Where to go from Helsinki. Where to go from Helsinki. Wander around the Suomenlinna sea fortress

You can explore the city in sufficient detail in a short time, but you want to spend your vacation in an eventful, active and varied way.

To old Tallinn

Going for a day is a nice idea. The Estonian capital is full of medieval charm and wandering through its narrow streets is quite possible if you have a day in Helsinki free from local excursions.
The most convenient way to get to Tallinn is by ferry. The summer schedule begins in mid-June and ends in the second half of August. During this period, the first ferry departs at 10.30 and the last at 21.30. In the remaining months of the year there are only two flights per day and their schedule varies. A detailed schedule is available on the website www.vikingline.ru.
The ferry is a kind of entertainment center with live music in restaurants, bars, a sauna, nightclubs and playrooms for kids. Once you arrive in Tallinn, you can book a cabin for the night on the ferry to explore the city in detail and at your leisure.

Ancient bastions

One of the main attractions in the vicinity of the Finnish capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Suomenlinna Fortress was built in the mid-18th century to fortify eight rocky islands off the coast, called the Wolf Skerries. Five of them are connected by bridges or spits, the rest are separate. The fortress houses several museums, a naval academy and even a light-security prison, whose residents maintain order and cleanliness in Suomenlinna.
You can get to the fortress by ferries and water buses:

• Ferries depart from the pier at the capital's Market Square. The first flight is at 6.00 am and the last flight is at 2.20 am. The interval between ships is from 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the time of day. The journey takes a quarter of an hour, the price is about 5 euros. Trams 1, 1A and 2 will take tourists to the Market Square. The stop is called Kauppatori.
• In summer, you can travel to Suomenlinna by JT-Line water bus. The ticket price for it is 7 euros.

For Helsinki Card holders, visiting the fortress museums and traveling on the ferry are free. The card is sold at tourist information centers and allows you to receive benefits when using public transport and discounts at some restaurants and museum ticket offices.

City of Red Barns

Only fifty kilometers separate the capital from, and this city certainly finds itself in the zone of interest of tourists who are deciding where to go on their own from Helsinki for one day. Its calling card is the old red wooden barns on the banks of the river, against which all guests love to take pictures.
Porvoo is the oldest city in the country and its authentic atmosphere attracted Leonid Gaidai, who filmed his film “Behind the Matches” here. The old town hall has been preserved in the town and the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary is of undoubted interest for fans of Scandinavian architecture.

You have already thoroughly studied, let's go explore Finland further: the oldest city and former capital of Turku, the most comfortable city with the Moomin Museum Tampere, the capital of Lapland and the home of Santa Claus Rovaniemi. We tell you in detail how to get to them, where to stay and what is worth seeing there. Cool museums from the Lenin Museum to the Moomin Museum, unusual hotels, old castles, cultural hubs on the site of former factories and beautiful nature - an eventful trip is guaranteed.

Turku

Why Turku?

Founded in the 13th century at the mouth of the Auirajoki River, Turku is the oldest city in Finland and its former capital, which has a lot of Art Nouveau, many wooden houses (after all, a former part of the Russian Empire), a kind of mixture of Riga and Kostroma.

The river is the main center of attraction of the city; along it there is an embankment, parks, and piers. There are boats along the river, beautiful buildings overlook the river. There are several bridges across the river, including pedestrian ones, but the most interesting thing is a small ferry ferrying people and cyclists (Läntinen Rantakatu 47) . It's free, orange, and rolls back and forth all the time. Further from the river there is also beauty: in some places the terrain goes up a lot, you can climb higher and explore the city. One of the best views is from the observatory (Tähtitorninkatu 1) .

How to get there?

You can get to Turku by plane from, and (SAS, airBaltic, Finnair, Wizz Air). You can get here by train or bus from most large and small cities in Finland. But the most picturesque way is by ferry. It is worth noting that a place in a budget cabin on the daily overnight Viking Line ferry from Stockholm is comparable in price to a hostel in the center of the Swedish capital. The measured hum of diesel engines, the beauty of the archipelagos and the smooth (or not so smooth, if there is a storm) rocking on the waves is included. All in all, this could be a beautiful itinerary for a great Scandinavian trip.

On Turku train station (Ratapihankatu 37) There is a luggage room (cash only), a cafe, a paid toilet and a full-wall map of the city. Turku is connected by railway to Helsinki and Tampere, and then anywhere.

A good option for an overnight stay - Forenom Aparthotel Tampere City(Hämeenkatu 28). That wonderful type of hotel where you may not meet a single living person the entire time. An hour before check-in time, a code is sent via SMS that opens the front door, the door to the floor and the door to the room. The room has dishes, iron, coffee maker, kettle, microwave and refrigerator.

Visit Tampere– Tampere tourism website.

Rovaniemi

Why Rovaniemi?

The capital of Lapland and, according to guidebooks, the home of Santa Claus. The city itself is located just 6 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle with all that it implies. In the winter season, prepare for temperatures from -15 °C and, in the summer - for the sun that never sets around the clock, which rarely warms the air above 20 °C. The most beautiful nature awaits you all year round. You can stock up on shorts yourself, and winter overalls can be rented on site.

How to get there?

The journey by train will take at least 8 hours on a daytime train with seats (from € 35) to 12 hours on a night train (seat in a compartment from € 49). There are two- and three-seater coupes, with and without a shower, for men and women. There are direct buses from Helsinki, but you will find more options with a transfer to Oulu. 11 to 14 hours of back pain can be purchased from € 39 if you plan in advance. Norwegian and Finnair fly to Rovaniemi from Helsinki; the one-way price for both starts from € 37, but by the New Year season, if you don’t have time to book it in advance, it increases significantly. The airport is about 10 kilometers away from the city center; you can use the shuttle for € 7 or Santa's Express from € 3.5.

What to see?

Photo – heartmybackpack.com, Backpacking North, finduslost, Lucas Marcomini, Jason Charles Hill

If you have the opportunity to visit Helsinki, you should definitely take advantage of it. The city has many attractions, and one day is clearly not enough to see them all. This is a very interesting city with a long history. Tourists of all ages will be interested in walking along its streets, visiting museums, and visiting fortresses and cathedrals. But there are interesting places in the city for children, and where to go in Helsinki with a child, you can ask the travel agency.

How to get there?

You can get to the capital of Finland by any means of transport, by air, by land and even by sea. Three airlines operate daily flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg airports: Aeroflot, Finnair and Pulkovo Airlines. An hour of flight - and you are in Finland. From St. Petersburg you can come to Helsinki by high-speed train "Allegro", which delivers tourists to their destination four times a day. Travel time is 3.5 hours.

There are also two high-speed trains - the Finnish Sibelius and the Russian Repin. Lux Express buses run three times a day from the Northern capital of Russia to the capital of Finland. And this is the cheapest option. One way ticket -1400 rubles.

There is also a reliable connection on the St. Petersburg - Stockholm ferry. It will be a kind of small cruise. Departure from St. Petersburg in the evening, and get off the ferry to Helsinki, where you will arrive the next morning, at the South Port (Olimpiaranta, 1). But this type of transport is more suitable for the warm season.

Hospitable city

This is one of the cities in Europe that has created favorable conditions for tourism and recreation. The city has many different museums, attractions, and architectural monuments. It is enough to purchase a map of Helsinki, and “where to go and what to see” as a question should disappear by itself. Fans of walking around the city will find several developed routes that cover all the interesting places that the capital of Finland is rich in. For those who just came to relax with a large group, the guide will also find where you can spend a weekend and get acquainted with Finnish culture. There are many interesting places in Helsinki where you can go with your child. In general, you can go to your “Finnish neighbor” for a weekend from St. Petersburg, because it is always a mini-trip to Europe, which is almost nearby. The main thing is to decide where you still want to go and what to see.

What is the Helsinki map?

Tourists who don't know what to do in Helsinki in one day can purchase an all-inclusive sightseeing package that allows them to see the best of the city while saving time and money. This package is called the Helsinki map. The card is available for 1, 2 and 3 days, depending on the period for which it is purchased. This card is a kind of all-in-one ticket. By purchasing it, tourists will subsequently receive free admission to 25 top attractions and museums, as well as a city tour and a panoramic bus tour to the tourist island of Suomenlinna, as well as free entry to the SkyWheel and SEALIFE Helsinki.

Budget travel option

For example, if tourists decide where to go in Helsinki without the above map, they will have to pay for each attraction or object of visit:

• Suomenlinna, sea fortress - museums and tour - € 37.00.
• Bus tour with panorama - € 32.00.
• Excursion along the beautiful canal - € 25.00.
• SkyWheel (discounted entry) - € 12.00.
• SEALIFE (discounted entry) - € 16.00.
• City tour by bus - € 28.00.
• Ateneum Art Museum - € 15.00.
• Temppeliaukio Church (rock church) - € 3.00.
• Museum of Contemporary Art "Kiasma" - € 14.00.

By visiting these 9 attractions without a Helsinki card, you will spend 182 euros, and in addition there will be costs for public transport. And the 3-day Helsinki Card costs €66.00 and includes free public transport, so the savings are obvious!

If you are passing through Helsinki

Sometimes the trip turns out to be unplanned. Perhaps this is a business trip, or you happen to be passing through this city. In this case, no one really thinks about where to go. In Helsinki you can just walk, and the streets will lead you to the embankment and the main Cathedral on Senate Square. Your feet will take you to the Old Market Hall - an ancient indoor shopping market. Very beautiful buildings and unusual for their maintenance. Who would have thought that the Finnish National Theater is located in a building that looks like an impregnable castle. The beautiful red brick building of the former customs house in 1900 and the Best Western Premier Hotel Katajanokka, located in a former prison, are made of the same brick.

Here's where you just need to look: Linnanmäki Amusement Park. This is one of the oldest parks, which houses rare wooden roller coasters, as well as new modern ones. Both of them work and delight both adults and children. The park has a tower with an observation deck. You can climb it and see Helsinki from a bird's eye view for free.

Museums in Helsinki

For those who are interested in the culture and life of the country's population, it will be interesting to visit the most popular museums in Helsinki. Typically, such an excursion is made in the autumn-winter period, when indoors are more comfortable than outdoors. The most interesting include the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma - Museum of Contemporary Art "Kiasma".

Visitors enter the museum through a spacious lobby with a glass ceiling. This location serves as the starting point for stairs, ramps, and corridors that curve to lead to the rest of the building. The irregular, subtly differentiated spaces of the museum serve as exhibition halls.

You can always find where to go in Helsinki. So, the Kaupunginmuseo - the Helsinki Museum - is interesting to visit. It documents and displays the history of Finland's capital. Those who are interested in natural sciences can visit the Finnish Museum of Natural History - Science Museum of Natural History. It is interesting for its exhibits Design Museum - Design Museum.

Traveling with children

Coming to Helsinki with children, many ask the question: “What to do with a child, where to take him so that he will be interested?” There are enough places like this for both kids and teenagers. These are museums and entertainment, Espoo and Vantaa, which can be visited in summer and winter. In a historical museum, a child might be interested in Vintti's workshop. Children learn to build a wooden frame or a wall from bricks. They will be allowed to grind grain and even work on a typewriter.

You can visit the island of Seurasaari with your child. This ethnographic complex is interesting because there are 80 buildings brought from all over Finland. These are peasant estates, shops and workshops. There is a school, a postal station and even a working mill on the territory of the complex. True, this complex operates in the warm season from mid-May to mid-September. On holidays such as Easter, Christmas and Midsummer Day, folk festivities take place on the island.

Helsinki in winter

For those parents who came to Helsinki, where to go with their child in winter, the question does not arise. They know that the city has the largest water park in Europe, Serena, which is popular with both adults and children. Children and adults will not be bored at the Eureka Science Center. Time spent there leaves a lasting impression.

After all, here you can sit in the cockpit of an airplane, imagining yourself as a pilot, ride a tightrope on a bicycle like a circus performer, or climb into a bear’s den. And in "Eric" there are no restrictions. You can touch everything with your hands. The main feature of "Eureka" is a planetarium showing 3D films. You can stroll through the park on the snow-covered island of Seurasaari. And if you come for Christmas, you should definitely check out the City Winter Garden. He will surprise you with his winter outfits.

Helsinki is interesting at any time of the year. It has so many attractions that, having been here once, a person does not feel satiated. The city of Helsinki is hospitable and incredibly beautiful.

I want to tell you what you can do in Helsinki if you come here for 1 or 2 days.1. The first thing every tourist does is walk along Esplanadi street. At its end are the Market and the South Port. There is also a beautiful fountain with a nymph and sea lions.2. You can buy various souvenirs at the market. For example, antlers or deer skin. You can also bring a very useful souvenir to your friends - a piece of deer antlers with a bottle opener at the end. They also sell fur slippers, belts and sweaters with the symbols of Lapland. There are many cafe tents where they fry fish right in front of you.3. It’s very interesting to walk around the port, look at the huge, 10-story sea liners - ferries that go to Stockholm, Tallinn and St. Petersburg4. Right there, from the port you can take a boat and go to the Zoo on the island. But it’s better to spend 3-4 hours on it, it’s very pleasant to walk there. And there is a cafe with a glass wall, behind which there is an enclosure and bears walk. Very beautiful sea views while you are going to the zoo and when you are walking there. And there are many peacocks that walk along the paths with tourists.5. right next to the port is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe - the Assumption Cathedral. It’s very beautiful, I recommend you go there too.6. Trams 3T and 3B run from the port, and you can take them around the central part of the city - a kind of excursion. All signs on the streets are written in Finnish and duplicated in Swedish7. You can also go to the square near the Kamppi Shopping Center. There is a tent there during the day where they make French pancakes with jam, chocolate and other fillings.8. Kamppi itself is not only a large shopping center, but also an underground bus station. You can buy a bus ticket and go, for example, to Turku9. You can also take a tram from the port to the stop Kaivo puisto (translated as Good Park). He really is great. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, on the rocks, beautiful sea views open from there.10. on the right behind the Scandic Marski hotel is a tower hotel. This is Sokos Hotel Torni (Yrj?nkatu 26). If you take the elevator to the top floor, there is a bar with panoramic views of Helsinki - very interesting!11. Senate Square, the monument to Alexander II, Helsinki Cathedral are traditional attractions, so I list them at the end, everyone already knows about them.12. The Helsinki Aquarium will be especially interesting for children. There is also a tram going to it.13. Sveaborg Fortress is worth a visit, but only if you have enough time14. very pleasant walks through two gardens - Winter and Botany15. For shopping, you can take the metro to the huge Itakeskus shopping center. Its format is similar to Megu-Khimki. And the metro line is above ground and at the same time you can see how life is not in the central part of the city. In general, Helsinki is a city where there seem to be no special, world-class attractions. But when you walk around the city, you understand that this is the best place to relax from the busy life in the metropolis. And the sea views - they are very calming.