Helsinki Travel Guide
Though the average temperature in Helsinki hovers around 43ºF (6ºC), visitors shouldn't expect a chilly welcome. Finns are known for their style and cutting-edge technology, and they absolutely know how to warm hearts and minds in their modern, cosmopolitan capital.
The 500-year-old city is blessed with crisp, unpolluted air and is spread across a cluster of promontories and peninsulas that are surrounded by the bright blue waters of the Baltic Sea. Helsinki's clean, wide avenues are lined with buildings echoing centuries of architectural excellence from Gothic through Art Deco to cutting-edge contemporary, and it all fits together in total harmony with nature. Visitors can easily escape to tranquil green spaces that grace the cityscape when it isn't blanketed in snow; hares, squirrels, pheasants and even the odd elk are often spied in the myriad parks in the centre of the city.
Despite the cold climate, the invigorating outdoors beckons in Helsinki even in the middle of winter. Recreation takes the form of ice skating, skiing, ice-fishing, sailing, cycling, soaking in saunas or, during the short-lived summer, sunbathing. After the action, visitors can sit tucked in a rug outside one of the many street-side bars sipping hot (spiced wine) and watch the wintry world go by. The city is also ideal for walking, with the sights all concentrated in the central area beneath the towering cathedrals.
The great outdoors is also the setting for Helsinki's numerous festivals and fairs, such as the May Day Carnival, the Baltic Herring Festival, the Helsinki City Marathon, the annual Samba carnival and the midsummer festival, to name but a few. Events do move indoors when it comes to the city's rich cultural life, which features some of the world's finest orchestras and choirs, rock concerts, film festivals, the Finnish National Opera and Ballet performances, and the output of countless theatre and dance troupes.
Whether visited as a snowy winter wonderland or scenic sun-splashed cityscape with almost permanent daylight, Helsinki is a unique destination that will delight the heart of any traveller.