, which takes 2.5 hours. Moomins are characters in children's books created by Tove Janssen, and they are marvellous!
Do not fail to check out the outlet store at the Arabia pottery factory for bargains.
See Thee Ultra Bimboos in Helsinki - a great all girl band that truly truly rocks - they are advertising folks by day, and cowboy hat bikini clad rocker chicks by night.
Go to the Midnight Sun Film Festival north of Helsinki.
Absolutely go to Kiasma, an excellent contemporary art museum in Helsinki
Stock up on Marimekko goods, and visit the factory, which is about 15 minutes outside the city and which has has gorgeous old textile printing machines (and outlet-shopping!!!)
The Museum of Art and Design, definitely.
Tango. Tango in Helsinki. google tango, helsinki. Take a lesson and go to a Milonga [a public dance where people tango all night]
Helsinki in English from A to Z
Also stock up on glassware from Iittala (Ooo! It looks gorgeous!)
Cafe Ekberg Bulevardi, 9: where the coffee is wonderfully strong and the korvapusti enormous. - great cinnamon buns etc. It's about a hundred years old, and has green marble tables.Bulevardi is a lovely street to walk on.
the Ateneum is the place to go for earlier Finnish art.
I've never been, but I'm told the Academic Bookstore (Akateeminen Kirjakauppa) is one of the biggest & best in Europe, and is housed in a building designed by Alvar Aalto.
Stockmann's (where the Academic Bookstore is) on Mannerheimintie and Aleksanterinkatu is the largest department store in Europe.
Also, if you haven't already, read a bit of the Kalevala, the Finnish epic poem - for an insight into the mystery of things Finnish.
The National Museum gives you a good sense of what the Finns are about, the University district is nice, the Church in te Rock (I think it is called) is a must see. There is a great market down by the convention center, and you'll want to get on a boat to get a sense of the archipelligo.
It's not so much what there is to see as it is to understand the Finnish mind-- see if you can get to a sauna club. They take sauna as seriously as some people take golf, but it's much nicer to go to a club and sauna than it is to golf. Helsinki is on my list of palces I'd go back to any time.

I am going to post HFB's comment in its entirety, since there was so much good information in it:

I live in downtown Helsinki :) I don't know who claims Akateeminen is the biggest and best bookstore in the EU but they likely have never been to London bookstores. Books are very expensive here so don't plan on stocking up on your holiday reading supply. Dave is spot on about Cafe Ekberg where the coffee is wonderfully strong and the korvapusti enormous. Bulevardi is a lovely street to walk on but I'm biased as I live there :) The Sinebrychoff Museum is a recently renovated 'mansion' of sorts that is a work of art in its own right. There is also a culture museum in the Tennispalatsi which was an indoor tennis arena that was later made into a movie house and museum. I'm rather partial to the Museum of Art and Design.

There is a tourist bureau which has loads of nice maps and such on the Esplanadi down by the east harbor/kauppatori. Suomenlinna is a short ferry ride away and is a lovely day trip walking around the fortress. There are loads of nice cafes and ethnic restauraunts. If you want to try eating reindeer, go to Lappi. You might try the Zetor pub for a laugh and to try the native Finnish beer, Sahti. I suspect the bear was served at Saslik, a swanky Russian restaurant. Going to the top of the Sokos Torni 'skyscraper' where there is a cafe/bar is fun as the view from the top is gorgeous on a clear day.

Be prepared to find everything expensive. It is, especially now with the euro so high against the dollar.

The international edition of the local paper has a nice section of links for visitors. Intercultural Relationships is a witty, fun collection of Finnish culture. Virtual Finland is also a wonderful resource filled with scores of finnish facts, info and ephemera.

Today is the semi-finals in the annual wife carrying championships in Helsinki which should be great fun to watch :) I love living here.

LINK | 3:27 PM | TB

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{ COMMENTS }

There's a Moomin museum??? Wow, that really puts the Finns into my cool book.

dargie | June 11, 2003 3:43 PM

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I am Moomin.
http://www.moomin.fi/englanti/muumi_e.htm

Witold Riedel | June 12, 2003 1:45 PM

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Hi, found this via Glenn's new TCS column. I absolute love Finland - lived there for a year in the mid-90s. Unfortunately, I don't know much about Helsinki, but definitely get in some sauna time. And pick up some of the basic language such as thank you (kiitos), hello (heippa), beer (olut), and counting to ten (yksi, kaksi, kolme...).

Now, if you find yourself near Oulu (about halfway up the length of the country, on the West coast), I can give you some out-of-date ideas about what to do and see. I do know that the World Air Guitar Championship is coming up again in the next couple months...

andy | June 18, 2003 7:42 AM

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My great love on an Irish vacation --- 9 days of heavenly bliss --- was from Finland. Mykeli, to be exact. And she was a student at the University of Oulu, mentioned earlier in the thread.

When I saw Glenn Reynolds mention a blog on Finland I just had to drop by and see what there was to see. My heart still swoons every now and then for that lovely, shy, highy intelligent, refreshingly sexy Finnish girl I once knew.

Worth (USA) | June 18, 2003 12:20 PM

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It is also quite nice to be here during Juhannus eve (night of the 20th to the 21st of June) when Finns celebrate the mid-summer, the longest day of the year. Normally everybody goes to their "mökki" (summer cottage) and spend there the day or days, but for those of us who have to stay in Helsinki, it's also traditional to go and see the bonfires in the island of Seurasaari and drink beer :) I was last year in Lapland, in Rovaniemi (1200km north of Helsinki) and it was soooo beautiful... Here in the south the sun sets for about two hours but the night never gets completely dark. However in the north the sun doesn't set at all! It felt so strange when I was there... It's something you have to see!

oscar | June 19, 2003 8:17 AM

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Oh, how i would love to have a similar cool list for Vancouver! While i have been there twice for brief visits, i never really got further than things listed in my guidebook as must see, and spending days (literally) at the downtown Chapters and hours at Van Dusen. Now i will be living there 4 months, and i still don't have any secret tips on where to go for the best coffee, the best concert, the best gallery or the best shopping.
Oh, and i envy you for seeing Helsinki. One of my dream tips is a nordic city tour of Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Ah, daydreaming! :)

Kati | June 22, 2003 3:05 PM

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i am planning a visit to Latvia via Helsinki next summer. am an avid dancer of Argentinian tango.
i would love information about dancing in either of these places.

lilija | July 27, 2003 9:08 PM

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Oh thanks. Loobylu just sent me this link just in time for my flight to Helsinki tomorrow!!

Ben Hosken | February 1, 2004 6:13 PM

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hi, am a Nigerian who would like to visit finland because it has always been my dream to stay in finland.truth is -i love your country and your people and for a long time now, i have been doing a research about finland just to learn about the people and culture.i also know that they are a very welcoming people.please is there a way you could help me to actualize this dream.my parents are capable of taking care of the expences in terms of visa,acommodation and feeding.all i need is someone over there who will send me a letter of invitation and i have a strong feeling that some one could be you.please, help me.my e-mail address is dmc77ng@yahoo.com and i stay in lagos, Nigeria.hope to hear from you.
God bless.

davies | February 18, 2004 3:19 AM

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Awesome.. Now what about the bands from Finland?
HIM any one?

Donald | March 18, 2004 5:57 AM

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i really want to know you very well so that we can both get along.how about that?

andy | May 14, 2004 8:48 PM

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Just returned home from Helsinki this week.(june 2004)I am an Australian and I just loved Helsinki and the people. I found the city to be interesting, charming and the harbour beautiful.
Not to mention the numerous sauna's I had whilst visiting.
I stayed at the Raddison Seaside hotel.Although expensive it was only a ten minute walk to the centre of town. The rooms are one of the best in the world very large modern stylish and chic.
If staying in hotel I suggest hiring the top floor sauna out for two hours. It really was a wonderful experience.

sandy England | June 3, 2004 10:01 PM

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Would you like to make friends with English spakers living in Finland ? You can do that on Finland Forum which is at :

http://www.finlandforum.org/bb

The forum has 5700+ registered members.

Pertti Suorsa | December 7, 2005 6:49 AM

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