Another of our favourite Helsinki seaside walks is from the Sibelius Monument. Getting there by public transport is easy, we took the No.24 bus from outside the Sokos department store near Kamppi and rang the bell to alight as soon as we saw the Sibelius Monument on the left.
Sibelius Park is in the Töölö district of Helsinki and the monument (feature photo above) is by Finnish artist Eila Hiltunen. It consists of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave like pattern. I believe that the monument captures the spirit of the music of Sibelius, his well known pieces being Finlandia and the Karelia Suite, both of which I enjoy very much.
Located just behind the monument overlooking the sea is the delightful little cafe pictured above. Cafe Regatta has a large terrace with views across the bay and has even got a barbecue where one can cook sausages. As you can see from the photo, it’s extremely popular and there is nearly always a queue but the wait is worthwhile, believe me!
It was so lovely sitting there, enjoying our cups of coffee that it was difficult to make a move, but eventually we resumed our walk. There’s much to see along the shoreline here, a small marina and an attractive restaurant with waterfront terrace. We noticed another carpet washing pier, in Finnish ‘mattolaituri’ where a family was busy cleaning their rugs and would then be leaving them on the wooden props to dry in the warm sunshine.
Soon, we arrived at Hietaniemi Beach which is Helsinki’s largest with a sheltered bay and wide, sandy beach. There’s a large beach cafe/bar from where you can watch people playing beach volleyball, or like me you can be lazy and just sip a cool drink from the terrace.
It was nice to see so many people enjoying a day at the beach. I dipped my toes in the sea and the water felt lovely and warm. Just a pity I hadn’t brought my swimming gear along with me.
The beach path comes to an end here and it’s necessary to climb some steps onto the rocky outcrop above. From there, we continued around the bay passing the beautiful old Hietaniemi Cemetery on our left whilst out on the water we paused to watch some water ski-ing from a zip wire.
The path continues along the shore until finally turning inland towards Ruoholahti from where we were able to return back to our apartment by bus. Some barnacle geese were causing a little traffic jam to pedestrians and cyclists as they had decided to stand across the path, blocking the way.
We returned to Espoo after enjoying a lovely walk from Sibelius Park to Hietaniemi beach in warm sunshine.
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