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. Legal notice about unauthorized copying and / or posting of our images. We apologize for the large watermarks, but unfortunately our images have been stolen a lot.
We love Helsinki! In the summer it, and the surrounding islands, are gorgeous. Worth exploring.
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 huge image with building information.
Helsinki Dome (Helsinki's Lutheran Cathedral) on the Senate Square, center of Helsinki:
Summer sunset light view of Helsinki Dome,overlooking the Senate Square as seen from historic Sofia Street. Restaurant Nuevo's Summer Patio, in the center of Sofia Street.
Late summer eve view of Helsinki historic center, over Esplanade Park to the Uspenski Cathedral in Katajanokka neighborhoood.
Fountain & historic Cafe-Restaurant Kappeli in Esplanade Park.
Old card like image of the South Harbor Market Square and harbor pool. Overlooking the market, Helsinki City Hall. In the background, behind City Hall, the cupola of the Dome, located by historic Senaatintori - Senate Square. Click for a huge version of image.
We are at the end of North Esplanade and the South Harbor Market Square, looking at - from left - Helenankatu 1, the Presidential Palace, Bridge to Katajanokka, the Uspenski Cathedral and the Alvar
Aalto designed office building in front of it.
The ferry to Suomenlinna Fortress Island(s) leaves from behind photographers back. Click image for a large view.
Get Helsinki tourist information at City of Helsinki official tourism web site or the Helsinki Tourist Office
More Helsinki information! Lots of great Helsinki information, both for travelers and Helsinki natives.
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
If you are interestad in the HELSINKI CARD. In their own words "Helsinki Card is a city card with a number of benefits that will help you to discover and experience Helsinki plus save money, time and energy during your visit."
Selected Helsinki "Goodies" going on now. Courtesy of Helsnki City Museum.
Helsinki's Esplanade Park & North Esplanade. Left: Behind the statue of Runeberg, you can see the corner of the Kämp Hotel.
Right photo: The Runeberg Statue. Click to enlarge.
Warmly recommended:
NORDIC ODDITY "Nordic Oddity is a 24-hour-guide for open-minded individuals
looking for unique experiences in Helsinki. 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."
Farmer's Market at Helsinki's South Harbor Market Square. Click for large, wider image with building information:
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 "Grönqvist building", 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".
Uspenski Cathedral. Click for larger view. 
Below: Finnish National Theater - Suomen Kansallisteatteri. Architect: Onni Tarjanne /1902. Style: National Romantic. Location: Central Railway Station Square. Click for larger view.
The "Tori Quarters" - Tori Korttelit (old Helsinki Center)
("Tori" = Market square) are the historical center of Helsinki: The old town meets the new buzz of the city. Located close to the sea and the South and North Harbors, btwn the Market & Senate Squares, the Tori Quarters blend old and new. Popular area with bith locals and travelers.
Link to eateries and shopping, museums and other cool stuff in the area.
For information about Finnish cultural and historical items: THIS IS FINLAND. "Things you should and shouldn't know" about Finland. :-)
IN HELSINKI, STREET SIGNS ARE IN FINNISH AND SWEDISH.The Finnish word for " street" is "katu".
Love design? Some places you might like while in Helsinki.
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.
ART & CULTURE INFO & EVENTS
ART - GALLERIES & MUSEUMS,
Öljysäiliö article Silo 468 video 2nd Silo Video
A talented, award winning, New York based
FINNISH FILM EDITOR, working in 3 languages.
Check out LUX Helsinki. Cool stuff.
Various Helsinki brochures in PDF form
Havis Amanda Fountain. Click to enlarge.
Sightseeing trips - in various forms / to various places in Helsinki.
Kappeli Restaurant in Helsinki's Esplanade Park & the Park Bandshell, close to midnight, right after midsummer. Click to enlarge image. 
Interested in buying our images? Please contact us. Thank 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, outside the image Katajanokka, with historic warehouse
buildings, turned into shops and restaurants + the white Alvar Aalto building, partly showing on left. Right, a restaurant ship & the light blue 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.
A nice beta version 3D map of the Helsinki center.
Various Helsinki videos. | WEB-CAM
Nice photos of light events in the middle of the cold frigid winter.
("Illuminations of the annual light festival Lux Helsinki.") Scroll down a bit when on page.
HOTEL LINKS
"You gotta get a grip on your life Loretta!" GO TO HELSINKI UNIVERSITY
University attractions - visiting
Brief history of Helsinki | Brief info about Helsinki | Helsinki & Finland - history in a nutshell
Fantastic, 3D "reality mesh" map of Helsinki. You can zoom in or out, and pan.
Great HELSINKI Map page, also showing the beautiful public islands just off the city center. There is also an aerial photo"-option and an easy "distance measuring option. Very cool.
About visiting Finland. Keep scrolling down for some great photos and info.
And info about arriving in Helsinki.
SAUNA
INFO
SAUNA
SOCIETY
Public
Swimming indoor pools.
Outdoor pools & public beaches in Helsinki
Get rich - maybe - OMX
Helsinki Stock Exchange
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.
Across the street from the House of the Estates, sits the Bank of Finland. The image is taken close to midnight in June. Click on image for a larger version:
For more information about the Bank of Finland and the statue, go to our
Helsinki Architecture - page.
Above: Midnight sun - end of June. From left to right: The steps to the House of the Estates. To the right, the Helsinki Cathedral, a.k.a. as the Lutheran Dome. The couple walking down the street have
just passed the Bank of Finland - building.
Looking down along Snellmaninkatu (Snellman’s Street) toward the Senate Square (where the tram has stopped). Past the tram and down the street, you
will arrive at the South Harbor Market Square (to the left)
and one end of the Esplanade Park. That whole surrounding area is now called the Tori Korttelit / Quarters (The Market Square Quarters).
LOST? Great HELSINKI
STREET MAP
Fantastic: Type in any street address and the exact location will be circled on the map.
Movable, zoomable, just great.
There is also an aerial photo"-option and an easy "distance measuring option. Very cool.
The map also shows the beautiful public islands just off the city center.
One more, printable, MAP No excuse to get lost now. :-)
Got any money left? SHOPPING
MAP
You can zoom in, using your mouse. Hover over the dots on the map, and it will display the name of a store / business. If you click on a dot, information with the exact street address, telephone number and URL for the business will show in a dialog box.
Nice.
It also has a "photo" option, showing you photos of different targets, like architectural sites. Hover over the text tag on the upper right corner of the map, and the tag will open up to give you more options, like displaying photos on the map. Click on the image and it will enlarge.
Guide to DIFFERENT TOURS in HELSINKI
Terrific interactive
Helsinki CULTURAL map,
that shows you options like museums, buildings (like where
the railway station is) & other cultural spots, like dance schools, etc.
You can choose between the "Show Map" or "Show Listing" - option.
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:
Helsinki Cathedral & shop, colored by the sunset, overlooking
the Senate Square. Click image for larger view.
Old Postacard style version of the above image.
ASUNA
Fredrikinkatu 24,
00120 Helsinki, Tel (09) 611 543
second link
GAUDETE (Fredrikinkatukatu 35,
00120 Helsinki, Tel (09) 608 635
SAMUJI - two locations:
SAMUJI ESPA - Pohjoisesplanadi 37, 00100 Helsinki
Tel +358 40 140 3280,
Email: espa@samuji.com
SAMUJI EROTTAJA Erottajankatu 9,
00130 Helsinki
Tel +358 40 350 7976, Email: erottaja@samuji.com
Samuji on fb
Also check out, in different
location:
BEAMHILL
Yliopistonkatu 5, 00100
Helsinki, Tel +358 (0)9 622 2653
The City Hall, on
Pohjoisesplanadi,
designed by Engel. 
Built in 1833.
second link |
The Helsinki Dome in bgr. Many more Helsinki Dome images on our Architecture page and on our Photos 3 - page and on other pages, as it is a dominating strucutre in the old part of Helsinki.
The National Theater building, as
seen from the
side entry steps to
the
Helsinki Railway Station.
Content for class "clearfloat" Goes Here
The Dome, watching over
Samba Carnival 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
a href="SouthHarbor/WintrySouthHarborUspenskiCathedralHelsinkiLg.jpg" target="_blank">
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.
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
Helsinki rooftop view: Helsinki
Dome,
(blue) Town Hal all the way to Finland's Presidential Palace - along North Esplanade and the South Harbor Market Square.
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.
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.
These panoramas of the South Harbor Market & the North Esplanade with its buildings and the images of Helsinki's South Harbor are taken from the former Palace Hotel, which
closed on Nov.1, 2009. This was our favorite Hotel in Helsinki: no other hotel has these views, or views comparable to these.
In the image below, you can see the SILJA LINE and VIKING LINE overnight ferries from Helsinki to Stockholm far right on both sides of the harbor.
closed on Nov.1, 2009. This was our favorite Hotel in Helsinki: no other hotel has these views, or views comparable to these.
In the image below, you can see the SILJA LINE and VIKING LINE overnight ferries from Helsinki to Stockholm far right on both sides of the harbor.
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
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.
This image is taken from the Terrace Bar of the now closed Palace Hotel.
Click image for a huge and a bit different image / view, with information about the area and the different buildings.
Great Helsinki images at HELSINKI 365. Also nice: MyHelsinki and Helsinki Secret - What makes Helsinki so lovable.
Kauppatori South Harbor Market Square looking toward Katajanokka and Uspenski Cathedral. The photo is taken before the ferris wheel and other construction on the Square:
Straight ahead, KATAJANOKKA neighborhood (island) and Uspenski Cathedral, built 1868, architect: Aleksei M. Gornostajev. The white building to the right and in front of the Cathedral is the 1962 "Enso-Gutzeit headquarters building", designed by architect: Alvar Aalto.
WHERE TO GO in HELSINKI? WHAT TO DO in
HELSINKI?
Feed your kids to the animals at the
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
Good Helsinki article / interview, with nice photos by Culture Trip.
A short stroll from the Market Square:
At the end of Eteläranta you have this lovely landmark: The yellow and red Vanha Kauppahalli (Old Market Hall). Built in 1889. Architect: Gustaf Nyström. Make sure to at least stroll through it. You might decide to stop for a snack or great coffee...
VISIT ETERNAL ERECTION,
A FINE
FINNISH BAND
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".
The Finnish word for "Finland" = "Suomi".
TIME in Helsinki.
("time" = aika").
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.
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.
One of the many great things bout Helsinki is that it is quite green, and that nature is never far away. For example, the city is surrounded by many of whuch are city owned
public parks,
accessible by taxi boats Below: The footbridge to the lovely Seurasaari Outdoor Museum island, a great place to visit and spend a leisurely day or afternoon.
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 Studio
SAKURA, Munkkivuoren Kukkakauppa
Helsinki Cathedral, a.k.a. the Dome.
Click to enlarge.
We are continuously upgrading all pages on My Best Helsinki with photos, links and text. We strive to keep all links in working order.
If you notice a defect, or have suggestions or questions,
we would love to receive your e-mail. We hope you enjoy My Best Helsinki. Thank you.
My Best Helsinki: 15 pages of Helsinki photos, numerous links to Helsinki sights, restaurants, hotels, shopping, culture, transportation, etc:
