Helsinki: A City Trip to the Sea

If you ask someone from Helsinki what they would miss the most in another city, the answer is usually: 'The Sea!' It's no wonder, as the Finnish capital is located on a rocky peninsula and is surrounded by the Baltic Sea for about 120 kilometers. This makes a city trip to Helsinki also a short seaside getaway. The good news: From many maritime oases, it's never more than a few hundred meters to urban Helsinki. Blogger Alexandra shares the best travel tips for a sightseeing trip in Finland's capital.

Where one can stroll with a reindeer kebab in hand between playful Art Nouveau buildings and modernist structures and can skateboard on wavy museum roofs. Where after shopping for minimalist fashion, you can make a yoga stop in a sauna to listen to heavy metal sounds in rocky churches later at night. If I had to tag Helsinki in a hit list of European capitals with attributes, there would be not only quite a few but also many contrasting ones: authentic, cool, quirky, relaxed, mysterious, green, hipsterish, individual, casual, vibrant, livable, lovable, charming, punky, minimalist, rough, rocky, stylish, traditional, trendy, unpretentious, unconventional. The Finnish capital has a charm of its own that not only surprised me but thrilled me so much that I've already visited her twice in a short time. Here are my tips for the 'Must-Dos and Must-Sees' in Helsinki!

Asking a passerby for a street name in Helsinki is a challenge. Finnish is a tongue-twisting language. How on earth do you pronounce Vuorimiehenkatu? And how should you remember names like Tarkk'ampujankatu? It's still fairly easy to conclude that you are at Senate Square when the tram indicator shows 'Senaatintori'. Moreover, I can see through the window the brightly white Cathedral with its green domes, the landmark of Helsinki.

Even though the guy with the racing bike initially wanted to send me to the hipster district of Kallio, I start my exploration in the historical heart of the city. And that is located at Senate Square, which is also called the 'White Heart' due to the Cathedral. The Cathedral, with its green domes and apostolic figures, was designed by a German architect. I sit on the uppermost steps. From here, you have a perfect view of the square with its elegant neoclassical buildings. Among others, the National Library and the main building of the university are located here. I save a stroll through the cobbled streets of the old market quarter below Senate Square for later. I am curious about the green tower with the golden tip that I spot over the rooftops.

The tower belongs to the Uspenski Cathedral, the largest Orthodox church in Europe and the clearest evidence that Finland was under Russian rule for a long time. With its distinctive domes and red brick facade, it is alongside the Cathedral a firm part of Helsinki's silhouette.

The Uspenski Cathedral is located on a peninsula: Katajanokka. Walking over the pedestrian bridge to Katajanokka is worthwhile for two more reasons. The brick harbor warehouses from the 19th century at the foot of the church now house restaurants and cafés. For example, Johan & Nyström, the most popular coffee roastery in Helsinki, has a branch here. After enjoying a Raw Cake at Goodio or reindeer specialties at Nokka, one should take a detour to Katajonaknlaituri. Here you'll find beautiful Art Nouveau buildings.

I stroll down Aleksanterinkatu. A look into shops with clothes and accessories in the unmistakable Scandi-style shows: I have landed in the epicenter of the Design District. Design is deeply embedded in the DNA of Finns. Design is part of the lifestyle, preferably minimalist and functional - but still special. Helsinki is not only home to design legend Alvar Aalto but also the first city in the world with a Chief Design Officer.

Unfortunately, it's no rumor that Finland is expensive. Heartbreakingly, I only shop at Marimekko, my favorite Finnish label known especially for its colorful patterns. Before I risk really burning my credit card, I get a Korvapuusti and do as the locals do. I take advantage of the warm sunshine and sit on the grass in Esplanadi Park. Korvapuusti translates to 'broken ears' and is the Finnish version of the cinnamon roll. In Finland, it's eaten with cardamom. By the way, Esplanadi is one of Helsinki's promenades and another hotspot for Art Nouveau. Why the scantily clad figures on the building facade across from my grassy spot are clutching their heads, unfortunately, I could not find out.

Design runs like a common thread through Helsinki, through fashion and furniture, through art and architecture. Not far from the Esplanadi is Helsinki's museum quarter with the Ateneum, the Helsinki Art Museum, Kiasma and Amos Rex, the new addition among the museums in Helsinki. It's worth a visit primarily for the architecture, especially in Amos Rex.

The Amos Rex is housed in two iconic buildings from the 1930s - the Lasipalatsi, which means Glass Palace, and the Bio Rex Cinema. Almost more exciting than the experimental exhibitions is what is happening on the roof of the museum, at Lasipalatsi Square. Where once there was a bus station, today five differently shaped domes made of white-painted reinforced concrete form a landscape of oversized paving stone waves. On them, children are running around, teenagers are skateboarding, and businessmen are sipping a glass of 'Happy Bubbles' from the Ravintola Lasipalatsi Café. And time and again, pairs of eyes stick to the glass openings that look like portholes, through which you can see the foyer of the underground museum.

From my spot on one of the domes, my gaze falls on an orange, oval something that looks like a mix of a vase and an ark. I search for an entrance and find myself in a church. The hustle and bustle from Lasipalatsi Square is suddenly gone. The Kamppi Chapel of Silence lives up to its name; not even a whisper can be heard. The wooden chapel, also considered a prime example of modern Finnish design, is just one of many extraordinary churches in Helsinki.

One should definitely visit the Temppeliaukio Church. Behind this unpronounceable name hides a rock church in the neighborhood of Töölö. Because the residents did not want to blast their rock for the construction of their own church, it was simply carved into the rock. Due to its unique acoustics, concerts often take place here, sometimes even heavy metal services. After all, Helsinki is the heavy metal capital of the world with more heavy metal bands per capita than any other country. Some Finnish pastors like to shake their hair in their robes.

The gray, massive Art Nouveau granite church on the hill of Kallio is the starting point for my stroll through the former working-class district, which today offers a home to both heavy metal and punk fans as well as the hipsters of Helsinki. The boundaries are fluid. I pass by a traditional Finnish pub, on the terrace of which long-haired, somewhat weathered gentlemen with black T-shirts, black leather vests, and many tattoos meet for a morning beer. They cheerfully toast to me with their beers.

I walk along Fleminginkatu, past shop windows with names like 'Punk Shop' and 'Vintage and Second Hand' and eventually land on Vaasankatu, the main artery of Kallio. Here, locals meet on Saturdays for brunch. I enjoy an Argentine empanada at Café Pequeno and do as the locals do: drink coffee and people watch.

Honestly, I probably don't need to eat anything again, but no visit to Helsinki would be complete without snacking at a Kauppatori at least a little. That's what marketplaces are called in Finland. The most famous market square in Helsinki is located at the South Harbor at the end of Esplanadi. One of my Finnish friends in Munich told me that she comes here at least once during each home visit to eat a blueberry pie at one of the orange tents. The market is also famous for its 'Munkki'. These are sugared donuts, which even politicians and businessmen make a detour for in the morning.

Finnish delicacies can also be found in the neighboring Market Hall: Starting from salmon soups to reindeer and bear meat products to fusion snacks like Vietnamese Banh Mi with smoked salmon. I enjoy one of those outside on a bench, a mistake, because a seagull swoops down and snatches the last piece from my hand. Other recommended eateries in the Market Hall, opened in 1889, beside Hanoi Vietnam are: Story, Scandinavia Café, and the soup kitchen Soppakeittiö.

You wouldn't guess it, but Finns are not only heavy metal enthusiasts but also coffee champions. No other nation in the world drinks as much coffee as Finns. They supposedly drink up to eight cups per person per day. Studies have shown that this black gold promotes the production of certain hormones that make you happier and more content. Maybe that's one reason why Finns were declared the happiest people in the world in the 2018 World Happiness Report?

The happiness of coffee is on the streets of Helsinki. There is a café at nearly every corner where filter coffee is mainly enjoyed. It's most beautiful when you can sit by the sea with your cup of coffee, and there are more than enough opportunities for that in Helsinki. Particularly trendy is the Café Regatta located in a bay in Töölö. In the small, cluttered red boathouse, you even get money back if you order a second cup. After I feel a slight coffee buzz, I only indulge in a freshly baked cinnamon roll.

I have already been to Café Birgitta twice in Eiranranta, which is reachable after a nice beach walk, and from whose terrace you can see for miles across the sea. Besides the cakes, the St. Birgitta Burger is also recommended here. Tip: Lovers of unusual doors and facades should take a detour to Huvilakatu from Café Birgitta; one Art Nouveau building follows another here.

You can also find nice cafés on the surrounding islands. There are over 300 of them in the archipelago of Helsinki, and at least three are worth a visit: Vallisaari, Suomenlinna, and Lonna. The formerly military-used islands can be easily reached by water taxi.

There's just one thing left to wrap up your visit to Helsinki in style: Head to the sauna! Perhaps unusual for a city trip, but in a country where 5.5 million people are faced with 3 million saunas, communal sweating is a must if you want to understand Finnish culture. The best way to do this is by going to a typical neighborhood sauna, which originated in the late 1920s, of which there are still two or three in Kallio. Here, people chat loudly, sauna without towels, and drink beer.

If that's too rustic for you, you have the choice between two new, stylish saunas - the Allas Sea Pool and the Löyly Sauna. Both are architectural eye-catchers, making the sauna experience almost secondary. In the Löyly Sauna, I lose track of time in the beautifully designed fireplace room while leafing through a picture book about sauna culture in Finland. In the Allas Sea Pool, I take a farewell round in the 14-degree cold seawater pool before I have to fly home. While I bravely swim one more lap after another, my freezing body slowly stops shivering, and my gaze drifts over the white Cathedral and the Uspenski Cathedral, I get a rough idea of why Finns are so happy.