Helsinki is a city of the sea; weirdly it was built alongside a series of oddly shaped peninsulas and islands jutting into the Gulf of Finland. Back in the 1800’s there was a huge fire which destroyed most of the buildings in and around Helsinki, so everything has had to be remade, as a result everything is more modern, Helsinki has some of the purest neoclassical architecture in the world. Helsinki is the meeting point of western and Eastern Europe, the fact is reflected in its cosmopolitan image, its influx of Russians and Estonians and its generally multilingual population. Helsinki is a beautiful city and is the perfect place for sitting back and relaxing with a bit of people watching.

Helsinki’s Market Square – Kauppatori, Finland by Eoghan OLionnain

Coming ashore

Helsinki is a very busy cruise destination and trust me, as soon as you dock here, you can see why so many people would want to come here. you can dock at three destinations, these are; katajaokka quay, this has a shop, toilets and a taxi station, it’s not too far from the city centre from here you can easily walk there, south harbour has a terminal at Olympia quay, there’s shopping, info desks, currency exchange and a taxi rank here, it’s about a 15 minute walk into the main part of town from here. The final port is hernasaari harbour which has shops, an info desk, taxi rank and even internet access, it’s much further away from the main part of town than any other harbour, so you may have to consider going in a taxi.

What to do in Helsinki

Helsinki has so much stuff to do; you’ll find it hard to fit everything in that you want to do! Here are the two things that you must do in my experience; you must come to the Helsinki zoo (korkeasaari elaintarha) there are snow leopards and reindeer enjoying the cold climate all year round, there are wonders of creatures here that love the cold, it’s a real different zoo and extremely good to bring the kids to. But if you love exploring and you love history then you must come to suomenlinna, which is Finland’s castle. It is now a unesco world heritage site and had museums, gardens, parks and much more, it makes a great day out. Learn all about the history of Finland from the Russians, the British to the Crimean war.

Helsinki Zoo, Finland by Pete

Where to eat

What can I say about the food at Helsinki? It’s incredible that’s what! There are two places to eat that I would extremely recommend and these are:

Havis

Havis is just across the street from the main market square; this restaurant specializes in traditional Scandinavian dishes with the slight twist to certain meals. You must start with the blue mussel soup and then move onto specialities such as the slow fried whitefish. Vegetarians will love the mushroom crepes with glazed vegetables; there is also a daily vegetarian special. The dessert menu is the best; it includes traditional Finnish standards like strawberry milk and doughnuts with coffee pudding, absolutely divine.

Zucchini

Zucchini is perfect for a vegetarian lunch or just a coffee; it’s the place to come to relax. There are pizzas, pasta, soup, salad and much more and all are made fresh to order and are extremely tasty. The atmosphere here gives of the homely vibe, it’s great to just sit here and people watch.

I would love to come back to Helsinki another day, maybe more in style next time by going on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in 2014. You have to come to Helsinki on a cruise; it feels like that’s the way you have to come.

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