Helsinki Coastal Walks
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Tervesaari Island, Helsinki – A Perfect Spot for a Scenic Walk
With Finland celebrating its centenary this year and the country being a firm favourite of ours, it seemed only natural that we should make a return visit this summer. On arriving into Helsinki airport late the previous evening, we spent our first day enjoying a walk around the market square which is always a beautiful…
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Exploring Kamppi and Herttoniemi, Helsinki
A MasterChef type outdoor cooking competition was taking place in Narinkkatori square just outside Helsinki’s Kamppi shopping centre so we decided to join lots of other inquisitive people and take a look at what was happening. The event was hosted by Lidl and was the national finals of their Grillimaisteri barbecue competition. It was interesting…
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Visiting Pihlajasaari Island: How to Reach Helsinki’s Summer Paradise by Ferry
It was a sunny morning so we packed up a picnic and decided to take one of the small ferries to the outlying island of Pihlajasaari. It’s a former villa island and is now a popular outdoor recreation area which is located 3 km offshore from the centre of Helsinki. There are piers in two…
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How to Spend a Day in Espoo – Visit Villa Elfvik and Laguuni Water Park
Villa Elfvik is located in Espoo close to the centre of Helsinki and it was from there that we started our countryside walk. It’s an art nouveau villa on the edge of the Laajalahti Nature Reserve, inside we found exhibitions relating to the diverse nature of Espoo as well as a children’s adventure area ‘Badger’s…
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Exploring Helsinki
A brighter start to the day so after breakfast we took a bus into Kamppi and our first stop this morning was to the Laituri museum just across the square from the bus station. This museum houses Helsinki City Planning Department’s exhibitions and on display at the moment is an exhibition on cycling in the city…
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How to spend a day on Lauttasaari Island, Helsinki
Back to sunshine this morning so we decided to take a walk around Lauttaasaari Island which lies between Espoo and Helsinki. Lauttasaari means ‘ferry island’ but nowadays the island is connected to the mainland by a series of bridges and causeways. On National Poet’s Day, and whenever it’s a National Day in Finland, Finnish flags…
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Why You Should Take the Metro in Helsinki to Vuosaari: Scenic Views, Beaches and Cafes
Another sunny day so we planned a trip to Helsinki’s eastern suburb of Vuosaari. To get there we caught a bus into Kamppi from where we connected to the metro for our journey, Vuosaari being the final stop on the line taking just 20 minutes. Leaving the metro station we glanced in the Columbus shopping…
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Travel Guide: Walking from Helsinki Market Square to Katajanokka
The day began with a farewell to my older son who was leaving on a Finnair flight to Rome this morning to meet up with his friends and embark on a sailing holiday along the Italian coast. This meant I had most of the day to myself before my husband was due to arrive later.…
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Beach life at Munkkiniemi, Helsinki
Another warm, sunny day so a day at the beach was planned. We took a No.4 tram to its terminus at Munkkiniemi. It’s a very pleasant suburb of Helsinki with an attractive bay, a peaceful spot with a long seafront walkway alongside tall reed beds and wild roses. Nearby you will find a ‘Mattolaituri’ meaning…
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A walk from Hakaniemi to Helsinki’s Market Square
Part One: We planned a walk from Hakaniemi to the Helsinki’s Kauppatori (market square). Getting there was easy as we took the metro from Kamppi but you could also hop on one of the trams. Located in the square is the Market Hall (feature photo above) which opened in 1914. On the ground floor you…
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Helsinki sightseeing: Seurasaari Island
Seurasaari is a small island a short distance from Helsinki which is approached by an ornate wooden footbridge. Getting there by public transport is quite easy, bus No.24 leaves from Eira and we boarded the bus from outside the Sokos Department Store on Mannerheimintie near Kamppi. The bus takes around 30 minutes but it’s also…
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Helsinki walk: Löyly along the waterfront to Eira
We started the day in Hernesaari, an up and coming district of south west Helsinki, formerly docklands and now home to a cruise harbour and some high end apartments. We were here to visit Löyly a new, upscale public sauna, bar and restaurant (see feature photo above). It’s designed to give the appearance of a…
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Helsinki walk: Sibelius Park to Hietaniemi Beach
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…
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Farewell Finland
I shouldn’t be sad that we had to leave southern Finland and return home today, not many people are so fortunate as me to be able to go away for an entire month. I did have a heavy heart though as we gathered our belongings together before taking one last forest walk in the warm…
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