Walking
Tours
For guided city walks in Finnish contact:
Helsinki
Expert,
Guide Booking Centre,
Lönnrotinkatu 7B
Telephone number: (09) 2288 1500
For more specialised multilingual walks, including the 2-hour ‘Classical
Helsinki’ tour, contact:
Dodoni
Travel Agency
Telephone number: (09) 692 7448
Website: www.dodoni.fi
Bus Tours
Year-round sightseeing bus tours, arranged by Helsinki
Expert, Guide Booking Centre, Lönnrotinkatu 7B (telephone
number: (09) 2288 1500, website: www.helsinkiexpert.fi),
depart at 1030hrs from the Olympia Terminal and
1045 hrs from the Katajanokka Terminal. Commentary
is in English and Swedish and there is a substantial discount for
Helsinki Card holders. The tours take 1 and 45
minutes to visit all the main sights of the city. Tickets are available
from the departure points, the Tourist Bureau and Hotel Booking
at the Railway Station.
Boat
Tours
Two companies offer 90-minute cruises around Helsinki,
which can include food and refreshments.
These are Royal
Line (telephone number: (09) 612 2950, website: www.royalline.fi)
and Sun Lines
(telephone number: (09) 727 7010, website: www.sunlines.fi).
These companies are situated at the waterfront by Market Square.
For a Half Day
Seurasaari
The whole island of Seurasaari
is an open-air museum (telephone number: (09) 4050 9660, website:
www.nba.fi/en/seurasaari_openairmuseum),
dotted with 18th and 19th century houses representing the whole
gamut of Finnish life.
One of the islands located immediately off Helsinki’s coastline,
this was the brainchild of Axel Olai Heikel, who
started the museum up in 1909, to preserve the traditions of Finnish
life. The oldest building on the island is the wooden Karuna
Church, which was completed during 1686.
The island can be reached by bus no. 24 and tram 4 from Erottaja.
Opening hours: Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Sunday
1100-1700hrs, Wednesday 1100-1900hrs June-August, 15th-31st May
and 1st-15th September Monday-Friday 0900-1500hrs, Saturday-Sunday
1100-1700hrs.
Admission fee is charged. Tourist Board officials are at the site
to provide further information.
For
a Whole Day
Suomenlinna
(Sea Fortress)
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this sea fortress,
lying approximately 1.5km (1 mile) off the coast of Helsinki,
was once the bastion of the Swedish empire, with a larger population
than Helsinki.
Work began on this huge complex in 1748, when Augustin Ehrensvärd
designed a system of bastions, a dock and the barracks. It is made
up of 2 islands connected by a small bridge and includes:
The Suomenlinna Museum, Suomenlinna Experience
(a multimedia presentation)
Telephone number: (09) 4050 9691
Website: www.nba.fi/en/suomenlinna_museum)
The Doll and Toy Museum
Telephone number: (09) 668 417
Submarine Vesikko
Telephone number: (09) 1814 6238
The Coastal Artillery
Museum
Telephone number: (09) 1814 5295
There is a regular ferry connection to Suomenlinna
from the Market Square (free with a the Helsinki Card)
and a journey takes of 15 minutes. Travel information is available
from City Traffic (telephone number: 010 0111).
Water buses operate from May to September,
leaving from the Market Square. For further information contact
the Suomenlinna
Tourist Office (telephone number: (09) 684 1880. Guided tours
of the island, in English, take place at 1100hrs and 1400hrs. |
