The Nordic capital sits on a Baltic peninsula and 300 islands, with underground churches, active sauna culture, and year-round sea swimming.
Linnanmäki Amusement Park
Linnanmäki is Helsinki's old amusement park with over 40 rides, including a wooden coaster and new thrills.
Iconic Helsinki Cathedral
Helsinki Cathedral, a classic spot by Senate Square, provides calm worship and city views from its steps.
Ateneum Art Museum
This Neo-Renaissance art museum near Helsinki Central Railway Station displays 20,000 works, including Finnish masterpieces from the 1750s-1950s and international pieces.
Rock-hewn Temppeliaukio Church
Helsinki's Temppeliaukio Church is a rock church known for its natural light and great acoustics.
Seurasaari
An outdoor museum in Helsinki on an island featuring traditional Finnish wooden buildings and customs, open all year.
Eastern Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral
Uspenski Cathedral, a red-brick Orthodox church in Helsinki with golden domes, has a rich history and calm views.
Helsinki Market Square
Market Square in Helsinki: a busy spot by the sea with local food, handmade items, and events.
UNESCO World Heritage Suomenlinna
Explore Suomenlinna, a sea fortress and UNESCO site in Helsinki, with museums, galleries, and calm sea views.
Helsinki spreads across a Baltic Sea peninsula and 300 islands. You'll find the copper-domed Temppeliaukio Church carved into solid bedrock, and the bright white Helsinki Cathedral dominates Senate Square with its green domes. Take a ferry to explore the islands, including Suomenlinna with its 18th-century fortress walls, or warm up in one of the city's public saunas like the waterfront Löyly.
Getting Around Helsinki
You can travel through Helsinki by tram, bus, or the northernmost metro system in the world. Buy single tickets or day passes through the HSL mobile app or at ticket machines. Cycling is popular - more than half of Helsinki residents cycle weekly, and you can join them using one of the city's 3,500 shared bikes, available from April to October on the extensive network of dedicated bike lanes.
Finnish Sauna Culture
Public saunas are central to Helsinki life. At the waterfront Löyly complex, you can switch between traditional and smoke saunas before cooling off in the Baltic Sea. The wood-heated Kotiharjun Sauna has maintained its traditional practices since 1928. Many Helsinki residents visit saunas multiple times per week, and you'll see locals swimming in the sea year-round, even breaking through ice in winter.
Key Buildings and Architecture
Walk through Senate Square to see the Helsinki Cathedral and the surrounding yellow neoclassical buildings from the 1800s. The Temppeliaukio Church, completed in 1969, welcomes visitors into its underground space where natural light streams through the copper dome. At Finlandia Hall, architect Alvar Aalto created spaces that combine white Carrara marble with Finnish wood details and large windows overlooking Töölö Bay.
Food and Markets
Step into the Old Market Hall (1889) to buy smoked fish, reindeer meat, and seasonal produce. Local restaurants serve everything from traditional meatballs and salmon soup to contemporary interpretations of Nordic ingredients. During August and September, join a crayfish party where you'll eat freshwater crayfish while wearing a paper bib and drinking snaps (aquavit).
Islands and Maritime Sites
Take a ferry from Market Square to explore Helsinki's archipelago. Walk through Suomenlinna's seven islands to discover 1700s military buildings, underground tunnels, and stone ramparts. On Seurasaari island, you can explore wooden buildings from different regions of Finland, from farmhouses to manors. Visit Korkeasaari Zoo to see arctic animals like snow leopards and Amur tigers in their specially designed habitats.
