A One Day Guide to Helsinki, Finland
When I was planning my trip through the Baltics, I knew I wanted to travel to the capital cities of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. However, it wasn’t until I came across a blog post about Tallinn, Estonia that I realized that I could easily end my trip in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. From Tallinn, I found myself in Helsinki in just two hours, and spent a day and a half exploring the city before flying off to the UK for grad school.
While I had a day and a half in the city, I’m sharing everything I think that a visitor to the city could fit into just one action packed day.
Helsinki Basics
Currency
Finland is part of the European Union, and uses the Euro. 1 Euro currently equals about $1.15 USD.
Visa Requirements
As part of the European Union’s Schengen Zone, citizens of the US and many other countries can visit visa free. However, be sure to check updated COVID restrictions.
Language
Finnish, but English is widely spoken in Helsinki.
Basic Phrases:
Hello / Hi – Moi
Good Morning – Hyvää huomenta
Good Evening – Hyvää iltaa
Thank You – Kiitos
Weather
Even in September, Helsinki was pretty cold. Cold enough for me to wear a coat, a hat, and gloves, so I can’t even imagine how cold it gets in Helsinki in the dead of winter. Also keep in mind that during the summer the daylight hours are super long, and in the winter it can be dark for most of the day.
Getting There
Helsinki is well connected to the Baltics and Russia by ferry and train, and to the rest of Europe by relatively cheap flights. I got to Helsinki via a two hour ferry from Tallinn, Estonia. This makes Helsinki a great day trip from the Baltics, or conversely, a great place from which to visit Tallinn. The ferry only cost about $20 one way, but prices can be higher closer to the departure date, so book as early as you can.
A One Day Helsinki Itinerary
Start Your Day with a Fresh Korvapuusti
What is korvapuusti, you ask? It’s a warm, sweet, decadent cinnamon roll. Cinnamon rolls are well loved in Finland, and even has its own holiday on October 4th. There are several bakeries around the city where you can sit down with a cinnamon roll and a coffee, or grab a roll to go.
I got my delicious cinnamon roll at Ekberg, Finland’s oldest bakery and cafe for €2.40. I took my cinnamon roll to go to enjoy at my next stop: Suomenlinna.
Explore Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna is a set of islands off of the city of Helsinki home to a fortress built in the mid 1700s. The area is now an UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to a few hundred residents, and is a beautiful, must-visit place for anyone traveling to Helsinki.
Getting There
You can reach Suomenlinna in about 15 minutes by ferry from the Kauppatori ferry terminal downtown, right by the Market Square. The ferrys come regularly and take you to Suomenlinna’s main quay. You can get a one way ticket to Suomenlinna for €2.80, or you can opt to get a one day Helsinki transport ticket for €8. I opted for this so I could get to and from Suomenlinna and use the trams in the city later in the day.
In the summer, there are more ferry options, so check out this Suomenlinna ferry guide for summer options.
Exploring the Islands
When visiting Suomenlinna in late September, the attractions on the island that are open during the summer had closed for the day. No matter, however, as it is absolutely worth it to simply walk around and admire the beautiful views. You can pick up a free map in the visitor’s center right by where the ferry lets you off, or simply follow the blue tourist path throughout the islands that are well marked by signs along the way. This path takes you path the main sites.
I took a couple of hours to stroll through the islands, taking photos and basking in the sunshine and crisp fall weather along the way. You could easily spend much longer in Suomenlinna, especially in the summer when more things are open.
Visit the Old Market Hall
When you return to Helsink from Suomenlinna, you’ll arrive right next to the Old Market Hall. Open since 1889, the stalls in the market sell fish, meat (including reindeer meat), cheese, cakes, tea, souvenirs, and more. It’s nice to walk through the market and browse the goods. You may even be tempted to try reindeer meat or a salmon soup while there.
Admire the City’s Two Main Cathedrals
Right by the Old Market Hall, up on a hill, is the Upenski Cathedral. It was closed for renovations when I visited, but you can typically go inside the cathedral. Even if it is closed, the cathedral is beautiful from the outside, and its location up on a hill is a great spot for nice views of the city.
From the Upenski Cathedral, head over to the Helsinki Cathedral, located in the main square of the city. This cathedral is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city, and is free to enter, although they ask for a €5 voluntary donation upon entry.
I had the fortune of visiting this cathedral with a friend I met while studying in China in 2019. Markus and I were in the same Mandarin class, and it was fantastic to catch up with him while he showed me the main sites of the city center.
Check Out the Incredible Helsinki City Library
Walk past Helsinki’s main train station to Helsinki’s City Library, a modern library that offers an astounding amount of public resources to city residents. This may not be on everyone’s list of top things to see and do in the city, but it was recommended by my local friend, and I can never pass up a library visit.
The library is free to visit, and it absolutely blew me away. Inside are several floors filled with tons of comfy seating and meeting areas, game rooms, sewing machines, 3-D printers, music studios, a cafe, and books. It puts U.S. libraries to shame, and demonstrates a beautiful model for public resources and spaces.
Visit a Public Sauna
When researching things to do and see in Helsinki, nearly every blog post recommended a visit to a sauna. While I was hesitant at first because it’s an activity outside of my comfort zone, it’s a cultural experience I’m glad I took part during my visit. Saunas are incredibly popular in Finland, with one sauna per 3 Finnish people. Many Finns have saunas in their home or even have access to saunas at work, so not all of them visit public saunas. There are however, a few saunas in Helsinki used by locals and tourists alike.
After doing some digging into the best saunas to visit in the city, I chose to go to Arla Sauna because it had good reviews, an affordable price, and was easily reachable by tram. There are several saunas to choose from, though, so check out this list to see which one is best for you.
A sauna session at Arla, which typically lasts up to 2 hours, costs €15 for regular admission or €12 for students. You can rent towels for €2 or bring your own. After paying for admission, the friendly guy at the desk helpfully showed me around the facilities and explained the sauna experience for me. The sauna facilities, which are separate for men and women, included a locker room with lockers, seating, and plenty of water, a shower room with body wash and shampoo, and the steam room.
I began by locking up my belongings and clothes, and then rinsed off before venturing into the steam room. You can increase the steam by throwing water onto the hot coals. The heat was definitely overwhelming at first, and I felt super awkward being naked in public to start, but the other women at the sauna were kind and helped me feel relaxed and at ease.
Taking cues from the others at the sauna, I spent spurts of 10-15 minutes or so in the steam room with breaks to sit outside in the cool air and drink plenty of water. After about an hour and a half, I’d had my fill of sweating in the steam room, so I took one final shower and headed out.
While potentially uncomfortable at first due to the heat and the nudity, going to a sauna is an experience I wholeheartedly recommend when visiting Finland.
Wrap Up the Day With a Warm Meal
When I asked my friend Markus about getting a traditional Finnish meal in Helsinki, he explained that Finnish people in the city don’t typically eat Finnish food, and that traditional Finnish foods are served to tourists at exorbitant prices at restaurants that often have Michelin stars.
With this and the generally expensive prices in the city in mind, I simply opted for a warm meal to stave off the cold weather. I chose to have dinner at a ramen place I came across, and wasn’t disappointed. If you’re on a somewhat limited budget like I was, I recommend looking around for places where you can grab a meal around €10, because they do exist.
Overall, it was a fantastic decision to tack Helsinki onto my trip. While the city is super expensive, it’s a beautiful place to spend a day or a weekend exploring, and even better when you have a local friend to show you around. A huge thanks again to Marcus for sharing bits of Finland with me! I hope our paths cross again soon!