I can’t believe that it was over a year ago that I spent a weekend in Helsinki, Finland. In a lot of ways, it seems like it was yesterday. It also seems like a pre-COVID, mask-on era was eons ago.
Over this past year, I’ve written about snippets of my time in Finland. You may recall posts about the amazing sauna or the hostel that played nature sounds in the bathroom (no joke). However I never got around to re-caping all that we did, ate and saw in Helsinki … until now.
related: Tallinn: A Day Trip to Estonia from Helsinki
A Weekend in Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital of Finland, a Scandinavian European country located between Russia and Sweden. Since the overall population of Finland is rather small (around 5.5 million), Helsinki is not the biggest capital city in the world. I felt like it was the perfect size for a weekend escape.
When we landed, we immediately found a train that went from the airport to the center of the city. From there, we were able to take the light rail to our hostel. Helsinki in general is a very accessible city.
One of the first things you will want to do is get the Helsinki Card. It gives you free public transport and free or discounted entry to all sorts of different attractions. When you look at all that you get with it, it’s almost a no-brainer.
Where we stayed
So countries like Finland get the reputation for being a bit more expensive than say Spain or Italy. There is definitely a lot of truth to that. However we ended up staying in a hostel during our stay. One night can be as cheap as 19€ and all rooms are private (no sharing). In fact, you can read all about our experience with Eurohostel Helsinki here: The Best Hostel in Helsinki City Centre.
One of my favorite perks about the hostel was the free sauna. All hostel guests got free access to the sauna in the mornings. Saunas are a big part of Finnish culture, but they can be expensive to visit. I love that budget travelers can still experience the wonders of the sauna experience when they stay at Eurohostel Helsinki.
In addition to the sauna, the hostel was super accessible by public transport. The light rail passes right by it. All rooms are private with a shared communal bathroom.
Helsinki by Boat
When visiting Helsinki, you have to explore by boat a little bit. Our Helsinki Card gave us a free canal route cruise. This would normally cost 25€. You get to see the beauty of Helsinki and its shorelines.
I would definitely recommend bringing a jacket because it gets a little bit windy. I didn’t since I was there in June and I regretted it a little.
The sauna experience
As I mentioned above, a weekend in Helsinki isn’t complete without visiting a sauna. In addition to relaxing in our hostel’s sauna, we also spent an afternoon at Löyly, an amazing sauna right next to the ocean. Sessions here cost 19€/person.
The experience was amazing. After sitting in the sauna for a bit, you would go jump into the baltic to cool off. I did this in June, so that plunge wasn’t that bad. However can you imagine doing that in the winter? I couldn’t, but that is what Finnish people traditionally do.
You can read all about our experience at Löyly here: A Dive into the Baltic: Experiencing a Finnish Sauna.
Dining out
We definitely enjoyed a nice dinner out. Savotta Restaurant is just across the street from Senate Square. Everything about this meal was delicious. I wasn’t drinking at the time, so they made me a very nice virgin fruity drink.
The Helsinki Museum
We ended up having a few hours to spare before dinner, so we decided to explore the Helsinki City Museum. This museum is free of charge, so it’s a great thing to do if you are on a budget. It was interesting to learn all about the history of the city.
General Helsinki advice
I started off titling this section “General Finland advice” but then thought “I’ve only been to Helsinki thus far, so that’s not fair to the rest of the country. So this is more my advice for anyone spending some time in Helsinki. Here are a few pointers for spending a weekend in Helsinki:
- Come in the summer if possible. The only inconvenience is the late sunset and early sunrise (The main picture of this post was shot around 11 p.m.). Aside from that, the weather is perfect!
- Make sure to experience a sauna
- Buy a Helsinki Card!
- Flights within Europe can be cheap. I always use skyscanner to find the best deals!
- People think that Helsinki is expensive. It definitely can be! However it is also possible to do Helsinki on a budget by staying in a hostel and doing low-cost or free things.
Have you been to Helsinki before?
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