HELSINKI: WORLD
DESIGN CAPITAL 2012
GOOD LIST OF CURRENT CULTURAL EVENTS & other useful information. ARTS AND CULTURE events.
Welcome to My Best Helsinki
Most photos on My Best Helsinki can be viewed in a larger format by clicking on the photos.
Please see the COPYRIGHT NOTICE on the
bottom of the page.
BELOW, info about buying our images.
Helsinki's Esplanade Park mall; Restaurant Kappeli to the right. Image looking toward South Harbor
Market Square and the Katajanokka neighborhood and Uspenski Cathedral.
The
Northern
Esplanade
(Pohjoisesplanadi) is to the left of the image, and the
Southern Esplanade (Eteläesplanadi) to the right.
This is located in the center of Helsinki.
CLICK
photo for a large image with building information.
Helsinki Dome (Helsinki's Lutheran Cathedral) on the Senate Square, center of Helsinki:
Daytime view of Helsinki Dome, as seen from historic Sofia Street. Restaurant Nuevo's Summer Patio, in the center of Sofia Street.
Get Helsinki tourist information at City of Helsinki official tourism web site or the Helsinki Tourist Office
Finnish is a complex, beautiful language. For over 2,000 forms of the Finnish noun for "shop", click Professor Fred Karlsson.
Useful WORDS & PHRASES in English - Finnish
Info about Helsinki Weather or Weather Forecast
For information about Helsinki: HELSINKI EXPERT
Helsinki's Esplanade Park & North Esplanade. Behind the statue of Runeberg, you can see the corner of the Kämp Hotel.
BEST of HELSINKI. Very intresting. Check it out. Comes with information & images.
Warmly recommended:
NORDIC ODDITY "Introducing the most interesting places and coolest happenings in the city." Information on "where to explore, enjoy and ease off - be it shopping, the extraordinary, luxuries, locals, urban legends or the vibrant nightlife one is after. It's like one's best friend from Helsinki guiding you through the multidimensional urban culture."
North Esplanade,
Helsinki center:
Click on image for a much larger view.
View: North Esplanade, looking toward
Mannerheimintie (Mannerheim Street).
Location: corner of Pohjoisesplanadi
25-27 (North Esplanade) and Fabianinkatu
12 (Fabian Street).
This Neo-Renaissance building, called
the "Grönqvistin buuilding", was built in
1882 and designed by architect Theodor
Höijer. The decorative facade was designed
by sculptor Karl Magnus von Wright.
The Esplanade Park, which spans from
Mannerheimintie Street all the way to
the South Harbor Market Square, lies
between the North Esplanade and the
South Esplanade.
In the center of Helsinki blocks have
names. This block is called "Yksisarvinen", "Unicorn".
The neighborhood is called "Kluuvi".
See this vertical panorama on Fine Art America, for sale in sizes up to 30.88"
x
108.00".
For information about Finnish cultural and historical items: Virtual Finland
IN HELSINKI, STREET SIGNS ARE IN FINNISH AND SWEDISH.The Finnish word for " street" is "katu".
We do not want to scare you off, but check out: HELSINKI IN THE WINTER
PLEASE VISIT OUR
HELSINKI ARCHITECTURE -PAGE.
MUSEUM OF FINNISH ARCHITECTURE
Midnight, early July. Helsingin kaupungintalo - City Hall, Helsinki.
Helsinki summer at its best. Warm & pretty. Click image for laerger version.
You can buy our images either by contacting us, or for a larger variety of sizes and printing possibilities,
via Fine Art America. If you like an image that you cannot find on FAA, we can upload it there for you.
Helsinki Harbor around midnight in June. Footbridge from Katajanokka to the South Harbor Market Square. The small
ship Runeberg makes day cruises to the old & quaint city of Porvoo.
Midnight view, seen from Meritullintori toward the South Harbor. On the left, Katajanokka, with historic warehouse buildings,
turned into shops and restaurants + the white Alvar Aalto building. Right, restaurant ship & the Main Guard building.
Esplanade Park Mall, looking toward the South Harbor Market. Beyoynd the market is the Katajanokka neighborhood with its
historic buildings, the Uspenskij Cathedral and an Alvar Aalto building.
Wonderful HELSINKI video PANORAMAS
Market Square Kauppatori
WEB-CAM
HOTEL LINKS
"You gotta get a grip on your life Loretta!" GO TO HELSINKI UNIVERSITY
Brief history of Helsinki
HELSINKI
& surrounding ISLANDS & ferry routes. So cool! Easy to navigate. Click and move. There are clickable photos and panoramas on the map: if you select "all" you have a lot of photos & panoramas to choose from.
A talented, award winning
FINNISH FILM EDITOR
Detail of
the Helsinki
Railway Station.
Architect
Eliel Saarinen.
Helsinki Railway Station plattform with its relatively new
glass & metal cover structure.
Helsinki Cathedral (Dome):
Great
view from top of the Dome steps toward
Aleksanterinkatu.
Great Helsinki view: top of Dome (Cathedral) steps:
House
of The Estates in Helsinki.
LOST? HELSINKI
STREET MAP
Fantastic: Type in any street name, click, and the map will take you there.It even
lists different addresses on that street which will take you to
your exact location. You can also choose different views,
like an areal view, or a hybrid areal & map view, etc.
Got any money left? SHOPPING
MAP
If you click on the "Shops by Street"- option, the map
will show you dots on the map, and if you place the
arrow on a dot, it will tell you the name of the store.
One more MAP No excuse to get lost now. :-)
Terrific interactive
Helsinki STREET & SIGHT map,
that shows you options like museums, buildings (like where
the railway station is) & architecture, culture.
The shopping map above does not list every new shop or boutique. For
trendier shopping / brands & occasional unique finds,
we recommend
walking along Uudenmaankatu, Fredrikinkatu & Eerikinkatu (katu = street).
Periodically, these shops have great sales. Check
out these examples:
The
Helsinki Government Palace, peeking out
between the Helsinki Cathedral pillars.
The
National Theater building, as seen from the
side entry steps to the Helsinki Railway Station.
ASUNA
Fredrikinkatu 24,
00120 Helsinki, Tel (09) 611 543
second link
GAUDETE (Fredrikinkatukatu 35,
00120 Helsinki, Tel (09) 608 635
MYYMÄLÄ
2 Uudenmaankatu 23,
Helsinki, tel + 358 (0)41 7832327
Also check out, in different
location:
BEAMHILL
Yliopistonkatu 5, 00100
Helsinki, Tel +358 (0)9 622 2653
Helsinki
cathedral a.k.a. Helsinki Dome,
watching over the festivities.
Helsinki
South Harbor in the winter. View over the bay, toward Katajanokka neigborhood. The widely disliked white;"Enso house" by Alvar Aalto partly blocks the view of the
Uspenski
Cathedral at left.
The "HELSINKI DESIGN DISTRICT" -link
gives you the addresses of several different shops in the Punavuori /
Center area. Clothes, design, interior, jewelry, etc.
CHECK
OUT THE NEW KAMPPI SHOPPING CENTER
If department stores are your thing, check out STOCKMANN,
"Helsinki's Bloomingdale's".
TIRED OF SHOPPING? Go visit the HISTORIC SUOMENLINNA (Sveaborg) FORTRESS
ISLANDS
- A popular destination even among locals.
Great Images
from Suomenlinna Fortress Island
In need of fresh, local produce, from small farms? Check out:
Eat & Joy - Maatilatori
(Eat & Joy Farmers Market)
On Facebook
Address: Lasipalatsi,
Mannerheimintie 22 - 24, 00100 Helsinki,
Phone:045 250 5333
Open: Mon-Fri 10am-9pm, Sat 10am-6pm,
Sun 12noon - 5pm
Products from 250+ Finnish small
producers: For example,artesanal
cheese, jams, roe,
artesanal beer & cider, mushrooms, rye bread,
different smoked specialties, kyyttö forest cow, wild
reindeer, etc.
HELSINKI'S MAJOR SWEDISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER,
HUFVUDSTADTSBLADET
HELSINKI'S MAJOR FINNISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER,
HELSINGIN SANOMAT,
in English.
Helsinki center, as seen
from Torni. We are looking over Mannerheim Street, over the Old Student house
(green cupola), over the Railway Station toward kaisaniemi Park, Kruununhaka, Hakaniemi and Kallio. The Kallio church tower, can be seen in the background, at left.
View from Särkkä island pier, after dinner at Särkänlinna restaurant. Looking at Suomenlinna fortress island (which Särkkä is a part of) shore line and its old lighthouse. Incredible light blue light of a Nordic midsummer night
This panorama of Helsinki's South Harbor is taken from Palace Hotel, which closed on
Nov.1, 2009. What a shame! This was our favorite Hotel in Helsinki. No other hotel has these
views, or views compared to these. In the image, you can see the
Silja Line and Viking Line overnight
ferries from Helsinki to Stockholm far right on both sides of the harbor. (Not the small ship in the front, which apparently was some sort of a
small cruise ship).
It takes 2.87 years to swim from New York to Helsinki. You endure extreme cold, eat
uncleaned raw fish and garbage from passing ships and drink salt water. Forget about luggage. We found a better way. FINNAIR, which in exchange for
money (rates fluctuate seasonally), flies you directly from JFK to Helsinki-Vantaa
in seven hours, give or take. They also carry your luggage. Their food is better than garbage. Another choice
is SAS,
from Newark to Helsinki via either Stockholm or Copenhagen.
Other airlines also offer one stop service through various cities. The
Finnish word for "airplane" is
"lentokone".
Helsinki rooftop view: Helsinki
South Harbor, Market Square, the Dome,
Town Hall, to Finland's Presidential Palace, Uspenski Cathedral in
Katajanokka neighborhood.
This image is taken from the Terrace Bar of the now closed Palace Hotel, where
the staff was friendly, professional and hospitable. We
thought of it as our home in Helsinki.
Click
image for a huge and a bit different image / view, with information
about the area and the different buildings.
Click for a really cool 360 degree panorama of the South Harbor w. the Market Square.
WHERE TO GO in HELSINKI? WHAT TO DO in
HELSINKI?
Feed your kids to the animals atthe
HELSINKI
ZOO
... and
then turn
yourself in to the
FINNISH POLICE
FOR MUSIC VENUES, CHECK OUT:
CLUBS & BARS IN HELSINKI
Other
NOTEWORTHY LINKS
to Helsinki's music scene
VISIT
ETERNAL ERECTION,
A FINE FINNISH
BAND
To hear a Finnish radio station,
click HERE, then select a station.
The Finnish word for "Finland" = "Suomi".
TIME
in Helsinki.
("time" = aika").
THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2007 was hosted by the City of HELSINKI.
The cute Finnish
"Monster" hard rock band LORDI won the Eurovision song contest in 2006.
The Euro fluctuates. A good
Currency Converter.
The Finnish word for "money" = "raha".
Our favorite way to get around in the center area of Helsinki is to walk.
But sometimes you need to use something faster than your feet. Information
about Helsinki Public Transportation: TRAMS, BUSES, the METRO, or a CAR RENTAL
Katarina, a shipboard Cafe in Helsinki's South Harbour. The
Presidential Palace can be seen behind the front & center
masts of the ship.
Uspenski Cathedral sits high above the ugly Aalto building, reminding all of us of a more
gracious era in architecture.
Summer night in Helsinki around midnight in June. The bridge to Katajanokka neighborhood, leads from the South Harbor to
the North Haror. The Presidential Palace can be partly seen the to the far left of the image.
Katajanokka,
facing Helsinki's North Harbor. Click for larger view.
The Helsinki Cathedral, night view as seen from a side street
My Best Helsinki is sponsored in part by
GelberLaw:
Lawrence R. Gelber, Securities Attorney
For places to eat in Helsinki,
see our restaurant reviews,
information and links on:
RESTAURANT PAGE 1
RESTAURANT PAGE 2
RESTAURANT PAGE 3
The Finnish word for: "food" is "ruoka".
"restaurant" is "ravintola".
And, in Finnish, "bar" = "baari",
"music" = "musiikki", club"
= "klubi",
"band" = "bändi".
Easy, right?
Check out: MORE HELPFUL WORDS
For beautiful cityscapes, great building & city photos with information, etc., please visit:
HELSINKI ARCHITECTURE
Check
out: Laila Hyttinen - Couple and Family Therapy
in Helsinki.
Visit: Marcus
Sandell, the talented Finnish Alpine
skier
Need to have flowers delivered in Helsinki?
We have found these two
flower stores good, friendly & efficient:
Etelärannan Kukka
SAKURA, Munkkivuoren Kukkakauppa
Helsinki Cathedral, a.k.a. the Dome.
Click to enlarge.
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My Best Helsinki: 15 pages of Helsinki photos, numerous links to Helsinki sights, restaurants, hotels, shopping, culture, transportation, etc:
