Helsinki tourist information
Helsinki Finland
In the capital of Finland, Finnish tradition and a long history of eastern and western influences weave a rich and enchanting tapestry. The city is full of contrasts, from the buzz of the business city to the tranquillity of its suburbs.
Lovers of art and culture will discover a varied calendar of events and activities, including all kinds of music, dance, ballet, opera, performances and festivals every day. If you're not too tired after seeing the sights, there's a vivacious nightlife, an ample choice of bars and cafés, a range of classy clubs and a thriving rock and pop scene.
As for eating out, there's everything from high quality restaurants to intimate bistros, from exotic ethnic kitchens to fast food kiosks. The city is extremely safe and clean, and unspoilt natural environment is in evidence near the city centre as well as in the surrounding districts. Fresh, unpolluted air, the presence of the sea and the green relief provided by the numerous parks, the excellent sports facilities, and genuine wilderness - easily accessible using the efficient and affordable public transport - make Helsinki unique among world capitals.
The standard of living in this mini-metropolis has not always been as high as it is today. As recently as the 17th century Helsinki was a fairly insignificant provincial town. In the first half of the 18th century, war and plague destroyed two thirds of Helsinki’s populace.
But the city began to blossom gradually. The great building project of the world’s largest sea fortress, Viapori, to protect Helsinki got under way. The fortress, now known as Suomenlinna (Unesco World Heritage Site), is today well preserved, remarkably so, even allowing for the fact that it was barely used in actual battle.
Helsinki’s status was consolidated when it took over the function of capital from Turku in the west of the country. This happened in 1812 after Finland had been annexed to the Russian empire as an autonomous Grand Duchy. The Russian influence was strong in the architectural planning of the monumental neo-Classical centre around the Senate Square. The Uspensky Cathedral with its onion cupolas, close to the South Harbour, still gives a hint of the Russian east. Centuries of historical and cultural relations with Stockholm to the west and with St. Petersburg to the east have endowed Helsinki with a rich European identity.
Helsinki’s growth, including its early tourist business, got under way in earnest in the 19th century. The Kaivopuisto spa was very popular among the Russian elite, for example. Helsinki became the focal point of culture and science for the Finnish-speaking world. Some of the most beautiful buildings of Helsinki were designed in the National Romantic style (a variation of the German Jugendstil) in an attempt by Finns to distinguish themselves as a nation.
The young state, having achieved its independence from Russia in 1917, consolidated itself during the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Finns took a vigorous interest in Europe, in terms of politics and art. Its architecture developed with the modernist promise of the likes of Alvar Aalto.
You won’t see much evidence of the bombardment Helsinki suffered during the war. But the Helsinki Olympics, postponed because of the war and held in 1952, represented an affirmation of Finland’s strength as an independent country. The Olympic village was built in Käpylä, where its buildings remain, and the Stadium with its distinctive tower added a new landmark.
The 1960s brought new developments in the residential suburbs as Finns migrated from the north of the country to share in their capital’s economic wealth. European student unrest reached Helsinki, too, when the University students staged a ‘sit-in’ at their own Old Student House. After the glitz and glitter of the 1970s, the yuppie years of the 80s, and the recession of the 1990s, Helsinki was revitalised by its role as one of the European Cities of Culture in 2000.
Helsinki aerial map
Please click on any icon on the Helsinki aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Helsinki.
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