ChristianB
Helsinki
Worth visiting!
This place has free entry. You only pay for the rides. And it’s open until 10 p.m. almost every day during summer so it’s a good place to go later in the day when the parks lights are lit. Actually, it would be cool to see Helsinki late in the evening from the new ferris wheel or the panorama tower. You get a good view since the park is on top of a hill and there aren’t any tall buildings in the way. I haven’t done that yet.
thihoa
Berlin
Hi Christian, I was reading through your postings about Finland and I am looking forward to finally checking out all these places by myself. I will be in Helsinki for 5 days in the end of August, so if you have anymore tips on what to do and what to see, I would be thankfull.
cheers, thihoa
ChristianB
Helsinki
Of course I could tell you all the usual things about visiting Suomenlinna, Seurasaari, the Senate square, the National museum and so on, but you might want to tell me if there’s something that you are really interested in that you’d like to try out. It doesn’t have to be anything “Finnish”, it could be a hobby of yours or something.
One thing you could do though is rent a bike and cycle along some routes that the tourist bureau can help with. You can go sycling in the Finnish woods in the middle of the city.
thihoa
Berlin
Sounds great, I will definitely go for the biking tour. Is there any interesting art scene, gallery, bar, spot in nature? What is a good venue you would show friends from abroad to let them feel the way of finnish life you like or think is kind of interesting like the photos from greetings from helsinki?
ChristianB
Helsinki
Well, if you like the photos you should go for a pub crawl in a part of Helsinki called Kallio. The beer is MUCH cheaper than in the other parts (Pub Roskapankki 2 euros/pint). If you’d like to check out the club scene I’d recommend the neighbourhoods of Kamppi and Punavuoret. There are a couple of nice ones in Kallio as well actually. To check out some club venues you should look up this page: http://www.klubitus.org/kalenteri.php
If you’d like to check out a concert you could go to the Tavastia Rock Club: http://www.tavastiaklubi.fi/tavastia.php?lang=en
Art freaks will enjoy Kiasma, the museum for contemporary art: http://www.kiasma.fi
If you’re in town already on the 24:th of August you are in luck as the whole city celebrates the Night of the Arts – lots of free happenings throughout the city.
Kafe Mockba (http://www.andorra.fi/moskova/index.html) is a surreal place to sit for a drink. It’s partly owned by director Aki Kaurismäki (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0442454/) who likes his own style (more or less eastern european nostalgia). There’s some bigger establishments in the same city block in conjuction with Mockba called Dubrovnik, Corona and a movie theater called Andorra.
Nice nature spots can be found in Haltiala at the Pitkäkoski rapids (good place to head off to with your rented bike. You can cycle through woods almost the whole way), a spot called Kustaanmiekka in Suomenlinna (from there you can check out the big ferrys that come into Helsinki), take a walk in Kaivopuisto park in southern Helsinki, a classic restaurant is Sea Horse (in the Ullanlinna neighbourhood; http://www.seahorse.fi/indexsea.html) that serves simple but good food. Ville Valo from HIM likes to eat there.
There you have some tips. Hope it helps. But keep your options open. You’ll have the most fun if you take some chances on your own.
thihoa
Berlin
When I am exploring another part of the world, I would rather have a beer in a “normal” pub than go to a fancy place to see celebs (although I like this, too, from time to time). Thanks for all the tips, I will choose wisely, hopefully, since I don´t have that much time. Unfortunately, I won´t be there at the Night of the Arts. But no worries, I will have fun anyways! Thanks again.
